Christmas Is Here Again
DVD Cover
Directed byRobert Zappia
Written byRobert Zappia
Marco Zappia
Produced byRobert Zappia
Jim Praytor
StarringEdward Asner
Kathy Bates
Madison Davenport
Colin Ford
Brad Garrett
Shirley Jones
Norm Macdonald
Daniel Roebuck
Andy Griffith
Narrated byJay Leno
Edited byMichael D'Ambrosio
Music byJohn Van Tongeren
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Television
Release dates
  • November 23, 2007 (2007-11-23)
(Television premiere on Fox)
Running time
  • 74 minutes
  • 90 minutes (with commercials)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Christmas Is Here Again is a 2007 American animated Christmas musical-comedy-fantasy-adventure film produced by Easy To Dream Productions, Renegade Animation, and 20th Century Fox Television (via Fox Television Animation), and distributed by 20th Television. The first feature film to be produced by Renegade Animation, it was co-written, co-produced and directed by Robert Zappia. Narrated by Jay Leno, the film features the voices of Edward Asner, Kathy Bates, Madison Davenport, Colin Ford, Brad Garrett, Andy Griffith, Shirley Jones, Norm Macdonald, and Daniel Roebuck, and marked Asner's fourth role in a Christmas-themed film after the 1977 film The Gathering, the 1999 film Olive, the Other Reindeer and the 2003 film Elf, though unlike the latter two films, he does not play Santa.

Christmas Is Here Again debuted at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis on October 20, 2007. It then made its television debut on the Fox network on November 23, 2007. The film received positive reviews.

Synopsis

Sophiana, an orphan girl who carries a cane, due to being crippled from a car accident that killed her parents sets out to find Santa's toy sack (which is a magical source of toys since it was made from the baby Jesus' swaddling clothes), which was stolen thirty years previously by Krad ("dark" spelled backwards) in revenge after Santa stopped handing out Krad's coal to naughty children. She is helped in her quest by Paul Rocco, one of Santa's elves, Dart, a reindeer calf, Buster the fox, and his friend, Charlee the polar bear.

Cast

  • Madison Davenport as Sophiana, a disabled girl from an orphanage who's been bullied by Miss Dowdy and occasionally the other children. She was crippled due a car accident that took the lives of her biological parents, leading her to using a cane.
  • Daniel Roebuck as Paul Rocco/Jacque
  • Colin Ford as Dart
  • Norm Macdonald as Buster
  • Brad Garrett as Charlee
  • Ed Asner as Krad, the film's main villain. A former coal supplier who used to work for Santa Claus, until Santa decided to stop punishing children who were on his naughty list, leading Krad into stealing Santa's magic toy sack.
  • Michael Norris as the Selves
  • Kathy Bates as Miss Dowdy, the harsh assertive owner of the orphanage where Sophiana and other children live at, she has a more sympathetic personality near the end of the film.
  • Andy Griffith as Santa Claus, the husband of Victoria Claus/Mrs. Claus and later Sophiana's adoptive father
  • Shirley Jones as Victoria Claus, Santa's wife and later Sophiana's adoptive mother
  • Jay Leno as the Narrator
  • Randy Crenshaw/Bob Joyce/Sally Stevens/Susie Stevens Logan/Gary Stockdale/Carmen Twillie/Lauren Wood as Chorus

Production

Renegade Animation, an animation company located in Glendale, California and known for the TV series Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi and The Mr. Men Show, teamed up with Easy to Dream Entertainment to create Christmas Is Here Again. A small crew spent nine months on the principal animation, which was completed in mid-2006.[2]

Later in 2006, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation announced that they had teamed with Renegade Animation to distribute the film through their 20th Century Fox Animation division.

One of the songs in the film's soundtrack (as well as the film's working title) was "Who Stole Santa's Sack?"

Release

Christmas Is Here Again premiered on Saturday October 20, 2007, as an official selection at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana. The day after the festival (October 21, 2007), Twentieth Century Fox announced that the film would be released in theaters on December 12, 2007, but due to the studio already releasing another film they produced, Alvin and the Chipmunks, the same week as the movie, it was confirmed on October 24, 2007, that Christmas Is Here Again was pulled off the schedule and that Fox had no more plans to release it.

However, this was later resolved when then-Fox network president Kevin Kevin Reilly announced that Christmas Is Here Again would air on the network; 20th Century Fox agreed with this, and it was officially announced that Christmas Is Here Again would make its television debut on Fox on November 23, 2007; it would compete with The Family Man over on NBC.

Christmas Is Here Again was heavily promoted by Fox after the film was announced; several promos for the premiere were shown for most of the month of November; special previews of the film were aired on FX during commercial breaks, and a website for the film was launched the week before, which includes games, videos, and a keyword which could be typed up on the film's website to unlock a special online game.

Christmas Is Here Again officially made it's television debut on Fox on Friday, November 23, 2007, at 8/7c (7/6c in some markets). The film was presented in high definition for the first time; the film was also available in standard definition.

Because the film's runtime was 77 minutes (and that the movie was airing in a two hour slot), the film ran from 8:00pm to 9:30pm EST (7:00pm to 8:30pm CT). Fox filled the 9:30pm timeslot with a rerun of The Simpsons Season 18 episode, "Kill Gil, Volumes I & III".

After the film's November 23, 2007 airing, the special was rebroadcast the next day, November 24, 2007, on Fox's 4Kids TV Saturday morning lineup, whereas it aired at 10:30am, with the film airing in standard definition. An encore presentation of Christmas Is Here Again was aired on FX on December 21, 2007. After it aired, a 30-minute special that focuses on the creation of the movie, Who Stole Santa's Sack? The Making of Christmas Is Here Again, was aired at 9:30pm. The film was rebroadcast on Christmas Christmas Day of 2007. Unlike it's first broadcast, it aired in a 2 hour timeslot, with interstitials and a few commercials.


Fox would continue to air Christmas Is Here Again in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, with 2012 being the only year that the film wasn't aired on Fox. The CW got the rights to air it, and it was broadcast on December 24, 2012. The CW lost the rights to the Film in 2013; therefore, Fox was able to air the film again.

Twentieth Television began to distribute Christmas Is Here Again to local station beginning in November 2012. Fox Television Stations served as the main affiliate base for the movie; Christmas Is Here Again began airing in broadcast syndication on November 3, 2012, debuting on all of Fox's owned and operated stations, including stations affiliated with the MyNetworkTV programming service.

Fox aired the film for the final time on November 24, 2017. The following year, Christmas Is Here Again left syndication. Fox Kids Network began airing the film as part of its “Winter Wonderland’’ lineup beginning in 2019.

In 2008, it received an Annie Award nomination for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production (Madison Davenport as Sophiana).[3] Additionally, in 2009, Christmas is Here Again was nominated for the Annie Award for Best Animated Home Entertainment Production. Colin Ford, the voice of Dart, was also nominated for a Young Artist Award in 2009 for Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role - Young Actor.

The film received its DVD debut in the U.S. on November 4, 2008. The disc contains a behind-the-scenes featurette, cast interviews and "Name the Reindeer", as extras.[4]

Originally, the reindeer on the DVD cover had a red nose akin to Rudolph's.[5] On the final version of the cover, it is black.

Reception

Richard Propes of The Independent Critic website gave it an A and 3.5 stars, calling it "an ideal choice for families, children and for Scrooges like myself who, somewhere deep inside, still want to believe".[6] However Common Sense Media gave the film a 2 out of 5 saying "Small children might like this holiday musical, but they may also lose patience at the 73-minute length".[7]

Stage version

The Pacific Conservatory Theatre presented the premiere of a stage adaptation of Christmas Is Here Again by Brad Carroll and Jeremy Mann in November and December 2014.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Heartland Film Festival information for Christmas Is Here Again". Truly Moving Pictures. 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08.
  2. ↑ "Renegade Animation Completes "Christmas is Here Again"". Digital Publisher Magazine. Digital Media Online. 2006-09-28. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10.
  3. ↑ "List of awards and nominations". 35th Annie Awards. The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood. 2007. Archived from the original on 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  4. ↑ Yip, Roger (2008-09-09). "Christmas Is Here Again on DVD". DVDTOWN.com. Archived from the original on 2008-11-08. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  5. ↑ "Christmas Is Here Again". Screen Media Films. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
  6. ↑ Propes, Richard (2008). "Review of Christmas Is Here Again". The Independent Critic. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  7. ↑ "Christmas is Here Again - Movie Review". 28 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Christmas is Here Again". Pacific Conservatory Theatre. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
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