How I Saved Christmas!!!

No, no, no..... I am just kidding, I didn't save Christmas.

But..have you ever noticed just how many people have in TV and movies? And not just people either, everything from our pets to our toys have saved Christmas! It guess it sounds exciting, but the word "saved" has been so overused! I was at a Best Buy and saw a DVD about a dog saving Christmas, only to glance over and see another similar film!

The movies are often about Santa being out of comission, or an evil villain wanting to ruin the holiday. But there are exceptions too. Today I thought it would be fun to run down a list of all these movies and TV specials. Get comfortable, there's a few.

Ernest Saves Christmas

Let's start with the first that come to most people's minds. I am not sure if I have seen it. I don't remember watching it, but when I see the NC review some of it seems very familiar. Either way, for an Ernest movie it's harmless enough. Not a perennial favorite of mine. Ernest has to help when Santa loses his bag during his attempt to recruit the next Santa Claus. And by the way, while the Santa in this is nice it it not my favoite Santa.

Elmo Saves Christmas

I decided to finally watch this for this article. And the funny thing? It's really good! It's a different spin on the "Christmas Every Day" concept. Except rather than repeat the day over and over Elmo sees the future to experience what the world would be like if everyday were Christmas, where it loses all meaning and shuts the world down. So does Elmo actually "save" Christmas? Well, he does in the first ten minutes by aiding Santa. After that the show is about teaching Elmo an "important lesson". Ok it's still Sesame Street but points for a creative concept. It also has a "It a Wonderful Life" gag with Bert and Ernie which is really funny.

How the Toys Saved Christmas

This was originally an Italian film and was imported to the U.S. in 1997. It's an animated tale featuring Mary Tyler Moore and Tony Randall. The story involves Santa's helper trying to sell Santa's toys, so the toys take it upon themselves to deliver themselves. Yeah, sounds stupid.

Hercules Saves Christmas

Now according to the description it's a talking dog named Hercules who meets a boy named Max who wants to see Santa so he can gety on the nice list. Ok, but, how is that "saving" Christmas exactly? The dog is a sort of angel with a magic collar and the plot has Max trying to help someone get his Christms spirit. There is also an evil elf who wants to stop Hercules....This is lame. This film is so insignifnat I can hardly find anything about it.

Felix the Cat Saves Christmas

   

Yes, this is real. This direct to Video borefest is about Felix having to travel to the North Pole to help Santa When the Professor and Rock Bottom plot to create the world's biggest blizzard. I watched a little bit of it, and that was enough.

Noddy Saved Christmas

This is a CGI movie with so little information on it I can barely get a plot synopsos

Bratz: Babyz Save Christmas

Why can't a couple creepy as heck dolls get their own special? Or should I say, direct to video release. This is brand new but certainly worth mentioning. The Babyz (I wonder if Linkara would mind if I use his "Because Poor Literacy is Cool" joke?) go to the North Pole and train as elves to help Santa and stop some bandits.

Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas

I don't believe it either. I have tried to watch this but all I can find are random clips. I am sure it's on DVD, but I aint buying it. The funny thing, this gets a full plot breakdown on Wikipedia! Dr.Claw uses mind controk to kidnap Santa and control the elves. So it's up to Inspector Gadget to save the day! Of course Penny and Brain do the work while Gadget unwittingly helps Claw.

How the Flintstones Saved Christmas

I have watched this one and in the show Fred does such a good job playing Santa that some elves ask him  to step in to replace the real Santa after he sprains his ankle. It's not bad, but it is boring at parts. This must have been padded to fill an hour and really feels like it! Although it's pretty cool the Flintstones could save a holiday that technically shouldn't exist yet. I am nitpicking, of all of these this is probably the one I would recommend checking out. (fyi there is also A Flintsone Christmas Carol and a Flintstone Family Christmas both of which are good)

The Man Who Saved Christmas

This one is not only live action but is a decent film rather than a corny kids movie. At least this one is based on a true story. Jason Alexander stars as toymaker Alfred Carlton Gilbert who continued to make toys during WWI rather than turn his factory over to support the war effort. I know times were tough then but isn't telling people not to celebrate Christmas during war a bad idea? In the end he wins and the factory makes toys for Christmas.

The Night They Saved Christmas

This 80's telefilm features Jaclyn Smith and Art Carney in a story about an oil company dynmiting in the North Pole, unare they are endahgering Santa Claus.

The Glo Friends Save Christmas

Sure. Why not? Who needs a theatrical movie or a lame TV movie. How about a half hour cartoon special? In this special a witch tries to prevent Santa's annual ride, so it's up the Glo Friends to save the day.

The Dog Who Saved Christmas

What's worst than a Home Alome knockoff? How about with with a dog!! No kidding either, the dog named Zeus is home alone and has to defend his house from two robbers. He sets up elaborate traps! Are you kidding me? How stupid can ABCFamily get?? Mario Lopez is the voice of Zeus (yes, he talks!). It just sounds so stupid....and yet it was the most watched program when it first aired and earned a sequel!!!

The Bears Who Saved Christmas

This is an animated cartoon which came out in 1994. It's so unpopular I can barely find any infor on it. All I did find was a brief plot description from Wikipedia : A family gets stranded in a cabin on Christmas Eve, and two teddy bears - Christopher and Holly - venture into the woods to find a Christmas tree and save Christmas. Yeah, sounds boring.

The Elf Who Saved Christmas

A special from 1991. An Elf named Toby discovers a plot from a mean Mrs.Buzzard to ruin Christmas by convincing Santa that no one believes in him anymore. This was a kid friendly short which is harmless.

Billy & Mandy Save Christmas

A hour-length Christmas special spun off from the Cartoon Network original series The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.

A lot of movies have the plot of saving Christmas even if it isn't in the title. The concept appears in Arthur Christmas, Beauty & The Beast:The Enchanted Christmas,  and the awful Santa Buddies which has the dogs needing to "save" Christmas. Beethoven Christmas Adventure was first called Beethoven Saves Christmas, but it was changed somewhere during production.

And as you can tell, TV is not exempt. Tyler Perry's House of Payne had an episode titled "The Wench Who Saved Christmas". Superman saved Christmas in an episode of Lois & Clark.  The Miser Bros did it in their lazy ass special. Olive, The Other Reindeer did it in the special of the same name.In Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation the boys must save Christmad from being canceled. In an episode of Sabrina, The Teenage Witch called "Christmas Amnesia" Sabrina accidentally erases Christmas and has twenty four hours to reverse the spell in time to...ah, you get the idea. There is also Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Sigh. Mickey too? Well no the actual episode is Mickey Saves Santa, in which Mickey does just that. It doesn't count but felt it was worth a mentioin. And guess who else once saved Santa in a Christmas special? The Rock band KISS. Well, sort of....it aired as part of the events of "A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas" so it probably shouldn't count as a real special.

What's even worst than this? How about adding the cliche of giving Santa amnesia to it? Seriously! In the TV movie "The Night Before The Night Before Christmas" a family must save Christmas when Santa lands on their roof and loses his memory and magic bundle. In the Dreamworks special Merry Madagascar our friends from the Madagascar movie have to save Christmas after Santa has an accident and ends up with amnesia. Likewise in the TV movie Santa Who?, Leslie Nielsen plays another Santa with amnesia and it was up to some kids to help get his memory back in time to, you guessed it, SAVE CHRISTMAS! 

Finally, one of my favorite Saturday Night Live sketches is The Night Hanukkah Harry Saved Christmas! Yep, this exists. When Santa becomes ill on Christmas Eve, Harry has to step in to save the day. Seriously, if you can find it this sketch is hilarious!!

The funny thing is, I am sure I am missing some!! Are there just no other ideas out there?  I am not even counting stuff like books (LOTS OF BOOKS!), video games, comic books, or songs! I think I got most of them, but if I missed one be sure to let me know.