Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

A little girl discovers dreams do come true if you really believe. Six-year-old Susan has doubts about childhood's most enduring miracle - Santa Claus. Her mother told her the "secret" ... See full summary »

Director:

Les Mayfield

Writers:

Valentine Davies (story), George Seaton,

Stars:

Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Attenborough	...	Kris Kringle
Elizabeth Perkins	...	Dorey Walker
Dylan McDermott	...	Bryan Bedford
J.T. Walsh	...	Ed Collins
James Remar	...	Jack Duff
Jane Leeves	...	Alberta Leonard
Simon Jones	...	Donald Shellhammer
William Windom	...	C.F. Cole
Mara Wilson	...	Susan Walker
Robert Prosky	...	Judge Henry Harper
Kathrine Narducci	...	Mother
Mary McCormack	...	Myrna Foy
Alvin Greenman	...	The Doorman
Allison Janney	...	Woman in Christmas Shop
Greg Noonan	...	Cmdr. Coulson

Storyline

A little girl discovers dreams do come true if you really believe. Six-year-old Susan has doubts about childhood's most enduring miracle - Santa Claus. Her mother told her the "secret" about Santa a long time ago, so Susan doesn't expect to receive the most important gifts on her Christmas list. But after meeting a special department store Santa who's convinced he's the real thing, Susan is given the most precious gift of all - something to believe in.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | girl | santa claus | holiday | color remake of black and white film | 

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Taglines:

Experience the Miracle.

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English American Sign Language

Release Date:

18 November 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Milagro en la calle 34

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£2,103,959 (UK) (9 December 1994)

Gross:

£6,604,230 (UK) (20 January 1995)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hughes Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Susan's middle name is Elizabeth. Mara Wilson's middle name is also Elizabeth.

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Goofs

In the Thanksgiving Parade scene, the trees in Central Park are seen budding for spring (the scene was shot in April).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Grandson: Ask him. Ask him. Look at him, Grandpa. Ask him.
Judge Henry Harper: Uh, I'm sorry. He, uh... he thinks you're Santa Claus.
[Kris Kringle and Judge Harper laugh]
Kris Kringle: [to Harper's grandson] I am.
[to Harper]
Kris Kringle: Merry Christmas.

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Connections

Featured in The Nostalgia Critic: Top 12 Greatest Christmas Specials (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town"
Performed by Ray Charles
Written by Haven Gillespie / J. Fred Coots
Produced by Jeremy Lubbock and Elliot Lurie

User Reviews

Remake with excellent cast

As far as remakes of classics go this is certainly one of the better examples. The great strength of this film is the casting which throughout matches the excellent class of the original, and this is no mean achievement.

Occasionally the writers felt the need to deviate from the original - perhaps once or twice too often, because the original story was quite modern anyway, i.e. it did not need much updating. Some of these deviations work pretty well (the midnight wedding was a great new idea although left a bit underdeveloped), others very much less so. Using Joss Ackland as a cross between Ebenezer Scrooge and Ernst Stavro Blofeld was a bit daft, but the only real disaster is the resolution of the court case, one of the highlights of the original and a MAJOR let-down in this version.