When you think of classic children's Christmas specials from the 1960s, what do you usually think of? Rudolph, The Grinch, Frosty... The Magic Christmas Tree? I first heard about this movie in a review by the Cinema Snob, and it was unlike the movies he usually reviews, but ever since then I had wanted to watch it all the way through for myself to determine if it's really as ridiculous and removed from reality as he said. Well, in short, he was right. I guess they thought kids in the 1960s were extremely easy to entertain, as there is very little effort put into this movie. It's all noise, bad acting, and bad camerawork. What about the story, is it any good? Well, it all started when young Mark was having lunch with his friends at school. Even though this is a Christmas movie, it actually starts on Halloween. As such, Mark dares his school chums to go with him to the old Finch place, which they want to avoid as the old woman who lives there is supposedly a witch. They venture up to the old spooky house where Mark's friends finally chicken out, so the boy decides to go in alone. That's when the old woman catches him and requests his help in climbing up a tree and rescue her cat, Lucifer. She must be a fan of Disney's Cinderella... which I could be watching instead of this. Mark is hesitant, but the creepy old woman manages to talk him into it, and so up he goes... and then down he comes, falling flat on his back on the lawn. I'd say that old "witch" would be looking at a lawsuit if Mark got hurt, but on the other hand, the boy was trespassing, so I don't know. Thankfully he's alright, but when he wakes up, everything seems different. That's because the world is now in Technicolor, and the old woman is dressed like a witch for some reason. To thank him for giving her a good laugh when he fell out of that tree, she gives him a magic Christmas ring, and in that ring is a seed. If he plants that seed and says the magic words, a tree will grow which will then grant him three wishes. Eh, must be the concussion talking. But either way, he waits until Thanksgiving to plant it, as the witch told him he must plant the seed along with a turkey wishbone. Makes sense, wishes, wishbone. He plants them in the backyard late at night, then he recites the magic words, triggering a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder. But did the spell work? Sure did, a tree appeared almost instantly, and if you thought this movie was already slowly paced, you ain't seen nothing yet, because now it's time to watch Mark's dad mow the lawn. We get to watch him try to start the mower in real time. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try, try, try again.
Eight tries and a hundred annoying sound effects later, he finally gets the lawnmower going, and we get to watch him mow in real time too. I know we didn't have much of a plot to go on, but did we really need all this padding? Anyway, either Dad is blind or just plain stupid as he crashes right into the tree. Oh come on, even Stevie Wonder would've seen that tree there. Dad wants to cut it down, but Mom tells him not to. In response, Dad tells her to go back inside and leave him alone. You know, these two kinda remind me of my grandparents, but at least my grandfather never ran his lawnmower into a tree that he didn't see right in front of him. Now, this tree must be made of titanium, because Dad can't chop it down. As a result, he declares it one of the family, and in this case, the tree is the smartest member. So now we flash forward to Christmas Eve, where Mark's parents and sister would be heading out to do some last minute shopping, leaving the boy home alone. He goes out back to see his magic tree, which actually speaks to him. He instructs Mark to say the magic words, which then teleports the tree into the living room, because I guess he was tired of the backyard. Once in the house and all nicely decorated, the surly tree encourages Mark to start making his wishes. First up, the boy wishes to be given magic powers for an hour. Can't see this going well. Mark first uses his power to bring forth daylight, then he proceeds to wreak havoc on the entire neighborhood! He makes cars take off on their own, including a police car. He causes two people to have a pie fight, and then the fire department join in the chase in the world's oldest fire engine. Just what the hell is going on here?! I think it's safe to say that Mark has become the villain. He doesn't seem to care about the people whose lives he's endangering. However, I think this whole first wish was just a fantasy sequence, because afterwards, Mark's family comes home from shopping as if nothing happened. Anyway, the little wiener-head isn't done yet, as his next wish is to have Santa Claus all to himself. We're supposed to LIKE this kid, aren't we? Well, his wish is the tree's command, for very soon Jolly Old St. Nick finds himself a hostage in Mark's house. He's bluntly informed that he is a prisoner and solely belongs to Mark, who then demands Santa give him everything he wants on his list. Man, this kid is evil, and he is stirring up some pretty bad karma. He sure gets the scare of his life when he goes into the woods to try out the BB gun he forced Santa to give him, when he's confronted by a giant, who shows him just how greedy he was: a world wide search was being conducted to find Santa Claus. Glad the world had no other problems with which to attend. So finally realizing what a selfish punk he was, Mark uses his third wish to undo the damage he caused, and so Santa goes back to the North Pole and the Magic Christmas Tree disappears, having fulfilled its purpose. That's when Mark wakes up, back in black and white. The whole thing had been a dream... or was it? They try to blur the line between fantasy and reality by having the Magic Tree speak to him at the end, but for some reason, it's a different voice. What kind of an ending is that? Also I like how they tried to rip off The Wizard of Oz, another movie I could be watching instead.
In closing, this movie was boring. I can't imagine any kids being entertained by this, in 1964 or even today. The acting is terrible, and all the characters' voices are dubbed, and dubbed badly, nobody in this freaking thing knows how to act! This whole thing is just loud and obnoxious. The writing is horrible, the directing is horrible, and as far as editing, did this thing even have a competent editor? Scenes draw out and go on forever, so much of this could have been trimmed out and given it a cool thirty minute run time. Mark digging the hole, to Dad starting the lawnmower, then mowing the lawn, then trying to chop down the tree, and Mark wreaking havoc on the neighborhood, there is so much padding and so little focus on what little story they had. I'm not sure why this movie exists or who the intended audience is, but it really fails on all levels. Kids are smarter than this! In fact, the production and overall look of the film seems like it's more out of the '50s than the '60s. I wonder if it was filmed a decade earlier and shelved. Maybe it should've stayed there. In closing, do I recommend The Magic Christmas Tree? Eh, just watch The Cinema Snob's review. No need to torture yourself for an hour like I did. If you want to watch a better Christmas special about a tree, I'd recommend The Tiny Tree (1975). On the other hand, there are far worse tree-centered specials out there, like The Christmas Tree (1991). Where does The Magic Christmas Tree fall? I'd say just above the halfway point.
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