Having grown up in Minnesota and seeing Louie do stand up so many times, it was a treat to watch this TV special. We lived a life much like the Andersons and had the same kinds of issues. This was charming and touching and Louie's childhood caricature was much fun. The story involves Louie's dad being pushed into decorating the house of the widow next door and all the problems that occur. Well done and thoughtful.
Life with Louie: A Christmas Surprise for Mrs. Stillman (1994 TV Short)
User Reviews
Review this title6 Reviews
Love Thy Neighbor
ExplorerDS678924 October 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Louie Anderson brings us a special Christmas surprise this year, as he tells us through the miracle of animation, about one special Christmas back when he was a young boy. Growing up in Cedar Knoll, Wisconsin, Louie lived with his grouchy, war veteran father Andy, his sweet-natured, sensible mother, Ora, and obnoxious little brother Tommy. Oh, and he's got 9 other siblings, but they're not germane to the plot. On this particular day, Louie heard the wonderful news about school being canceled, and he went out to play in the snow with his friends, and what an oddball bunch these guys are: slacker Mike Grunewald, dimwitted Toddler, and kind-hearted tomboy Jeannie Harper. Unfortunately, their game of throwing snowballs was cut short when Louie caught one in the ear. Now that hurts like a son of a gun, allowing you to even swear and get away with it, so he shouts "darn it!" all over the house. Hey, watch your language, Louie, this is a family show. That evening, the Andersons go out to buy their Christmas tree, with Andy grumbling the whole way. When they find a tree they like and learn it's $35, Andy unsuccessfully tries to haggle for $3. So once they set it up, it immediately lops to one side, so Andy says to just stick it by the TV. "For thirty five bucks, that tree should dance!" So now with the tree decorated, it was finally time for Andy to string lights around the house. He does a really half-assed job of it and comes inside to watch TV, all while Ora looks out the window at their elderly widow neighbor, Mrs. Stillman, and assumes she can't afford gifts or decorations, and knows how lonely she is, and that's when it hit her: she conscripts Andy to take their extra decorations and put them up on Stillman's house while Ora takes her shopping. Naturally, Andy is very opposed to the idea, but it would seem he has no choice in the matter, so he begrudgingly gets to work, taking Louie with him.
As Andy sets to work, he's spotted by two local cops who assume he's a burglar. He tries to explain he's putting up some Christmas lights for his neighbor, except the terrible job he did on his own house only further convinces the police he's a crook and they arrest him, but thankfully he's off the hook when Louie backs up his story. Well, back to work. As soon as Andy set foot on the roof, who should come walking up the front walk but Grunewald, Jeannie and Toddler, ready to sing carols. This startles Andy so much he almost falls off the roof, and as he's hanging onto the gutters, the kids mistake him for a burglar and chuck snowballs at him. Once again, Louie has to come to his father's rescue and explain the situation. When they hear it's for Mrs. Stillman, they all agree to pitch in and help. At last, it's all set up: lights all over the house, train in the front yard, a Merry Christmas sign on the roof. All Andy had to do was plug it in (drumroll please). Well, as you probably expected, the lights don't come on. You know what that means? Checking every single bulb, one by one. Suddenly, Grunewald notices a familiar dark green Rambler rounding the corner. But luckily, the piece of junk stalls out a few blocks down, which gives them a little more time. Luckily, Andy finds the root of their problem: they had missed one plug. Not a moment too soon, for as soon as his crappy car finally restarted and headed for the house, Andy plugged in the lights, received a massive electrical shock, and then everything came to life! Beautiful! Needless to say, Mrs. Stillman was very happy with this wonderful surprise. It's later revealed that the real reason she didn't put up Christmas decorations was that she's Jewish. Then, to cap off our little Christmas story, we get to see Louie and Tommy open their presents Christmas morning with Andy telling them how much money they set him back, and then they present him with his gift: the tools he'd lost weeks ago.
Well, what can I say? Life With Louie: A Christmas Surprise for Mrs. Stillman is fantastic! One of the best Christmas cartoons of the 1990s. From start to finish, it's downright hilarious, for both kids and adults, though I think adults will like it even more, mostly for the novelty of seeing (and hearing) Louie Anderson as a child, and that Andy represents the father pretty much everybody had. Many scenes in this special are based off real events from Louie's life, and while the characters do represent real people too, I wish I could say Louie's dad was the lovable loudmouth we see here. In reality, he was a drunken wife-beater. No way they could portray someone like that on a children's show, or make him remotely likable. But I think most people will agree Andy Anderson is their favorite character, because he's very relatable. Not much else I can say, this was one fantastic Christmas special that even gave a few nods to A Christmas Story and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. They're subtle, but you can spot them easily enough. I definitely recommend this one. Well made from start to finish and leaves you wanting more.
As Andy sets to work, he's spotted by two local cops who assume he's a burglar. He tries to explain he's putting up some Christmas lights for his neighbor, except the terrible job he did on his own house only further convinces the police he's a crook and they arrest him, but thankfully he's off the hook when Louie backs up his story. Well, back to work. As soon as Andy set foot on the roof, who should come walking up the front walk but Grunewald, Jeannie and Toddler, ready to sing carols. This startles Andy so much he almost falls off the roof, and as he's hanging onto the gutters, the kids mistake him for a burglar and chuck snowballs at him. Once again, Louie has to come to his father's rescue and explain the situation. When they hear it's for Mrs. Stillman, they all agree to pitch in and help. At last, it's all set up: lights all over the house, train in the front yard, a Merry Christmas sign on the roof. All Andy had to do was plug it in (drumroll please). Well, as you probably expected, the lights don't come on. You know what that means? Checking every single bulb, one by one. Suddenly, Grunewald notices a familiar dark green Rambler rounding the corner. But luckily, the piece of junk stalls out a few blocks down, which gives them a little more time. Luckily, Andy finds the root of their problem: they had missed one plug. Not a moment too soon, for as soon as his crappy car finally restarted and headed for the house, Andy plugged in the lights, received a massive electrical shock, and then everything came to life! Beautiful! Needless to say, Mrs. Stillman was very happy with this wonderful surprise. It's later revealed that the real reason she didn't put up Christmas decorations was that she's Jewish. Then, to cap off our little Christmas story, we get to see Louie and Tommy open their presents Christmas morning with Andy telling them how much money they set him back, and then they present him with his gift: the tools he'd lost weeks ago.
Well, what can I say? Life With Louie: A Christmas Surprise for Mrs. Stillman is fantastic! One of the best Christmas cartoons of the 1990s. From start to finish, it's downright hilarious, for both kids and adults, though I think adults will like it even more, mostly for the novelty of seeing (and hearing) Louie Anderson as a child, and that Andy represents the father pretty much everybody had. Many scenes in this special are based off real events from Louie's life, and while the characters do represent real people too, I wish I could say Louie's dad was the lovable loudmouth we see here. In reality, he was a drunken wife-beater. No way they could portray someone like that on a children's show, or make him remotely likable. But I think most people will agree Andy Anderson is their favorite character, because he's very relatable. Not much else I can say, this was one fantastic Christmas special that even gave a few nods to A Christmas Story and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. They're subtle, but you can spot them easily enough. I definitely recommend this one. Well made from start to finish and leaves you wanting more.
A great Christmas special!
Op_Prime13 February 2002
This television special aired on Fox... in prime time as I recall. Comic Louie Anderson tells the story of one Christmas when he was a kid, trying to bring the Christmas to a neighbor. This was a great special. The humor was top notch and it was a great story. An equally awesome Saturday morning series followed the next year. Thumbs up.
Worth watching
CuriosityKilledShawn12 December 2012
I was fully prepared to pay little attention to this Xmas special, but it succeeds in doing what most animated specials fail to do - it actually creates a nice, Xmasy atmosphere.
Based loosely on the childhood experiences of rotund comedian Louie Anderson it is sort of a cross between A Christmas Story and a scene from Christmas Vacation. Set in the late 50s/early 60s Louie's curmudgeon dad grudgingly goes along with annual traditions and is eventually encouraged to decorate the house of a lonely old lady with Xmas lights. As Clark Griswold once learned, it's not so easy.
It's funny, and cosy, and better than most Xmas specials I've been watching recently.
Based loosely on the childhood experiences of rotund comedian Louie Anderson it is sort of a cross between A Christmas Story and a scene from Christmas Vacation. Set in the late 50s/early 60s Louie's curmudgeon dad grudgingly goes along with annual traditions and is eventually encouraged to decorate the house of a lonely old lady with Xmas lights. As Clark Griswold once learned, it's not so easy.
It's funny, and cosy, and better than most Xmas specials I've been watching recently.
Okay watch for the holidays
Horst_In_Translation30 April 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"Life with Louie: A Christmas Surprise for Mrs. Stillman" is a television short film from over 20 years ago written by and starring the voice talent of Louie Anderson. Of course, there are another director, more writer and other voice actors and I don't want to discredit them. just check out the cast and crew list for everybody who contributed here. I personally would not say it was great in terms of comedy, storytelling or emotion, but solid in all areas and this is already an achievement. The characters and their interactions are written in a way that grown-ups can enjoy them at least as much as very young audiences and the dad's grumpiness is fairly hilarious at times. Add a decent story in favor of the lonely to all that and what you get is a well-adjusted little movie, which was better than a lot other stuff from 1990s television. This short film was successful enough that a television series about the same characters would follow.For me, it was not good enough to check out the series anytime soon, but I still give this one here a thumbs up. Recommended.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
