Prancer (1989)

A farm girl nurses a wounded reindeer she believes is one of Santa's, hoping to bring it back to health in time for Christmas. Her holiday spirit inspires those around her, something her disheartened father is having trouble understanding.

Director:

John D. Hancock (as John Hancock)

Writer:

Greg Taylor

Stars:

Sam Elliott, Cloris Leachman, Rutanya Alda

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sam Elliott	...	John Riggs
Cloris Leachman	...	Mrs. McFarland
Rutanya Alda	...	Aunt Sarah
Abe Vigoda	...	Orel Benton
Michael Constantine	...	Mr. Stewart / Santa
Rebecca Harrell Tickell	...	Jessica Riggs
John Duda	...	Steve Riggs (as John Joseph Duda)
Ariana Richards	...	Carol Wetherby
Mark Rolston	...	Herb Drier
Johnny Galecki	...	Billy Quinn
Walter Charles	...	Minister
Victor Truro	...	Mr. Young
Marcia Porter	...	Mrs. Fairburn
Loren Janes	...	Mr. Soot
Robert Zimmermann	...	Wagnall

Storyline

Jessica, the daughter of an impoverished farmer, still believes in Santa Claus. So when she comes across a reindeer with an injured leg, it makes perfect sense to her to assume that it is Prancer, who had fallen from a Christmas display in town. She hides him in her barn and feeds him cookies, until she can return him to Santa. Her father finds him and decides to sell him to the butcher, not for venison chops, but as an advertising display.

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Plot Keywords:

reindeer | christmas | holiday | farm | barn | 

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Taglines:

They lost the true spirit of Christmas...And found it locked in the heart of one little girl.

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 November 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Prancer

Filming Locations:

New Carlisle, Indiana, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,914,486, 19 November 1989

Gross USA:

$18,587,135

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$18,587,135

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cineplex Odeon Films, Nelson Entertainment, Raffaella Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was originally set to be released by Cineplex Odeon Films, owned by the titular theatre chain, one of the largest in North America. However, due to a regime change, Cineplex Odeon dropped its distribution rights, and it eventually ended up at Orion.

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Goofs

When Jessica moves to shake Dr. Benton's hand, he has to move his bag from his right hand to his left. However, just two shots earlier, the bag was already in his left hand, and he never appears to have shifted it.

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Quotes

Jessica Riggs: He's magical, Carol!

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: John Goodman/k.d. lang (1989)

User Reviews

A good holiday film!

While not without a couple of problems [like pacing], PRANCER is one of the better family/holiday movies I've seen. I didn't see this until after I saw PRANCER RETURNS about a week ago on cable. After PRANCER RETURNS [the sequel to this] was over, I went to the video store and rented this. Now while this one seemed to have a lower budget than PRANCER RETURNS, it still is just as well-acted and heartwarming [if not even more so]. Most holiday movies tend to show the holidays as times where everything is perfect, but this one shows that the holidays aren't as perfect as we'd like them to be. It's able to capture the ups and downs of the holidays while keeping everything pretty close to reality. Though I really enjoyed the film, CHRISTMAS VACATION remains to be my favorite holiday flick.