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:

Something magical is about to happen.

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 November 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jessica und das Rentier

Filming Locations:

New Carlisle, Indiana, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,914,486, 19 November 1989, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$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 holiday and reindeer aside, this story bears a strong resemblance to that of Pollyanna (1960).

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Goofs

The reindeer playing Prancer is clearly female, even though she is referred to as "he" in the film. Both male and female reindeer have antlers, though a female's are smaller and daintier than a male's.

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Quotes

John Riggs: [to Steve at the dinner table] If you're gonna eat like an animal, take your food out to the barn.

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Connections

Referenced in New Girl: Kryptonite (2011)

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.