Jingle All the Way (1996)

A father vows to get his son a Turbo Man action figure for Christmas. However, every store is sold out of them, and he must travel all over town and compete with everybody else in order to find one.

Director:

Brian Levant

Writer:

Randy Kornfield

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Howard Langston
Sinbad	...	Myron Larabee
Phil Hartman	...	Ted Maltin
Rita Wilson	...	Liz Langston
Robert Conrad	...	Officer Hummell
Martin Mull	...	D.J.
Jake Lloyd	...	Jamie Langston
Jim Belushi	...	Mall Santa (as James Belushi)
E.J. De la Pena	...	Johnny (as E.J. de la Pena)
Laraine Newman	...	First Lady
Justin Chapman	...	Billy
Harvey Korman	...	President
Richard Moll	...	Dementor
Daniel Riordan	...	Turbo Man
Jeff L. Deist	...	T.V. Booster / Puppeteer (as Jeff Deist)

Storyline

Howard Langston, a salesman for a mattress company, is constantly busy at his job, and he also constantly disappoints his son, Jamie. After he misses his son's karate exposition, he tries hard to come up with a way to make it up to him. Jamie says he all he wants for Christmas is an action figure of television hero Turbo Man. Unfortunately for Howard, it is Christmas Eve, and every store is sold out of Turbo Man figures; now Howard must travel all over town and compete with everybody else including a mail man named Myron to find a Turbo Man action figure, and to make it to the Wintertainment Parade, which will feature Turbo Man.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | christmas movie | action figure | postman | santa claus character | 

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Taglines:

Two Dads, One Toy, No Prisoners.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for action violence, mild language and some thematic elements

Did You Know?

Trivia

The story is based on the 1980s shopping frenzy over the Cabbage Patch dolls. However, it ended up perfectly mimicking the Tickle Me Elmo craze of Christmas 1996.

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Goofs

Balthazar's head in the fireplace disappears in subsequent shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Billy: Look, it's Turbo Man and Booster!
Dementor: Kill them both!

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Crazy Credits

After the end credits, there is a brief heartwarming family scene, that ends with a question from Liz. She asks Howard what he got her for Christmas.

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Alternate Versions

The original UK cinema and video releases were cut by the UK censors to remove a 7 second sequence involving nunchucks. Following a review by the censors of the treatment of martial arts weaponary onscreen, this cut was restored when the film was classified for a UK DVD release in 2000.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movies That Aren't as Good As You Remember (2020)

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Soundtracks

Russian Dance
(uncredited)
from "The Nutcracker" ballet
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

User Reviews

2 lunatics vie for a toy at Christmas

This film shows the insanity of Christmas. Two parents, who waited untill the last minute to buy a popular gift for their child, spend all of Christmas Eve trying to come up with the toy. They were vicious and violent with each other in their efforts to secure the piece of plastic junk for their little darling. This picture shows just how goofy people act at this time of year. Instead of preparing, most folks wait till it is too late; all in the name of Christmas spirit. Arnold portrayed a man who ignored his boy all year, and then tried to buy his love at Christmas with a pitiful little bauble. How true of real life. A funny movie on one hand, a tragedy on the other. Look and learn.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 November 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Could This Be Christmas?

Filming Locations:

Pasadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,112,267, 24 November 1996

Gross USA:

$60,592,389

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$129,832,389

Company Credits

Production Co:

1492 Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min 94 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1