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

Meet Howard Langston, a salesman for a mattress company is constantly busy at his job, and he also constantly disappoints his son, Jaime, 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 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 | karate | action figure | hero | toy | 

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Taglines:

Two Dads, One Toy, No Prisoners.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

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, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$60,592,389, 31 December 1997

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$129,832,389, 31 December 1997

Company Credits

Production Co:

1492 Pictures,Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min 94 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Arnold Schwarzenegger was paid a reported twenty million dollars for the role.

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Goofs

On the trip to pick up a Turbo Man doll from the warehouse with the Mall Santa, the windows in Howard's GMC change several times from darkly tinted to completely transparent.

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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

Spoofs Blazing Saddles (1974)

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Soundtracks

Jingle Bell Rock
Written by Jim Boothe (as James Ross Boothe) and Joe Beal (as Joseph Carleton Beal)
Performed by Bobby Helms
Courtesy of MCA Records
by arrangement with MCA Special Markets & Products

User Reviews

One of the best Christmas movies I've ever seen

JINGLE ALL THE WAY, in my opinion, is one of the best Christmas movies I've ever seen. I thought that Howard (Arnold Schwarzenegger) should have paid a little more attention to his family. The one person I really couldn't stand was Myron (Sinbad). This was because of his attitude. Plus, he tried to hurt Jamie (Jake Lloyd). I must say that Howard was very foolish to wait so long to buy Jamie's present. Even my parents have more sense than that! No offense to you, Howard. If you ask me, Liz (Rita Wilson) looked very beautiful in the nightgown she wore. The part that really made me laugh the most was when Howard broke into Ted's (Phil Hartman) house and stole the Turbo Man doll that was supposed to be for Johnny (E.J. De La Pena). This was because Ted's reindeer charged at Howard and caused him to set the living room carpet on fire. That was absolutely hilarious! In conclusion, I highly recommend this holiday smash to everyone... especially all you Arnold Schwarzenegger fans who have not seen it. When you see it, prepare to laugh and have a good time.