Richie Rich's Christmas Wish (1998)

After getting blamed for spoiling Christmas, the richest kid in the world wishes he'd never been born. Unfortunately, a wishing machine, invented by professor Keenbean, picked up the wish ... See full summary »

Director:

John Murlowski

Writers:

Rob Kerchner (story), Jason Feffer (story)

Stars:

David Gallagher, Eugene Levy, Keene Curtis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Gallagher	...	Richie Rich
Eugene Levy	...	Professor Keenbean
Keene Curtis	...	Cadbury
Jake Richardson	...	Reggie Van Dough
Martin Mull	...	Mr. Rich
Lesley Ann Warren	...	Mrs. Rich
Richard Fancy	...	Mr. Van Dough
Marla Maples	...	Mrs. Van Dough
Michelle Trachtenberg	...	Gloria
Blake Jeremy Collins	...	Freckles
Austin Stout	...	Pee Wee
Kathleen Freeman	...	Miss Peabody
Richard Riehle	...	Sgt. Mooney
Don McLeod	...	Irona / Evil Irona
Billy Burnette	...	Nigel

Storyline

After getting blamed for spoiling Christmas, the richest kid in the world wishes he'd never been born. Unfortunately, a wishing machine, invented by professor Keenbean, picked up the wish and made it come true. Now Richie finds himself in a parallel world where his only hope is to find professor Keenbean and the wishing machine so he can wish things back to normal.

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Plot Keywords:

snow | mud | pig | child | brother sister relationship | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 November 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Richie Rich'$ Christmas Wish

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Theatre - 615 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Saban Entertainment, The Harvey Entertainment Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (as Dolby SurroundTM)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Keene Curtis's final acting role before his death on October 13, 2002 at the age of 79.

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Goofs

During the bank scene, Richie hops over a divider, knocking a statue down. In the next scene when the officers follow, the statue is back up.

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Quotes

Sergeant Mooney: I would never work for someone who would cancel Christmas!

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Alternate Versions

The 1998 UK video release was cut by 4 seconds by the BBFC to remove the sight of a boy smashing a vehicle door into a pursuing guard.

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Connections

References It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

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Soundtracks

My Way
Performed by Cash Cow
Written by Kussa Mohchi & Shuki Levy
Published by Eifoata Music

User Reviews

Richie Rich must stop his mean cousin and save Christmas!

Richie Rich's Christmas Wish is a 1998 direct-to-video sequel to 1994's Richie Rich. It was directed by John Murlowski and written by Jason Feffer, Mark Furey, & Rob Kerchner. It stars David Gallagher as the title character.

Richie Rich (played by David Gallagher) is the world's richest kid. On Christmas Eve, after playing with his friends, Richie visits his home scientist Professor Keanbean (played by Eugene Levy), who shows him his new Wishing Machine that only works on Christmas Eve. He tries it out, but it's not working right, so he goes to get ready to see his cousin who is visiting. He sees his very mean cousin Reggie (played by Jake Richardson) and heads off to a sleigh with his butler Cadbury (played by Keene Curtis) that they are going to drive to an orphanage and give gifts to all of the children there. However, Reggie sabotages the sleigh and it crashes, leaving everyone talking about how Richie Rich ruined Christmas. Richie runs home and wishes that he was never born and the Wishing Machine grants his wish! No one remembers who he is, but there is another problem. Reggie now lives in his mansion and has taken control of the town, leaving many homeless and threatening to cancel Christmas! Richie must do his best to find Professor Keanbean and his Wishing Machine before Christmas Eve is over or things will be stuck like this forever!

I actually had a lot of fun watching this movie. It's target audience was mostly children, so some of it is pretty predictable and childish. The acting isn't perfect, but it really isn't as bad as people say it is. David Gallagher was a great choice to replace Macauley Culkin, who played Richie in the previous film. I also thought that Keene Curtis did a really good job as Cadbury. Jake Richardson did a great job of making me absolutely hate his character! There really weren't any actors or actresses that I can say did a terrible job. Some of the special effects weren't too good, but I can't really criticize them for that as those were pretty much the best they could do at the time on a smaller budget.

All in all, I thought it was a really fun family movie, but I'm sure children would enjoy it the most. If you watch it, don't go in expecting a masterpiece, and I'm sure you'll have a good time!