White Christmas (1995 TV Movie) User Reviews

Charming White Christmas

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 9 December 2021]

Decided a few days ago to try and find some Christmas themed animations that weren't the ones that were grown up on as a child and still loved. Have made no secret of loving Christmas and loving every bit as much animation, both for as long as can be remembered. Managed to track down three Christmas themed animations over the past few days, the others being 'Silent Night' and 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' also from 1995.

'White Christmas' was the first of the three seen and was good enough to make me want to see the others. It is not to be confused with the classic 1954 musical, which is a big holiday favourite of mine, completely different story and characters. The other things it has in common is the immortal title song and the "can listen to for hours" voice of Bing Crosby singing it. 'White Christmas' is not my definition of great, but it did have a lot of charm and had no regrets watching it.

The animation quality is uneven, but the backgrounds are lovely and pristine. It particularly looks good at the very start when the title song is sounding. The colours are also suitably vibrant and have a nice wintery quality. A big selling point is the music. It was a real pleasure hearing the timeless "White Christmas", performed so sublimely by Bing Crosby. Have not anybody else sing this wonderful song better and actually even on his level. There is a generous dose of Tchaikovsky's'The Nuctracker' with also Grieg's 'Peer Gynt', Wagner's 'The Flying Dutchman Overture' and Von Suppe's 'Light and Calvary', which doesn't feel at odds with what's going on.

In terms of story, 'White Christmas' is simple but also very charming story that has the right amount of cuteness without being sugary and energy. The quest was investable and Weatherland is a very imaginative setting. There are some amusing moments and Peter and Dorothy are likeable protagonists. Santa is suitably jovial and benevolent and of the rest of the supporting characters Jack Frost comes off best. Odd Job Man also is a nice character once he tones down.

By all means, 'White Christmas' didn't amaze me. The character designs aren't too great and are rushed looking. Especially in the non-Weatherland scenes. The characters meant to be villains Thunder and Lightning are more annoying than sinister and some of their behaviour borders on repetitive. The storm clouds are more of a threat but have little to do.

Voice acting varies, with Santa and Jack Frost, both suiting their characters' personality traits to a tee and enhancing them, coming off best and the too goofy voices of Thunder and Lightning coming off worst.

In conclusion, nice but not great. 7/10.

Complaining About the Weather AND Doing Something About It.

[ExplorerDS6789 · 6/10 · 24 December 2021]

I found this charming cartoon a year ago and have finally decided to talk about it. It was produced along with a series of animated shorts named after famous Christmas carols, so we also have Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and Twelve Days of Christmas to name a few. White Christmas shows how far a certain little girl is willing to go in order to bring her family snow for Christmas. I take it they live in Miami or Los Angeles, or because this was produced by the BBC, some American speaking section of England, as nobody has a British accent. Our tale begins on Christmas Eve where Dorothy, and her brother, Peter, are writing their letters to Santa Claus. Um, you should have done this sooner. It's Christmas Eve. How is Santa going to have time to prepare what you want, especially the things on Peter's mile-long list. However, Dorothy is only asking for one thing: a white Christmas. Will she get her wish? I think it's obvious, don't you? Around midnight, Santa comes down the chimney and finds the kids' notes. I guess this works in the type of universe where Santa already knows what the kids want for Christmas and the letters are there just to make sure he brought everything. But then, if he already knows, doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of writing to him? Sack in hand, Santa ventures upstairs to the children's bedroom. Er, aren't you supposed to leave the gifts under the tree and in the stockings, Santa? Weird, so far, this guy is breaking all the rules. He leaves all of Peter's requested gifts by his bed, and as for Dorothy, he misinterpreted her letter and left her a copy of Bing Crosby's 1954 White Christmas on DVD. No, I'm just kidding, but he does wake her up and inform her that her request was too big for him to handle, however, Santa's got a backup plan and so he takes the kids and their dog, Scratcher, into his sleigh and ferries them off to Weatherland, a magical... sky full of clouds. He basically just drops them off and warns them about the Odd Job Man and then flies away. Okay, so this Santa is making these kids work for their gift? He doesn't even tell them where to go or who to speak to. He just drops them off and wishes them luck. Man, this Santa sucks. Also, guess who is the first person they run into? The Odd Job Man. How predictable. Let's just say his plan of filling a cloud with sugar falls very short of their wish. He sends the kids to see one of the Weathermen, who points them in the direction of Jack Frost. Unfortunately, it's not the killer snowman, or even Michael Keaton AS a snowman, instead it's some prissy imp who can't even make it snow, only he can produce ice. Really? Jack FROST can't make it snow, and Dorothy is concerned that ice is dangerous for old people. Hello? What do you think snow produces? Next time, Dorothy, just ask for a gift card.

Old Frosty Frost points the kids toward the Snowmaster and even flies them there in his plane. They arrive just in time to see the Snowmaster General, who is some weird polar bear/seal/snowman hybrid, preparing to leave on his holiday. So that's why it hadn't snowed in years, as the Snowmaster was on vacation in the winter... what's wrong, do all the resorts fill up during the summer? So, he slides off to Florida, while Frost and the kids book it before the Thunder and Lightning twins can bring on a storm. Yeah, twins who look nothing alike. It's at this point I really start to miss the Miser Brothers. I can just see Snow Miser willing to give the kids snow, but Heat Miser refusing, and the kids tell their mommy on them. Anyway, those evil "twins" zap Jack Frost's plane in half and a trio of cloud demons kidnap Peter and Scratcher. Upon landing, Dorothy and Jack meet a half-melted snowman named Slusher, who points them to the Weather Wizards, the only beings more powerful than the Thunder and Lightning twins, and they live at the top of a very steep hill. With no other choice, the brave little girl and the prissy iceman begin their ascent. Halfway to the top, they get zapped by the twins and narrowly fall to their doom, but luckily, the Odd Job Man happened to be in the neighborhood, and not only does his hot air balloon save Dorothy and Jack, but he also managed to rescue Peter and Scratcher, as we're told through exposition. Guess Odd Job isn't so useless after all, I'd say Santa owes him an apology, as well as to Dorothy and Peter for making them risk their lives over something he probably could have done himself. When they reach the top of the mountain, they meet the kindly, yet befuddled Weather Wizards, who don't so much regulate the weather as they do distribute it, and each Weatherman puts in their own task. Problem is, they're all too disorganized, and in some cases, evil. As they take a look around the supply area of the Wizards' place, they find barns full of wind, rain... and snow! At last! With help from Odd Job, they rig up a contraption to bypass the other Weathermen and get that white Christmas the kids wished for. With their mission complete, the kids are returned home by Santa Claus, and come Christmas morning, Dorothy wakes up thinking the whole thing was just a dream. She looks out the window to find the whole area covered with... nothing. Don't despair, they only need to activate Odd Job's contraption by pulling a rope, whereby it triggers a Rube Goldberg style system that wakes the Weather Wizards, who say the magic words and dump a load of snow down to earth. Hooray! It may have been a bumpy ride at times and those kids faced certain death, but it was all worth it to make their dream come true.

White Christmas is a simple cartoon, as there are a few tense moments, but the problems get solved quickly. Aside from Jack Frost, none of the other side characters are very memorable, but other than that, it's pretty good, and it's beautifully serenaded by Bing Crosby's White Christmas. Of course, this special is not without its flaws and it's basically a fetch quest, chasing down one colorful character after another who passes the buck on to somebody else. It's relatively fast paced, there isn't really time for major character development and it's a very simple, linear story, but the animation is pretty good and the voice acting is nice also, so this holiday season, if you want something nice and simple to watch, and you too pine for snow at Christmas but live in an area where it doesn't fall, then check out White Christmas.

nice

[Kirpianuscus · 24 October 2020]

Nice story, nice embroidery around a classic song. Siblings, a dog, a lovely adventure and the desired White Christmas. Crumbs of fairy tales and just charming atmosphere.