Sometimes I think we all could do with a Christmas miracle, such as if you're down on your luck over the holidays, or if someone you love is in dire straights, or even if your entire town is forbidden to even celebrate Christmas. Yeah, what if it were possible to outlaw the holiday of Christmas in an entire town? Such a concept is silly to imagine now adays, but long ago, after the turn of the century (the twentieth century) in the mountain town of Ironville, Christmas had been outlawed for the last twenty-five years. Now what sort of crackpot managed to not only pass such a law, but also enforce it? Enter D. D. Kovet, a crooked, spindly old miser who owns the Kovet Millworks, a factory around which the entire town revolved. Old man Kovet hates Christmas and, because he also owns the town, has managed to keep people from celebrating it for a quarter of a century. Imagine if Ebeneezer Scrooge owned London, he'd probably do the same. Mr. Kovet's motives aren't very clear, but from a non-song he recites, he never had a real childhood and grew up miserable, so he wants the same for everybody else. He deems Christmas a "humbug" and thinks it's counterproductive. Meanwhile outside the gates of the cold, uninviting factory, a little girl named Angela suddenly appeared in town and tried unsuccessfully to sell sprigs of holly to the people, but they paid her very little mind. She gets noticed by two kids, Marian and Bobby, who take pity on her and invite her to their house for dinner, only their parents bluntly inform her that they're poor and don't have enough food for her. Yeah, just in case you were wondering, Kovet underpays his employees... yet has enough to fund a Christmas Patrol. Yes, the Christmas Patrol: three goofy cops headed by the brawny, white-bearded Bear. It's their sworn duty to prevent Christmas from ever returning to this town. They find a sprig of holly Angela had dropped and report it back to Mr. Kovet, and when he discovers that someone is daring to try and bring back that most hated holiday, he vows vengeance. I'd say Mr. Kovet needs to get laid. While that's going on, Bobby and Marian track Angela to the forest and invite her back to their house again, and it's here that they meet her pet, Wilfred the Talking Wolf, because I guess this cartoon was desperate for a comic-relief animal sidekick, and GoodTimes is always "good" at making those. Naturally, Mrs. Matthew is shocked to see a wolf joining them for breakfast, but at least it was the food he was eating, and not them.
At the Kovet Sweatshop, they were unveiling their latest product: the Kovet Dynamic Valvular Flange... okay, that is not a flange. Ever since I installed my toilet, flanges have become the bane of my existence, and I know what they look like, and that weird thing Kovet is holding is definitely not it. And if you still aren't convinced that this town and especially this factory are Hell on earth, guess what happens if someone accidentally breaks a flange? It costs them a week's pay. Poor Mr. Matthew took the fall for a colleague, and unfortunately, it cost him his wages for the week. Well, there goes that yacht. Worse yet, Bear and his Christmas stooges have picked up Angela's trail. Mr. Kovet wants her found at once, since for some reason Christmas would interfere with his sale of flanges. Did they even read this out loud? At that moment, Angela was in the town square, singing a lovely song to the people about the spirit of Christmas, touching their hearts, as they had not known joy in years, all thanks to Kovet and his banning of the holiday. Planting the seeds of change, though sadly it didn't resonate with everyone, as the town bully rats her out to ol' Bear, who has Angela arrested and brought to Mr. Kovet. In short, he displays what a cold, flint-hearted creep he is and has her banished from town. Taking shelter in an old barn, poor Angela was ready to give up on her mission, which was to bring Christmas back to Ironville before it would be lost forever. Okay, so why has it taken you twenty five years to finally do something about it? Leave it to Wilfred to remind her about the true spirit of Christmas, dating back to that night long, long ago when a baby was born to a lowly carpenter and his virgin wife, the greatest gift bestowed upon the world. With her confidence restored, Angela set the next phase of her plan in motion: find the perfect Christmas tree and decorate it. Fortunately, they had Bobby, Marian and the now-reformed bullies to lend a hand. They cut down the tree and attempt to transport it back to town, only they wheeled it across thin ice... idiots, and the tree falls in the water. Bear and his Christmas Nazis show up to cause trouble and are just in time to see Bobby risk his life to save the tree, though they do nothing when he almost goes over the waterfall. But luckily, Angela saved him just in time. This caused a great change to come over Bear, as he suddenly realized he had a heart. As a result, he helped the kids get a new tree and aimed to set it up in the town square. Furthermore, the other residents in town begin questioning Kovet's stupid rule and bring out boxes of decorations they'd kept stored away for twenty five years. When Kovet found out, he was livid. He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming. It came. Somehow or other, it came just the same. How could it be so? It came despite warnings, it came despite restrictions. It came despite plotting, sneaking, and contradictions! In anger, Kovet cuts the town's power and threatens to close down the factory and have it outsourced. Please, don't do them any favors, Mr. Kovet, and no other town will accept your greedy, slimy, Christmas-hating keister! But then, a miracle happened, and one that should have happened far sooner if you ask me: Angela reveals herself as an angel! And what happened then? Well, in Ironville they say, Mr. Kovet's small heart grew two sizes that day, and with only 3 minutes left in the runtime, not a moment too soon. He's suddenly a changed man, he's giving, he's merry, he's kind. All was well in Ironville again, and Christmas came regularly from then on, but for Mr. Kovet, every day was now like Christmas.
Well, this one was very interesting, to say the least. It has a certain charm to it, and it looks like it's replicating the feel and appearance of classic Christmas specials. In fact, I've often said that it resembles the '90s trying to animate the '60s. The animation isn't bad, even if some of the backgrounds look very lazy, especially in the forest, and whoever drew the flanges should have done more research. As for the voices, they aren't terrible, but the acting could certainly use some work. I wasn't buying many of the performances and some voices, like that of Mr. Kovet, just didn't work for me. The songs are okay and the story, well, this story is a convoluted mess. Okay, so an old miser hates Christmas. If done right, it can be a terrific story. A Christmas Carol is one of the greatest novels ever written and there have been many wonderful adaptations of it over the years. But this one just didn't make sense. Mr. Kovet hated Christmas for no real reason and spent a ton of resources to prevent it from ever coming to his town. This angel girl waits twenty five years before trying to restore the spirit, and why did it only happen twenty five years ago? Kovet is an old man, so when he was younger, did he used to tolerate Christmas, and then in 1886, just decided to put the kibosh on it? It has you asking so many questions. In closing, if you're curious about this special, I'd say give it a look, or if you don't want to spend the 45 minutes watching the whole thing, then check out Phelous' review of it. If your expectations are low, then An Angel for Christmas will not disappoint... or just watch The Grinch (any of them) or any of the 136 adaptations of A Christmas Carol if you want to see this type of story done right.
At the Kovet Sweatshop, they were unveiling their latest product: the Kovet Dynamic Valvular Flange... okay, that is not a flange. Ever since I installed my toilet, flanges have become the bane of my existence, and I know what they look like, and that weird thing Kovet is holding is definitely not it. And if you still aren't convinced that this town and especially this factory are Hell on earth, guess what happens if someone accidentally breaks a flange? It costs them a week's pay. Poor Mr. Matthew took the fall for a colleague, and unfortunately, it cost him his wages for the week. Well, there goes that yacht. Worse yet, Bear and his Christmas stooges have picked up Angela's trail. Mr. Kovet wants her found at once, since for some reason Christmas would interfere with his sale of flanges. Did they even read this out loud? At that moment, Angela was in the town square, singing a lovely song to the people about the spirit of Christmas, touching their hearts, as they had not known joy in years, all thanks to Kovet and his banning of the holiday. Planting the seeds of change, though sadly it didn't resonate with everyone, as the town bully rats her out to ol' Bear, who has Angela arrested and brought to Mr. Kovet. In short, he displays what a cold, flint-hearted creep he is and has her banished from town. Taking shelter in an old barn, poor Angela was ready to give up on her mission, which was to bring Christmas back to Ironville before it would be lost forever. Okay, so why has it taken you twenty five years to finally do something about it? Leave it to Wilfred to remind her about the true spirit of Christmas, dating back to that night long, long ago when a baby was born to a lowly carpenter and his virgin wife, the greatest gift bestowed upon the world. With her confidence restored, Angela set the next phase of her plan in motion: find the perfect Christmas tree and decorate it. Fortunately, they had Bobby, Marian and the now-reformed bullies to lend a hand. They cut down the tree and attempt to transport it back to town, only they wheeled it across thin ice... idiots, and the tree falls in the water. Bear and his Christmas Nazis show up to cause trouble and are just in time to see Bobby risk his life to save the tree, though they do nothing when he almost goes over the waterfall. But luckily, Angela saved him just in time. This caused a great change to come over Bear, as he suddenly realized he had a heart. As a result, he helped the kids get a new tree and aimed to set it up in the town square. Furthermore, the other residents in town begin questioning Kovet's stupid rule and bring out boxes of decorations they'd kept stored away for twenty five years. When Kovet found out, he was livid. He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming. It came. Somehow or other, it came just the same. How could it be so? It came despite warnings, it came despite restrictions. It came despite plotting, sneaking, and contradictions! In anger, Kovet cuts the town's power and threatens to close down the factory and have it outsourced. Please, don't do them any favors, Mr. Kovet, and no other town will accept your greedy, slimy, Christmas-hating keister! But then, a miracle happened, and one that should have happened far sooner if you ask me: Angela reveals herself as an angel! And what happened then? Well, in Ironville they say, Mr. Kovet's small heart grew two sizes that day, and with only 3 minutes left in the runtime, not a moment too soon. He's suddenly a changed man, he's giving, he's merry, he's kind. All was well in Ironville again, and Christmas came regularly from then on, but for Mr. Kovet, every day was now like Christmas.
Well, this one was very interesting, to say the least. It has a certain charm to it, and it looks like it's replicating the feel and appearance of classic Christmas specials. In fact, I've often said that it resembles the '90s trying to animate the '60s. The animation isn't bad, even if some of the backgrounds look very lazy, especially in the forest, and whoever drew the flanges should have done more research. As for the voices, they aren't terrible, but the acting could certainly use some work. I wasn't buying many of the performances and some voices, like that of Mr. Kovet, just didn't work for me. The songs are okay and the story, well, this story is a convoluted mess. Okay, so an old miser hates Christmas. If done right, it can be a terrific story. A Christmas Carol is one of the greatest novels ever written and there have been many wonderful adaptations of it over the years. But this one just didn't make sense. Mr. Kovet hated Christmas for no real reason and spent a ton of resources to prevent it from ever coming to his town. This angel girl waits twenty five years before trying to restore the spirit, and why did it only happen twenty five years ago? Kovet is an old man, so when he was younger, did he used to tolerate Christmas, and then in 1886, just decided to put the kibosh on it? It has you asking so many questions. In closing, if you're curious about this special, I'd say give it a look, or if you don't want to spend the 45 minutes watching the whole thing, then check out Phelous' review of it. If your expectations are low, then An Angel for Christmas will not disappoint... or just watch The Grinch (any of them) or any of the 136 adaptations of A Christmas Carol if you want to see this type of story done right.
