This is the story of a boy named Jesse. He was a very lonely boy who had little to no friends and a workaholic dad in the military who was never around. It was a sad existence for Jesse, until one Christmas he met some new friends in a very unlikely place. This is the story about the Miracle in Toyland, and no, this has nothing to do with the operetta Babes in Toyland, as the titular Toyland refers to the giant toy store that serves as the setting for our film. I've watched a few reviews of this movie and decided to view the whole thing and give my perspective of it, and while it isn't good, it certainly isn't horrible. There are some good ideas here, but the script needed a lot of work and the animation, while decent in some areas, is lacking in others. We begin our tale in an overly long fantasy sequence in which Jesse is put into battle with a group of soldiers. It goes on for 4 minutes until Jesse is awakened by his father, Colonel Daniel Justice. Yes, their last name is Justice, but that isn't quite as farfetched as it seems because in the first pilot for All in the Family, Archie's last name was Justice. Archie Justice. That just doesn't work. So with barely a good morning, the colonel heads off to base on another secret mission, and Jesse heads off to school with his fun-loving cousin, Gabriella. Despite her best efforts to cheer him up, nothing seems to bring Jesse out of his funk. Now in addition to being lonely and mopey, he's also extremely competitive, as shown on the soccer field at school: he pushes aside his own teammates just to score the winning goal himself. Obviously nobody was amused, and his gloating and trying to justify his actions fell on deaf ears. When Colonel Daddy got home, he hardly paid attention to his own son and said he was heading out on yet another mission, on Christmas Eve no less, and so Jesse would be spending Christmas with Gabriella. To try and cheer up her cousin, she takes him to the biggest toy store in town: Toyland, a palace full of oversized, generic toys. It really gives F. A. O. Schwartz a run for his money. This place even has a go-kart track, and leave it to Jesse to start feeling competitive. He drives that kart like a madman, saying he can beat the record and paying no mind to Gabriella's pleas to slow down. His prize for beating the record is Gabriella turning her back on him and leaving. Honestly, who could blame her? I know he's lonely and misses his father, but he's acting like a total jerk. Alone, he sits in a camping tent and pouts about how nobody cares about him. But then, something whimsical happened: as he fell asleep, a magic feather swirled around him and shrunk him down to fun-size. Another fantasy sequence? Almost immediately, Jesse comes face to face with the greatest unlicensed superhero of all time, Super Duper Guy, along with wrestler Bonecrusher, soldier Captain Agro, a pirate, an Indian princess, and an elf girl. This reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode "Four Characters in Search of an Exit," but this movie isn't nearly as clever. These are toys that have come to life... somehow, and they know of Jesse's plight of being alone and try to help him. Super Duper Guy tells him to care about others, which will make others care about him, and then they all sing and dance to a very catchy, Gospel-like song. It feels somewhat out of place, but like I said, it's very catchy. Following the song, Captain Agro and his men suddenly have to rush into a battle. Okay, abrupt. Agro orders Jesse to stay with a wounded soldier, but since the boy learned nothing from what the toys just taught him, he leaves the wounded to join the battle. As a result, the poor soldier died. But he was just a toy... right? Unless we're playing by Indian in the Cupboard rules, in which cause a life was truly snuffed out. Following that tragedy, which had nothing to do with the plot, we immediately move on to helping the pirate get his gold back. This time, Jesse is more helpful and their mission is successful. The boy gives away his share of the loot, so maybe NOW he's learned his lesson. Then they all get hungry and mine a Christmas star for chocolate chips... as you do. After that, I guess it's their naptime, so they all cop some Z's, but then, Jesse wakes up back to normal size. It's morning. Christmas morning! He hadn't missed it. The toy spirits have given him another chance... sorry, wrong story. First thing Jesse does is make amends with Gabriella, and it looks like everything will be okay, until a man from the Air Force turned up, with not so great news.
Colonel Justice's plane went down in a remote mountainous region. They found the wreckage of the plane, but no sign of the colonel. Worse yet, rescue efforts were called off due to heavy snowfall. Jesse was devastated that he might very well lose his father, and on Christmas. Overcome with emotion, he trashes his bedroom ala Tommy Wiseau, but then he spots that magic feather from last night. So, it wasn't a dream then? Knowing it was a long shot, a very long shot, he heads back to Toyland as he knew the only people who could help him now. Of course, the store is closed due to it being Christmas Day and his attempt to break in was unsuccessful, but luckily the still-sentient toys heard Jesse pitching a fit in the alley and come outside to help. They formulate a plan to go and rescue Jesse's dad themselves. Using the magic feather, Super Duper Guy, Bonecrusher, Agro, the pirate, the Indian and the elf (seriously, why didn't they give names to the last three?) enlarge to normal people size, then they "borrow" a toy plane and rubber raft and take off. How do they know where to go? The military never said which mountains the colonel was lost in. He could be anywhere. Braving the fierce winds and snow, they navigate the nearest mountain range, and sure enough, they discover Colonel Justice's plane. Knowing he can't be far, Agro and the others parachute down, while Jesse and Super Duper Guy get separated and crash into a snowbank, where Jesse sprains his knee. The boy won't let a little pain slow him down, though, as luckily they regroup with the other toys and spot a disheveled colonel not too far away, stuck at the bottom of a snowy hill. I mean, Super Duper Guy could just fly down and rescue him himself, but Jesse insists on doing it instead. Just as he reaches his old man, a huge avalanche starts bearing down on them. They all jump in the rubber raft and go on a wild ride. They all land safely and Colonel Justice can finally meet his unlikely rescue party: a group of sentient, life-sized action figures, who all tell him what a wonderful son he has, and the colonel starts to realize that may he has been neglecting Jesse a bit too much. Hopefully, that will all change now. Once they were all back home, Jesse's dad brought him truckloads of toys, however since the boy learned a valuable lesson about generosity and putting others first, he suggests they donate them to the local orphanage, so everything worked out in the end, and Jesse's new friends were there to stay.
So that was Miracle in Toyland. If you're not expecting much from it, then you won't be disappointed. The animation and character designs are okay, but I think they overused the color yellow. Why was Agro's uniform yellow, shouldn't it have been green? The song "Life Your Eyes Up" was very catchy and the highlight of the movie, and the voice acting was good too. You'll instantly recognize Cam Clarke as Jesse. As for the story, it's pretty basic, the plot is not too interesting and while the toy characters are amusing and likeable, they're all pretty stock. This came out in the wake of Toy Story, so it's apparent Golden Films wanted to capitalize on Pixar's success. Well, had the script been a bit stronger and elaborated on a bit more, it might have turned out better. But for what it is, Miracle in Toyland isn't bad but it also isn't very memorable nor does it stand out from the rest, but if you take the story's message to heart, how caring for and loving other people is what's important in building relationships, then the special did its job. So, this Christmas, if you want to see something lowkey, simple, not very flashy and slightly underwhelming, but whose heart is in the right place, then I recommend Miracle in Toyland.
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