Christmas is Here Again: Musical Hell Review #54

Hey, remember when there was no Christmas for like thirty years until a cloying orphan and her assorted companions brought it back? No? Well, according to this movie it happened. So there.

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[kieranmahon]

OH no. Oh no this movie didn't. This movie did NOT use disability solely as a means to make a character pitiable.

This ticks me off more than I can say.

[annabunovsky]

To add onto your point about Tiny Tim, "A Christmas Carol" was written and set in Victorian England, where poor people dying of various illnesses and physical conditions brought on by poverty and the extremely limited knowledge of medical science of the day, especially poor and orphaned children, was extremely common. It serves as more than just a gimmick to make the Cratchits more sympathetic because it reflects real problems of the time, and how Scrooge is an embodiment of Victorian England's wealthy turning their noses up at those less fortunate. This special that seems to be set at any non-specific point in the modern era chose to give their cutesy Mary-Sue a cane cuz.

[Cure_Hana]

Even though Sophiana is as basic as a Mary Sue can get, the girl who voices her actually doesn't sound that bad for a child actor.

[thegayghost]

Sophiana sounds like the name a WASP family would give their daughter to make her sound unique

[ranchoth]

...so does this mean that the Easter Bunny is naturally and uniquely equipped to fight vampires?

[boxorak]

I'm betting that in another version of this script, Sofiana turned out to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. It would certainly explain a lot.

[starbird]

Why why “Sophiana”? Why not just “Sophie”? Sophie is adorable and perfectly fine.

This plus her “disability” (that is only there for pity points and not an actual deterrant), orphan background and bullied backstory, and her supposed perfect cook skills makes her hit swuarely in the “Mary Sur” category... the ones made by 12 year olds who just discovered fan fics.

Except ADULTS made this. Adults WROTE and NAMED this character “Sophiana”. Adults, who should know better, wrote a character even kid writers would find too Mary Sueish

[Hinatachan]

For a crippled, poor orphan Sophiana's hair sure is on fleek.

[caseyw]

Somewhere, Tiny Tim wakes up in a cold sweat. "I've been replaced!" he whispers, and then immediately falls back asleep bc Sophiana isn't nearly as iconic or effective.

[gageperuti]

Question... Why is Buster a red fox instead of an Arctic fox, which WOULD be living in that climate? Do the filmmakers think red is the only color fur foxes have? Even Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer the Movie got this right. That just goes to show how little attention to detail there is in this film.

[kieranmahon]

Wow! The " there was no Christmas for like thirty years until a cloying orphan and her assorted companions brought it back?" premise sounds like The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, only, poorly executed.
And well, not-by-C.S. Lewis-executed.

[captaindreadeye]

So, Sophiana had a leg busted up in a car crash enough to require a cane to walk, and yet the first thing we see her do is climb a tree without a ladder?


Yeah, that tracks the laziness.

[Zarastro]

Her leg looks fine and she doesn't even have a limp, and we're expected to believe she "needs" that cane outside being a pity prop?

[KaitlynMutt]

This special is actually hilarious in its sheer lameness. You're so right about the interesting elements being completely wasted.

[elsie]

I just got that Buster saying "make like a bridge and ease my mind" was a reference to the song Bridge Over Troubled Water.

_"Like a bridge/ over troubled water/ I will ease your mind"_

[metademetra]

Okay I give them credit for trying to answer “what the hell does Santa have to do with Jesus’ birth, ” but seriously this is a stretch. “Saint Peter was a Rabbit” is a much less silly explanation by comparison

[jrlpixels]

I think the sack is actually a really creative idea; there are allot of items like that in Christian and Pagan hybrid lore. Like the holy grail and the spear of destiny. I think the lore of the sack is actually a great idea.

[lauradietrich]

The title song isn't even a song, it's more of a joyless chant! It's less melodic than the Winkie's chant in "The Wizard of Oz". It makes you long for "We Are Santa's Elves"! And is anyone else bothered by that elf at 3:42? Dude, WTF?

Norm MacDonald singing... ugh. Then again, Norm MacDonald in general.... ugh.

I agree with your gripe on Sophiana, she suffers the same problem as the protagonists in "The Princess and the Pea": She's nice... and that's it. Disney has been churning movies with basically nice protagonists for almost 8 decades, but, at least in the last generation or two, they give them qualities other than "nice": they have flaws, they have wants and needs, problems, struggles, they often have a third-act crisis of faith, they learn valuable lessons at the end. Sophiana, on the other hand, would bore Pollyanna or the average Shirley Temple character with her one-note sweetness. And giving her a superfluous disability that in no way impacts the plot or presents an obstacle was not only poor writing, but an example of political correctness gone wrong. Don't just give a character a disability for the hell of it, show how it impacts their daily life! "Kubo and the Two Strings" is a good, recent example.

Shirley Jones, I'm so glad you're still singing and working in your golden years, but this?!

Does Krad hail from Nilbog, by any chance (yeah, I know I'm not the first to make that joke, but I couldn't help it)?

You're a brave soul for tackling "A Troll in Central Park". I've only seen the Nostalgia Critic's review, but I can assure you that it's a world of treacle and hurt.

[crownvetch]

Am I the only one who is laughing at the fact they used the term "someone stole my sack" and "I stole santa's sack"?

[JFtheLOLZOR]

does anyone else notice that when sophiana is carrying that plate, she is _walking and standing perfectly fine without the cane?_

_was it too expensive to proofread the script?!_