Jingle All the Way
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| Jingle All the Way | |
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| Directed by | Brian Levant |
| Produced by | Chris Columbus Michael Barnathan Mark Radcliffe |
| Written by | Randy Kornfield |
| Starring | Arnold Schwarzenegger Sinbad Phil Hartman Rita Wilson Robert Conrad and Jim Belushi |
| Music by | Brian Setzer David Newman |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | November 22, 1996 |
| Running time | 103 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Jingle All the Way is a 1996 family comedy film directed by Brian Levant and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad. The name is taken from a line in the Christmas song "Jingle Bells".
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Plot
Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is often busy at his job, and has a hard time finding time for his wife, Liz (Rita Wilson) and his young son, Jamie (Jake Lloyd)- especially when compared to next door superdad divorcé, Ted Maltin (Phil Hartman). After breaking his word again by missing Jamie's karate match, Howard resolves to redeem himself and his marriage by fulfilling Jamie's ultimate Christmas wish, a Turbo-Man action figure.
Unbeknownst to Howard, Turbo-Man toys are the must-have gifts of the season, and stocks of Turbo-Man toys are quickly drying up all over the country. Desperate not to disappoint his family again, Howard embarks on an epic city-wide quest to find the toy everyone's looking for. Along the way, Howard encounters Myron Larabee (Sinbad), a postal worker dad with a rival ambition.
The search climaxes with both dads masquerading as live action stuntmen in a department store parade. Posed as the "real" Turbo-Man, Howard uses the opportunity to present a coveted Turbo-Man doll to his son in the crowd. But before he can recognize his dad, Jaime is chased around the parade by the costumed Myron and ultimately saved by Turbo-Man, who reveals himself as his father.
Touched by Myron's undying dedication to his own son, Jamie relinquishes the doll to him and confesses that his dad is the only superhero he needs. In the final scene, Howard happily opens presents with Jamie until he realizes that he forgot to get Liz a gift.
Setting
- The movie was filmed and is set in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota.
References in popular culture
- Comedian Jay Leno has been known to joke about this movie several times on his show, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". When California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's four ballot measures were rejected by California voters in November 2005, Leno remarked that "...This has to be the worst day Arnold's had since that movie 'Jingle All the Way' came out".
- On Late Night with Conan O'Brien, nearly each time Conan has a fake interview with "Arnold" (a cardboard cutout with Arnold's voice impersonated), the Arnold character will yell (apropos of nothing) for the audience to see/buy/watch Jingle All the Way! O'Brien has said that the reason behind this continuing parody was Arnold's fervor in promoting the movie when it was first released; Arnold was so enthusiastic about the cookie-cutter holiday picture that O'Brien and his writers found it hilarious.
- A quick clip of the film can be seen in the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. As Borat changes the channel on his hotel television, he switches from COPS, to Married... with Children, then Jingle All the Way, and finally Baywatch. In the film, Borat appears to be disgusted with Jingle All the Way as he watches the scene where Jamie hugs Howard.
Reception
Despite being lambasted by critics[1], Jingle All the Way recouped its $60 million budget and went on to gross $130 million worldwide.[2]
Cast
- Arnold Schwarzenegger – Howard Langston
- Sinbad – Myron Larabee
- Phil Hartman – Ted Maltin
- Rita Wilson – Liz Langston
- Jake Lloyd – Jamie Langston
- Robert Conrad – Officer Alexander Hummell
- Martin Mull – D.J. (Mr. Ponytail Man)
- James Belushi – Mall Santa
- E.J. De La Pena – Johnny Maltin
- Laraine Newman – First Lady Caroline Timmons
- Justin Chapman – Billy Timmons
- Harvey Korman – President Fallon Timmons
- Richard Moll – Dementor
- Daniel Riordan – Turbo Man
- Jeff L. Deist – TV Booster/Puppeteer
- Paul "The Giant" Wight – Giant Santa
- Chris Parnell – Toy Store Clerk
References
- ^ Jingle All the Way. movie reviews. RottenTomatoes.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-24.
- ^ Jingle All the Way. movie statistics. BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-24.
