# How the Toys Saved Christmas

How the Toys Saved Christmas (Italian: La freccia azzurra) is a 1996 Italian animated film directed by Enzo D'Alò, based on the children's novel The Befana's Toyshop [it] by Gianni Rodari.
In the original version, the story took place during the Epiphany Eve, because in the Folklore of Italy the Befana is a good witch that gives presents and candies to the children during the night between 5 and 6 January.

## Plot

On the Epiphany Eve, La Befana falls ill and must take off for a night, recruiting Scarafoni to help deliver all the toys that must go to the Italian children. No one but the toys knows that Scarafoni plans to auction off the toys to the highest bidder, which means that the toys won't make it to the children who have been good all year and therefore deserve them. The toys decide to deliver themselves: the story follows them as they struggle to avoid the heartless Scarafoni and to find their true homes.
Meanwhile, a young boy named Francesco wishes to receive as an Epiphany present the model of the Freccia Azzurra (Blue Arrow), the train where his late father used to work on. While Scarafoni is out looking for the escaping toys, a couple of burglars, Lesto and Scarpa, kidnaps Francesco and force him to sneak inside the Befana's shop and taking away all the money. Francesco, instead, uses the telephone inside the shop to call the police who arrest the burglars; Befana understands that Francesco is not involved in the attempted robbery and, with much gratitude, exonerates Francesco.
Of all the toys, the plush dog Spicciola wishes to be given to Francesco. During the evening, after a fight against Scarafoni that splits him from the group, Spicciola turns into a real dog. The next morning, Spicciola finds Francesco and the two bonds immediately.
In the end, all the toys manage to deliver themselves to the children in their homes, but Scarafoni still has the money. However, everyone rushes to the toy shop and find Scarafoni with the money and the people manage to get it back from him as he is arrested. Befana, after having found that her illness was provoked by Scarafoni himself, who gave her a light poison instead of medicine, hires Francesco as her new helper, joined by Spicciola.

## U.S. version

In 1997, the film was imported to the U.S. and released direct-to-video by Buena Vista Home Video, under the title How the Toys Saved Christmas (although, as shown in the previews, it was originally going to be titled The Toys Who Saved Christmas).
The film featured Mary Tyler Moore as the voice for the Befana, renamed "Granny Rose" and described as Santa Claus' helper; Tony Randall as Scarafoni, renamed "Mr. Grimm"; Michael Caloz as Francesco, renamed "Christopher Winter"; and Sonja Ball as Spicciola the dog, renamed Jingles. Instead of being set during the Epiphany Eve, the film is set on Christmas Eve.
The plot is otherwise very similar to the original Italian version, with some minor alterations. Rather than desiring the Blue Arrow for himself, Christopher Winter writes to Santa on behalf of his friend Charlie, a fellow orphan and the one who ultimately receives the train as his gift. For himself, Christopher asks for "one special friend", making his adoption of Jingles a fulfillment of his actual wish in this version.
The film also had some scenes from the original Italian release deleted or placed before other scenes, along with some music scores taken out and new music added in.

## Cast

| Character | Italian name | Original Italian V.O. | English dub (Miramax version) |
| Mr. Grimm | Scarafoni | Dario Fo | Tony Randall |
| Granny Rose | La Befana | Lella Costa | Mary Tyler Moore |
| Christopher Winter | Francesco | Alida Milana | Michael Caloz |
| Jingles the Dog | Spicciola | Monica Bertolotti | Sonja Ball |
| The Indian Chief | Penna d'Argento | Rino Bolognesi | Terrence Scammell |
| Skipper the Boat Captain | Capitano Mezzabarba | Vittorio Amandola | Richard Dumont |
| Holly and Polly the Dollies | Carlotta and Barbara | Ilaria Latini | Holly Gauthier-Frankel (Holly) Maggie Castle (Polly) |
| General Lajoie | Generale | Rodolfo Bianchi | Rick Jones |
| The Stubborn Wizard | Mago Testardo | Carlo Reali | Garry Jewell |
| Theodore the Wind-Up Teddy Bear | Orso Giallo | Roberto Stocchi | Michael Rudder |
| The Plane Pilot | Pilota D'Aereo | Marco Bresciani | Thor Bishopric |
| The Toy Crane Foreman | Caposquadra della Gru | Unknown Voice Actor | Mark Camacho |
| The Blue Arrow Train Crew | Il personale del treno della Freccia Azzurra | Oliviero Dinelli (Conductor) Christian Iansante (Train Driver) Unknown Voice Actor (Trainman) | Richard Dumont (Conductor) Arthur Holden (Train Driver) Michael Rudder (Trainman) |
| The Colored Pencils | Pastelli | Sergio Luzi (red and black) Pino Ammendola (green and blue) Neri Marcorè (yellow) Gaetano Varcasia (white and brown) | Bruce Dinsmore (red pencil) Rick Jones (yellow pencil) Terrence Scammell (green pencil) Arthur Holden (blue pencil) Richard Dumont (black pencil) Garry Jewell (brown pencil) Mark Camacho (white pencil) |
| The Wooden Duck | Anatra di Legno | Unknown Voice Actor | Rick Jones |
| Swifty and Rocko the Burglars | Lesto and Scarpa | Fabio Boccanera (Lesto) Roberto Pedicini (Scarpa) | Richard Dumont (Swifty) Mark Camacho (Rocko) |
| Mr. Tinker the Toy Maker | Mastro Romualdo | Nello Riviè | Walter Massey |
| Mr. Potter the Night Watchman | Arturo | Giorgio Borghetti | Bruce Dinsmore |
| Milford and Alfred the Twins | Carlo Alberto and Filippo Maria | Davide Perino (Carlo Alberto) Alessio de Filippis (Filippo Maria) | Jane Woods (Milford) Susan Glover (Alfred) |
| Jonesy the Twins' Maid | Domestica | Unknown Voice Actor | Joanna Noyes |
| The Chief of Police | Capo della Polizia | Pino Ferrara | Walter Massey |
| The Police Constable | Agente | Unknown Voice Actor | Terrence Scammell |
| The Ticket Seller | Venditore di Biglietti | Laura Cosenza | Joanna Noyes |
| The Coach Driver | Autista di Pullman | Unknown Voice Actor | Michael Rudder |
| Charlie | Unknown Name | Unknown Voice Actor | Michael Carloz |
| Uncle Hank | Unknown Name | Unknown Voice Actor | Mark Camacho |
| Samantha | Unknown Name | Unknown Voice Actor | Maggie Castle |
| The Town Stature | Statura | Michele Kalamera | Garry Jewell |
| Rascal the Stray Dog | Nerone | Unknown Voice Actor | Mark Camacho |
| Christopher's Dad | Papà | Unknown Voice Actor | Neil Shee |
| Santa Claus | Babbo Natale | Renzo Stacchi | Neil Shee |

## Home media

Buena Vista Home Video released the film in its English-dubbed version on DVD in 2003. Echo Bridge Home Entertainment re-released the film on DVD in 2011. It was also re-released on DVD by Lionsgate in 2014 and Paramount Home Entertainment in 2020.