Prancer Returns
Sleigh bells may not ring briskly for this often-somber sequel  to the 1989 hitPrancer, but there is plenty to like about its  sympathetic characters and wistful storyline. Ten years after the  little heroine ofPrancersaved a wounded reindeer that might  have been a magical member of Santa's flying herd, a friendless boy  named Charlie Hooper (Gavin Fink) clandestinely adopts an orphaned buck  in the same Michigan town. Convinced that he also has St. Nick's  (apparently ever-wandering) Prancer on his hands, Charlie grows  determined to lead the deer back to the North Pole. A finely balanced  supporting cast (Jack Palance, John Corbett, Michael O'Keefe) brings  some interesting textures to this simple tale of redemption and, hey,  kids are bound to love the sight of a baby reindeer making himself  comfortable in Charlie's bed.Prancer Returnsmay prove to be a  minor holiday classic, worth revisiting every year when the trees grow  bare and Christmas is around the corner.--Tom Keogh