Jingle All the Way

Jingle All the Way is a 1996 American family-oriented comedy film directed by Brian Levant and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad, with Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Jake Lloyd, James Belushi and Robert Conrad.
== Plot ==
Workaholic Minneapolis mattress salesman Howard Langston loves his wife, Liz, and nine-year-old son, Jamie, but rarely finds time for them. He is often put in a bad light by his neighbor, divorcé Ted Maltin, who harbors unrequited feelings for Liz. After missing Jamie's karate class graduation, Howard resolves to redeem himself by fulfilling his Christmas wish for a Turbo Man action figure, a popular television superhero; despite Liz actually having asked him to buy one two weeks earlier, which Howard forgot about. On Christmas Eve, Howard sets out to buy the toy, but finds that every store has sold out, and in the process develops a rivalry with Myron Larabee, a postal worker father with the same goal.
In desperation, Howard attempts to buy a figure from a counterfeit ring run by con men dressed in Santa suits, which results in a massive fight in the warehouse that is broken up by the police. Howard narrowly escapes arrest by posing as an undercover officer. Exhausted at his failure and out of fuel, Howard goes to a diner and calls home, intending to tell Liz the truth. Jamie answers the phone but keeps reminding him of his promise to be home in time for the annual Holiday Wintertainment Parade. Losing his patience, Howard yells at Jamie, and he feels guilty and depressed after Jamie scolds him for not keeping his promises.
Howard finds Myron at the diner and they share their experiences over coffee, where Myron tells him of his resentment towards his own father for failing to get him a Johnny Seven OMA for Christmas. During their conversation, Howard and Myron overhear a radio station advertising a competition for a Turbo Man doll. The ensuing fight between them results in the diner's phone getting disconnected, forcing them to race to the radio station on foot, where the DJ reveals to them that the competition was actually for a Turbo Man gift certificate. The police are alerted (the DJ having earlier called them when Howard and Myron showed up), but Howard and Myron escape after Myron threatens the officers by pretending one of his packages is a bomb. Officer Alexander Hummell, whom Howard has run into several times already, investigates the package, only to have it detonate in his face, revealing that it actually was a bomb.
Upon returning to his Suburban, Howard finds it stripped by car thieves. He takes a tow truck home, where he finds Ted putting the star on his family's Christmas tree. In retaliation, Howard starts to steal the Turbo Man doll Ted bought for his son, Johnny, but can't bring himself to do it. Unfortunately, Liz catches him in the act and Howard is left alone while his family goes to the Christmas parade with Ted and Johnny.
After dropping off Jamie and Johnny, Ted attempts to seduce Liz, but she violently rejects him by hitting him with a thermos of eggnog. Meanwhile, remembering his promise to Jamie to go to the parade, Howard decides to attend as well, but runs into Hummell again. The resulting chase leads to Howard hiding inside a storage room, where he is mistaken for the actor portraying Turbo Man and dresses in the highly technological costume. As Turbo Man, Howard uses his chance to present a limited-edition action figure to Jamie, but they are confronted by Myron dressed as Turbo Man's archenemy, Dementor.
Despite Howard's pleas for Myron to stop, a long chase ensues, involving a jetpack flight. Myron grabs the toy from Jamie but is cornered by the police, while Howard rescues Jamie. Howard reveals himself to his family and apologizes for his shortcomings. When Ted arrives at the scene of the parade, Johnny points Howard as Turbo Man to him, which makes Ted flee and dragging Johnny in fear and humiliation. Officer Hummell returns the toy to Jamie and thanks Howard (as Turbo Man) with a job on the force, to which Howard returns the thanks and - much to Hummel's shock - apologizes to him for the previous confrontations. Myron is handcuffed and sadly laments about not having a toy for his own son; Jamie overhears him and decides to give the toy to Myron for his son, proclaiming his father as his true hero. Touched by Jamie's act of kindness, Myron apologizes for his earlier discrepancies. The crowd carries Howard away in a hero's fashion as Myron, Liz, and Jamie happily watch.
In a post-credits scene, Howard finishes decorating their Christmas tree later that night by putting the star on top. However, after kissing and hugging, Liz asks Howard what he got her for Christmas, and he realizes with a shock that he forgot her gift.
== Cast ==
* Arnold Schwarzenegger as Howard Langston / Turbo Man
* Sinbad as Myron Larabee / Dementor
* Phil Hartman as Ted Maltin
* Rita Wilson as Liz Langston
* Jake Lloyd as Jamie Langston
* Robert Conrad as Officer Alexander Hummell
* Martin Mull as a KQRS D.J. (Mr. Ponytail Man)
* Jim Belushi as Mall Santa
* E.J. De La Pena as Johnny Maltin
* Laraine Newman as First Lady
* Harvey Korman as President
* Richard Moll as Dementor
* Curtis Armstrong as Chainsmoking Booster
* Danny Woodburn as Tony the Elf
* Paul Wight as Giant Santa
* Daniel Riordan as Turbo Man
* Bruce Bohne as Santa at Warehouse Door
* Phil Morris as Gale Force
* Amy Pietz as Liza Tisch
* Chris Parnell as Toy Store Sales Clerk
* Nick LaTour as Counterman
* Kate McGregor-Stewart as Toy Store Customer
* Verne Troyer as Mini Santa (uncredited)
== Production ==
=== Development ===
Arnold Schwarzenegger (left) and Sinbad (right) starred in the film as the lead characters.
The film draws inspiration from the high demand for Christmas toys such as the Cabbage Patch Kids and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which often led to intense searching and occasional violence among shoppers, such as the Cabbage Patch riots, over finding the toys. Randy Kornfield wrote the film's original screenplay after witnessing his in-laws go to a Santa Monica toy store at dawn in order to get his son a Power Ranger. While admitting to missing the clamor for the Cabbage Patch Kids and Power Rangers, producer Chris Columbus experienced a similar situation in 1995 when he attempted to obtain a Buzz Lightyear action figure from the film Toy Story, released that year. As a result, he rewrote Kornfield's script, which was accepted by 20th Century Fox. Columbus was always "attracted to the dark side of the happiest holiday of the year", so wrote elements of the film as a satire of the commercialization of Christmas.
Brian Levant was hired to direct the film. Columbus said Levant "underst[ood] the humor in the material" and "was very animated and excited, and he had a vision of what he wanted to do". Levant said "The story that was important to me was between the father and son ... it's a story about love, and a father's journey to deliver it in the form of a Turbo Man doll. The fact that I got to design a toy line and do the commercials and make pajamas and comic books was fun for me as a filmmaker. But at its root, the movie's about something really sweet. It's about love and building a better family. I think that's consistent with everything I've done."
Arnold Schwarzenegger was quickly cast. He became available in February 1996 after Fox's remake of Planet of the Apes was held up again; Columbus also exited that project to work on Jingle All the Way. The film marks Schwarzenegger's fourth appearance as the lead in a comedy film, following Twins (1988), Kindergarten Cop (1990) and Junior (1994). Schwarzenegger was paid a reported $20 million for the role. He enjoyed the film, having experienced last-minute Christmas shopping himself, and was attracted to playing an "ordinary" character in a family film. Columbus initially wanted Joe Pesci to play Myron. Comedian Sinbad was chosen instead, partly due to his similar height and size to Schwarzenegger. Sinbad was suggested for the part by Schwarzenegger's agent, but the producers felt he was unsuited to the role of a villain as it could harm his clean, family-oriented comedy act and reputation, although Sinbad felt the character would generate the audience's sympathy rather than hate. Furthermore, he missed the audition due to his appearance with First Lady Hillary Clinton and musician Sheryl Crow on the USO tour of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but Columbus waited for him to return to allow him to audition and, although Sinbad felt he had "messed" it up, he was given the part. He improvised the majority of his lines in the film; Schwarzenegger also improvised many of his responses in his conversations with Sinbad's character.
=== Filming ===
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Filming took place in Minnesota for five weeks from April 15, 1996; at the time, it was the largest film production to ever take place in the state. Jingle All the Way was set and filmed in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota at locations such as Bloomington's Mall of America, Mickey's Diner, downtown Minneapolis, Linden Hills, residential areas of Edina and primarily downtown Saint Paul. Unused shops in the Seventh place Mall area were redecorated to resemble Christmas decorated stores, while the Energy Park Studios were used for much of the filming and the Christmas lights stayed up at Rice Park for use in the film. The Mall of America and the state's "semi-wintry weather" proved attractive for the studio. Although Schwarzenegger stated that the locals were "well-behaved" and "cooperative", Levant often found filming "impossible" due to the scale and noise of the crowds who came to watch production, especially in the Mall of America, but overall found the locals to be "respectful" and "lovely people." Levant spent several months in the area before filming in order to prepare. The film uses artistic license by treating Minneapolis and Saint Paul as one city, as this was logistically easier; the police are labeled "Twin Cities Police" in the film. Additionally, the city's Holidazzle Parade is renamed the Wintertainment Parade and takes place on 2nd Avenue during the day, rather than Nicollet Mall at night. Levant wanted to film the parade at night but was overruled for practical reasons.
The parade was filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood in California on the New York Street set, due to safety concerns. The set was designed to resemble 2nd Avenue; the parade was shot from above by helicopters and stitched into matte shots of the real-life street. It took three weeks to film, with 1,500 extras being used in the scene, along with three custom designed floats. Other parts of the film to be shot in Los Angeles included store interiors, and the warehouse fight scene between Howard and the criminal Santas, for which a Pasadena furniture warehouse was used. Turbo-Man was created and designed for the film. This meant the commercials and scenes from the Turbo-Man TV series were all shot by Levant, while all of the Turbo-Man merchandise, packaging and props shown in the film were custom made one-offs and designed to look "authentic, as if they all sprang from the same well." Along with Columbus and Levant, production designer Leslie McDonald and character designer Tim Flattery crafted Turbo-Man, Booster and Dementor and helped make the full-size Turbo-Man suit for the film's climax. Principal production finished in August; Columbus "fine-tun[ed] the picture until the last possible minute," using multiple test audiences "to see where the big laughs actually lie."
Category:Films
Category:1996 films
Category:Comedy films
Category:Children's films
Category:20th Century Fox films
Category:1492 Pictures films
Category:Kids & Family
Category:1990s films
Category:Christmas films
Category:Fourth Wall
Category:Films with a single song
Category:Arnold Schwarzenegger films
Category:Films directed by Brian Levant
Category:Films produced by Chris Columbus
Category:Films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger
Category:Films starring Phil Hartman
Category:Films starring James Belushi
Category:Rated PG