25 Days of Christmas: Day Three

Ernest Saves Christmas (1988)

"Careful, now... them be PISIN!" - Ernest as Snake Wrangler











I remember watching this as a kid in the theater and loving it. And I still do.

When I was younger the Ernest movies were in full swing. He went to camp, saved Christmas, saved Halloween, and was sent to prison and died in the electric chair for a crime he didn't commit.

Don't worry though... he came back to life as a electrically charged superhero of sorts.

But I digress.

Today we talk about how the lovable everyman saved Christmas from fading away forever. You see... Santa Claus was in town looking for his replacement. It turns out that the mantle of Santa is passed down every hundred years or so and in doing so the magic of Christmas is charged full and kids all over the world get to look forward to another hundred years of Christmas.

This isn't the only movie out there that holds the idea that Santa is a rotating cast of characters. Later in the month we will see Tim Allen take over for the big guy after he causes the somewhat accidental death of the current suit wearer. But again... I digress.

Ernest is a cab driver in this flick and he's the lucky guy to pick up Santa from the airport. This begins the adventure as the guy Santa wants to hand the reigns over to doesn't have a chance to hear the pitch before the man's agent gets Santa hauled away by the cops. So Ernest and a runaway girl, who goes through the whole movie going back and forth in her unbelief of what's going on, have to bust him out and help him track down the guy that is supposed to take over for him. All of this happens on Christmas eve for the most part so there is a ticking clock running.

Ernest is going strong in this flick and I enjoy each scene he is showcased. He manages a little Fletch action in this flick as well as he goes from costume to costume to help get Santa to the places he needs to be. The snake farmer is my favorite. The mother of the agent is creepy and effective.

We even get a sequence with Vern! Ernest shows up at Vern's house to help him decorate and he ends up trashing the place instead. Reminds me of the old commercials and at this point it reminds me that Jim Varney is gone and he will be missed.

It also struck me that if they ever wanted to remake any of the Ernest movies they could use Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs as the title character. They look similar enough... but... nah... Ernest is one of a kind.

Douglas Seale does a good job as a somewhat naive but wise Santa. He looks the part and dresses pretty slick. He even gets to punch a guy in the face. We don't get to see our Santa's do that very often. So far in this little movie watching journey he is the number two Santa next to Art Carney though. The new Santa that gets tapped in the film wasn't on screen as the big guy long enough to make the list.

The movie stands strong in the realm of Christmas movies and I think will continue to hold up for a few more decades.

Knowhatimean...