Welcome to the Talking Disney Podcast Movie Night! We love movies here at the Talking Disney Podcast, we watched and talked about each of the Disney animated feature films on Podcast Episodes #51 ('The One That Started It All') through #124 ('Strange World Is The End Of Our Journey'). We are bringing some of that movie watching magic to the website. We will still talk about some movies in the podcast in the near future as well. Our goal is to watch one movie a week, share some details and publish our thoughts on Fridays. Some weeks we may have comments from all three hosts, sometimes two and sometimes just one.
The movies will be picked at random and for now to make it easier on us we will choose movies that are currently on Disney+.
So without further ado, here is our first Talking Disney Podcast Movie Night movie - ‘Ernest Saves Christmas’.
Spoiler Warning - There may be spoilers ahead so if you haven’t seen the film check it out first. If you have seen it or don’t care about spoilers then by all means click “Read More >>”.
High-flying reindeer! Mischievous elves! Warp-speed sleigh rides! Get set for a magical dose of holiday cheer, zany season's greetings and spellbinding special effects in this fast-paced, heartwarming comedy hit! When Santa Claus decides to retire and pass on his magic bag of Christmas surprises to a new St. Nick, he enlists the aid of a hilarious assortment of characters, including that lovable know-it-all Ernest P. Worrell (Emmy Award-winning comedian Jim Varney)! Along the way, Santa and Ernest help a cynical teen experience the season's spirit like never before. And that's where the fun-and magic-begins! Ernest Save Christmas ... one delightful, surprising tale you'll never forget. (from Disney+)
Directed by John R. Cherry III. Produced by Joseph Akerman Jr. (Executive Producer as Joseph L. Akerman Jr.), Martin Erlichman (Executive Producer), Doug Claybourne (Producer), Stacy Williams (Producer), Justis Greene (Co-Producer), Coke Sams (Co-Producer), Ed Turner (Associate Producer). Written by Ed Turner (Story and Screenplay) and B. Kline (Screenplay). Cinematography by Peter Stein. Music by Mark Snow. Starring Jim Varney (Ernest P. Worrell), Douglas Seale (Santa Claus / Seth Applegate), Oliver Clark (Joe Carruthers / Santa Claus), Noelle Parker (Harmony Starr aka Pamela Trenton), Gailard Sartain (Chuck [Storage Agent]), Bill Byrge (Bobby Tulip [Storage Agent]), Billie Bird (Mary Morrissey), Key Howard (Immigration Agent), Jack Swanson (Businessman), Buddy Douglas (Pyramus the Elf), Patty Maloney (Thisbe the Elf), Barry Brazell (Cab Passenger), George Kaplan (Mr. Dillis), Robert Lesser (Marty Brock) and Zachary Bowden (Boy in the Train Station). (from Internet Movie Database)
‘Ernest Saves Christmas’ was the first major production to be filmed almost entirely at the new Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. Although not a blockbuster, the movie was fairly successful at the box office. It finished its opening weekend #2 behind ‘Child’s Play’. The movie made $28,202,109 on a budget of $6,500,000 (estimated) and was the highest grossing of of all the Ernest movies released in theaters. Added to Disney+ on November 26, 2021.
Film Technical Specifications – Genre: Family, Comedy, Fantasy | Rating: PG | Runtime: 1 hour and 31 minutes (91 minutes) | Sound Mix: Dolby | Color: Color (Metrocolor) | Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1.
Jason's Thoughts
This film may not come up in the Top Christmas movies of all time conversation, but is certainly a fun one to watch around the holidays or when you need some laughs. Jim Varney’s way of overacting and the faces he makes are too funny! This movie has the typical Varney “stupid” (stupid good, not stupid bad) comedy that made Ernest P. Worrell a household name in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. Besides Varney's performance I loved the performance of Gailard Sartain (Chuck) and Bill Byrge (Bobby) who appeared with Varney in other similar movies. 'Ernest Saves Christmas' gets a score of 70.00 from me.
James’ Thoughts
When Jason mentioned that he was going to start posting a different movie review to the blog each week, I wanted to try and be available to share my thoughts also! I may not be able to contribute to all of them, but this gives me a great opportunity to watch movies I may have missed (or fallen asleep during) in the past. As I wondered what the first movie to be reviewed would be, 'Ernest Saves Christmas' definitely wasn’t one I thought about. I’ve always liked Jim Varney and his character of Ernest, but I haven’t seen a single one of his movies before now. I’m more familiar with the character from different commercials in the 80’s. Although I can’t name a single commercial he was in, I remember this character showing up all over the place. I think anyone alive in the 80’s has heard of Ernest and his “KnoWhutIMean, Vern?” saying. So, I was interested in seeing how this movie was. I think Jim does a great job with this character and I laughed often while watching - mostly regarding him and his actions. I do think it’s a pretty cheesy movie, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I feel like as I was watching this, I kept trying to find fault with it, but it really isn’t a bad movie. Although I didn’t care for some of the characters and the way they were written, this is a fun movie and worth watching. It may not be a movie I seek out to watch each year, but I wouldn’t mind watching it again in the future. After finishing this, I felt like maybe I should look up some of the other Ernest movies, but as I look at reviews online, it seems that Ernest Saves Christmas is regarded as the best out of the movies he made. On a scale of 0-100, I would give this movie a rating of 75. It’s not at the top of the list, but it’s definitely nowhere near the bottom. Overall, I enjoyed the movie and wouldn’t mind seeing it again one day. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it yourself, give it a chance!
‘Ernest Saves Christmas’ Fun Fact
Jim Varney and Douglas Seale both starred in Disney animated movies. Seale played Krebbs in The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and the Sultan in Aladdin (1992) and Varney played Slinky Dog in Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999) and Cookie in Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001).
Have you seen ‘Ernest Saves Christmas?’ What are your thoughts on the movie? Share in the comments below, we’d love to hear them!
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