The Christmas Toy

Dir: Eric Till

1986

*****

1986's The Christmas Toy is a classic Jim Henson Christmas production and one of the few Christmas films that I can (and want to) watch every December. Sure it's over sentimental and even somewhat melodramatic at times but it's full of lovely characters and it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Rugby the Tiger, voiced by the great Dave Goelz, remembers the pure joy it was to be last year's favorite Christmas Toy. In an attempt to try and relive the moment, he sets about venturing downstairs and wrapping himself up, so he can be enjoyed all over again. This leaves his friend Apple Doll (the favorite Christmas Toy the year before Rugby) and Mew (the Cat's toy mouse) left to try and save him, because if a toy isn't in the exact place their human left them, they will forever be frozen. Things are complicated further when Rugby wakes Meteora: Queen of the Asteroids, this years sci-fi toy of the year who doesn't know she is a Toy. I wonder where the makers of Toy Story got their idea from? It's a little bit of Jim Henson magic. If that weren't enough, it even has a cameo from Kermit himself, something I believe every film should feature.