Santa’s Dog? Or Hercules Saves Christmas? (DVD,
NAMP - Gaiam Studio, 2011 or 2012, 80 minutes)
No, Not the Wrong
Movie – Or Was it?
When Blockbusters downsized drastically, I purchased a few
DVDs (mostly dog movies) from their remaining stock. One DVD case was titled Santa’s Dog (with a yellow Lab) and the
DVD itself had the Santa’s Dog
sticker on it but the DVD turned out to be Hercules
Saves Christmas (with not-a-yellow-Lab).
Huh?
Of course, I wondered what was going on when a beautiful pit
bull appeared early on, on screen, and became the star in nearly every scene. I
thought that perhaps the yellow lab on the DVD case and label would be a
present to a little boy from Santa and the end so I continued to watch with my
usual critical eye.
Not a bad movie at all, with a lovely friendly pit bull.
Replacing the DVD into the jewel case after the movie was over, I finally read
the words on the DVD case about the story. As they say, truth is stranger than
fiction – the words fit the movie I had just reviewed – Hercules Saves Christmas but the dog shown on the front and back
was the yellow lab.
Enough of this
Mystery and on to the Movie
Munchkin elves help Santa determine who is on the Nice list
and who is on the Naughty list. One lucky orphan boy is given the chance to
move from Naughty to Nice if he can convince a specific grumpy ol’ man
(actually, a grumpy young man – after all this is a movie) to embrace the
Christmas spirit. Our little orphan tries to transfer with the help of Santa’s
dog, Hercules, who speaks without using his mouth (but his red collar lights up
with his words). Of course, Hercules is invisible to all but the little boy.
The munchkins have their own quirks and foibles, and manage
to mess things up in their own delightful ways as Hercules’ magical powers seem
to be fading. If they fade entirely, he turns into just a mortal dog, not a dog
who can speak.
The Race is on!
Who will win the race before Christmas – the good guys (boy
and dog) or the bad elves who left Santa’s employ to do evil in the world?
Characters
This holiday story is spectacular with the acting talents of
both Claus’ and with Hercules the dog. Sally, the love interest, is delightful
but Mackenzie Phillips steals the show!
Does the boy fulfill his mission to do good? Does Hercules
remain an elf-dog or become a real family pet? Does the grumpy man marry his
girlfriend? Does the little orphan boy get adopted? For the answers to these
and other questions, watch this family flick! Kids will love the dog and the
suspense while parents will stay tuned for the fast-paced banter.
PS – I found four different DVD cover photos on the
Internet, one with a yellow lab like the one I purchased. The others are
versions of the real movie dog but why wasn’t Hercules smiling? Perhaps he is
camera-shy?
Ah, the Mystery is Solved!
It seems that some time between 2011 and 2012, the title
changed from Hercules Saves Christmas
to Santa’s Dog (or what it the other
way around?) but some of the original cover photos remained. Ah, the mystery is
solved!
Will the real dog please stand up? Or, I’ll have to ask my
son to review this review to make sure I have everything right, like dog,
title, photo. . . .
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