All I Want for Christmas, Is You! (DVD with Mariah Carey)

Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You (Universal 1440 Entertainment [a production entity of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment]; November 14, 2017; 1 hour, 31 minutes, $9.99; Blu-ray^TM, DVD, Digital and On Demand)

New Family Holiday Classic! (Preview the trailer here)

Maria Carey sings three classic Christmas songs* as the warm and wonderful narrator: young Mariah is voiced by a talented Breanna Yde. Ms. Carey also was the co-executive producer and co-wrote the book – a woman of many talents, for sure.

A Girl’s First Love is. . . A Puppy!

What does a little girl want for Christmas? Every year? A puppy, of course.

Grandma Lucy takes little Mariah to the pet store (“just to look”) where Mariah falls in love with a Princess of a little white puppy. Too bad Dad is allergic to dogs.

But, wait! Dad brings home a dog for Mariah to take care of for a few days. Jack, the Jack Russell Terrier, belongs to Uncle Reggie who is on vacation. If Mariah does a good job, she can get a dog. Oh, boy!

But wait until you see the kind of trouble Jack gets in to right up to the surprising finale!

Mariah’s Christmas Story

All I Want for Christmas is a 90-minute long, delightful story with twists and turns for the whole family. Each family member will identify with at least one someone, or more – from little sister who tries so hard and wants to help but is rebuffed and ignored by her big sis, to little brother who acts more like a teasing big brother, to Grandpa Bill whom Mariah has to rein in to prevent his practical jokes from backfiring and getting them all into trouble with the neighbors. Mom is a perfect mom and dad just wants everyone to get along. From the smart little Jack-dog to Mariah’s pretty pink bedroom, even boys will love this movie and won’t be able to stop laughing at Jack’s antics – or guess what is to come.

Who is Mariah Carey?

Simply the best-selling female artist of all time with more than 200 million albums and 18 Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles (17 self-penned), more than any solo artist in history.

Mariah has been awarded several Grammies, 21 American Music Awards, Billboard’s “Artist of the Decade”, the World Music Award for “World's Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium,” – with her distinct five-octave vocal range and prolific songwriting, Mariah is truly unforgettable. 

Singer, Songwriter, Producer

The picture book of Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You came out in 2015 and can be purchased here. And now you can even gift coffee mugs and sweatshirts - and more. Mariah also appears in the movies Precious (2009) and The Butler (2013).

A Congressional Award recipient, Mariah has generously donated her time and energy to philanthropic causes including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, World Hunger Relief, and the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Mariah also founded Camp Mariah in partnership with the Fresh Air Fund, a retreat for inner city children to explore career development.   

I Predict. . . . It’s Puppy Love!

I predict that all little girls will want a dog or two – and long blond hair that swings! I predict that little boys will try to emulate some of the pranks they see so, beware! And I predict that families will watch this movie again and again. Ms. Carey has a lovely voice as the narrator as well.

To the grown-ups: if you didn’t recognize the voice of Grandpa Bill the first time through, you will want to watch the movie again and listen for The Fonz, Henry Winkler!

*The song ”All I Want for Christmas is You” dates from 1994 with more than 14 million copies sold. In 2016 it held at #1 on Billboard’s “Holiday 100” for four straight weeks and was the most streamed holiday single. Mariah also sings “Christmas Time is in the Air” and “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)”.

It's So Easy. . . .

Ah, It’s so Easy to Procrastinate Once You Start!

Prosperous Pet Business Online Conference

In October we told you about a series of free webinars for dog business people (more business than dog or dog business) and wrote about three of them. The deal was that you sign up and receive an email invitation each day about a new conversation being released – some of which are from really excellent skilled and educated trainers and other helpful people.

This year’s series ran every day for more than two weeks, beginning October 18. It was the fourth annual event put on by Kristin Morrison, a former dog walker.

I was able to tune in to the first two webinars this year but since the coordinator lived in a different time zone and because so many people still get Standard Time and Daylight Savings Time mixed up (not me, of course!) and since I have so many email addresses and get way too many junk emails – I have to look several places each day to find out if the day’s webinar has been released yet.

And the third day I looked and looked and looked and never found the invitation – and the next day. I did manage to catch one later but not the two I really wanted to hear: Dr. Ian Dunbar (see DogStarDaily.com), veterinarian and PhD; and Victoria Stillwell, who needs no introduction.

The ‘conference’ deal is that each webinar was free only for 24 hours. You can, however, purchase the entire two week series: previous years are also available.

DogEvals’ previous three posts review three of this year’s webinars: Day Three – Kristin Morrison herself, Day Two – Paula Hansen and a conversation on goal setting, Day One – Wayne Pacelle (head of the US Humane Society) on The Humane Economy.

Keep tuned for a list of the previous years’ conversations. Some are well worth it!

Whew! That’s done. Now we can get back to reviewing mostly dog books and evaluating mostly dog stuff. Next: a new family Christmas dog DVD!