For many people, a familiar pastime in the weeks leading up to major winter holidays is gathering with family members and watching holiday movies, be they in a theater or on television. This year, such plans will have changed for individuals not living with the people they often spend time with during the holiday season, and curfews and lock-downs have forced movie theaters to close. However, this shouldn’t stop us from enjoying holiday movies with friends and family.
During the month of December, therefore, the Falls Free Press will present “The 12 Films of Christmas,” focusing on new holiday movies for the year 2020—a year that can do with plenty of spirit. We will review each film, whether naughty or nice, and let you know where to watch it.
If one of Netflix’s most recent Christmas films, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, were to be summarized in one sentence, it would be described as “An African American steampunk rendition of The Greatest Showman set in the Dickensian era.” Even using this specific of an explanation, however, this holiday film is far beyond a historical musical.
Directed by David E. Talbert and composed by John Debney (who also composed The Greatest Showman), Jingle Jangle tells the story of Jeronicus Jangle, inventor and toy salesman in the small working-class town of Cobbleton. Upon receiving the final piece for his latest invention—a tiny autonomous flamenco-dancing robot—his voice rings out throughout the town square in the film’s opening song, one of many written by R&B singer/songwriter John Legend. Out of frustration over being denied credit for his own inventions, Jangle’s assistant, Gustafson, steals his boss’s book of inventions, as well as the robot Don Juan Diego, who aids in producing and selling each invention over the next 30 years, forcing Jangle to bankruptcy.
Unlike many Christmas films featuring black cast members, where African-American characters are often either side characters or victims of poverty or broken homes (or their story is simply about being black), Talbert has created an upbeat world where even a downtrodden Jangle (portrayed by Forest Whitaker) can still find hope with help from those around him, even after his wife’s death and growing distance from his daughter. Jangle’s toy shop has become a pawn shop, where the local postwoman, Ms. Johnston, regularly visits to show her *cough* “desperate” *cough* affection to an unwise-to-it Jangle through song and dance—and accompanying background trio.
Meanwhile, his daughter, Jessica (played by Anika Noni Rose), has told her own daughter, Journey (Madalen Mills) stories of her childhood in her father’s lab, leading Jessica to hatch a plan to get invited to stay with her grandfather. Hoping to see the man she’d heard much about, she is instead greeted by a grumpy, disinterested man who wishes to have nothing to do with her. As with all Christmas movies, however, his stance does change, aided by Journey’s love of inventing and ability to believe in magic and the science behind such creations. Finding an unfinished invention of her mother’s, a robot named Buddy 3000 (which Jangle has been attempting to complete for decades), draws the two together as well, especially after Gustafson (played by Keegan-Michael Key), now an award-winning toy creator, spies Buddy with Jessica and her friend Edison. Jeronicus’ new-found love for his granddaughter and assistant drives him to save the children when they sneak away to find Gustafson, who has broken into the lab to steal Buddy.
With Legend behind Jangle’s songs, it goes without saying there is soul written into each meter. This is especially true of “Make it Work,” sung by Jeronicus, who attempts to rebuild Buddy, and Jessica, who has arrived in Cobbleton to get her daughter and hopes to make things work with her father. Not written for the original script of the film, Legend was asked to write the “11-o’clock Song” to fit Talbert’s newly-edited story in its final moments. What is shown in the film, however, appears fresh and made for the moment, including a choreographed dance break in the style of tribal dance routines that fits with the working-class neighborhood Jessica walks through to get to her father’s shop.
Aside from the music and the extraordinary performances from Whitaker and Mills, one of the two biggest surprises this film provides is the bizarre tiny proportions of Don Juan Diego, whose animated face looks too plastic to have emotions, yet its voice, from somewhat forgotten Latino singer Ricky Martin, is a blast from the past—and a little bit loco.
The second is the film’s intricate use of gear-work, which interludes between large scenes or periods of time, told through animated puppets, guiding the story along without the need for actors constantly on set for short montages. Although having a seamless story shown without cuts—especially in an overly produced music such as this—would prove to be the better choice, in the age of a pandemic, shortening work periods was certainly a better choice. In doing so, Talbert is able to incorporate the Jangle family’s love of inventing into fast-paced exposition, providing key story points to the audience without dragging.
The ever-constant feeling of goodwill makes this a perfect holiday film for 2020, reminding everybody that even when events in our lives look troubling, no matter how long they may last, everything will become clearer if we refuse to let it keep us down.
Jingle Jangle is available to watch on Netflix.
