Movie Review: All I Want For Christmas Is You

 

If you are a fan of holiday season there is no doubt that you have heard the Mariah Carey song “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” It’s one of my favorite “modern” holiday songs (I tend to like the classics sung by Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Andy Williams).

Did you know that Mariah’s song has been turned into an animated movie? The movie goes by the same name as the song, All I Want For Christmas Is You, and the main character is named Mariah (no shocker there). Mariah even does the commentary for the film.

All I Want For Christmas Is You is the story of a young girl named Mariah (voiced by Breanna Yde) is a well liked student at school with both her classmates and teachers. She’s a good student, active in clubs (like choir) and very helpful at home. She’s a near perfect little girl. 

All Mariah wants is a dog to call her own. She’s been asking for a dog for many years but her parents always turn her down. Her mom doesn’t like the mess dogs make and her dad claims to be allergic to them.

This year Mariah’s grandmother is doing all she can to help get Mariah a dog. She found a dog at a local pet store that is well behaved and hypoallergetic so that it won’t cause Mariah’s father any allergy outbreaks.

Mariah begs her parents for the new dog. Her father doesn’t want to play the “bad guy” and come right out and tell her “no” so he concocted an idea. He picks up a stray dog that his brother found and told Mariah it was her uncle’s dog. He was going out of town and needed a dog sitter. If Mariah can take good care of her “uncle’s dog” (really a stray), then they would consider getting her the dog of her dreams – a dog she’s already named Princess.

Mariah’s father hopes that taking care of a mischievous, untrained dog would turn Mariah off of the idea of having her own dog.

Her father tells her the dog is named Jack, a name he just made up (but Mariah assumes it’s the dog’s real name).

Jack turns out to be a handful. He’s always getting into mischief, running away, chewing on toys and having accidents around the home. The more time Mariah spends with Jack the more stressed out she gets. However, she doesn’t want to give up on Jack because she knows she has to show her parents that she can take good care of a dog so that she can get her dream dog, Princess.

It’s clear that Jack wants to be a part of Mariah’s life. He tried constantly to get love and affection from her, but Mariah doesn’t make an effort to return the affection.

One day Jack is accused of doing something that wasn’t his fault and he runs away from home. That is when Mariah learns the truth about Jack, and how he was just a stray.

Her parents are impressed by how well Mariah did take care of Jack, and agree to let her adopt her dream dog, Princess.

Will Mariah FINALLY get her dream dog? What will become of Jack? Will Jack ever find a “forever home”? To find out you need to pick up a copy of All I Want For Christmas Is You. 

First and foremost I am not the biggest fan of CGA (computer generated animation). I like the more realistic look animation (like the kind you see from Disney and Pixar). After a while the animation didn’t bother me that much. In fact, it was kind of cute.

I wasn’t sure how much I would like this movie. I thought it was gong to be all about Mariah Carey (the singer). I was surprised to find that it wasn’t about her but rather a story about a girl and a dog.

I truly enjoyed this film. It’s really cute and I liked the story line. I wish Mariah’s character was a bit nicer towards Jack in the beginning, but she makes up for it later on in the film.

This is really a heart-warming film and ideal for the holiday season. Even the mini-stories within the main story (such as grandpa’s decoration “war” with the neighbor across the street) are very sweet and fun to watch.

If I recall correctly there are three Mariah Carey songs in the film, including All I Want For Christmas Is You (of course that song had to make an appearance in the film).

I’m happy to add this film to my family’s holiday movie collection – a collection of films that we watch year after year.

There is some bonus material where Mariah and other cast members talk about the holidays and what it means to them.

Below is the film’s trailer for your enjoyment.

 

Kimberly

*I received a free screener copy to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.