Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
“Once upon a time lived the greatest inventor there ever was, Jeronicus Jangle”
Summary:
Jeronicus Jangle is the greatest inventor of all time. As such, he spreads Christmas cheer through his toys and creations. One night, he is given the last ingredient for his greatest invention yet: an animate doll. After applying this last ingredient, Don Juan Diego the doll was born. Narcissistic and greedy, this doll is unable to fathom that he will be mass produced for the happiness of many children. Using his smooth talking, he convinces Gustalfson, Jeronicus’ assistant, to steal Jeronicus’ book of inventions to create his own toy empire. Weak-hearted, Gustalfson is swayed by Don Juan’s words and steals the book. That night, Jeronicus loses everything: his toys, his reputation, his family, and his inspiration. Many years later, his granddaughter, Journey, returns to him, and thus begins Jeronicus’ path to regain his past spirit.
Characters:
The main characters in this movie are Jeronicus Jangle, Gustafson, and Journey Jangle. Jeronicus is the world’s greatest toy maker, with a special passion for his work. He is also Journey’s grandfather. Gustafson is Jeonicus’ young apprentice at the toy shop. He feels unappreciated by Jeronicus when he needs help with his invention. Journey is Jeronicus’ granddaughter, and she shares his love of inventing. She is a very resourceful young girl, and potentially an even better inventor than Jeronicus.
Austin: 8.3/10
This is a pretty solid movie. It’s not the greatest Christmas movie, but it is still an enjoyable watch. The plot is well written, and it flows quite well. The characters are one of the strongest parts of this movie. We see a large variety in characters, with a whole bunch of different attributes and ideologies. This leads to some very interesting and entertaining scenes between different characters. As well, we see some pretty drastic character changes from the beginning to the end of the movie. The characters are developed drastically, but the writers do a great job of making it feel natural, and the build up is slow. The storyline is also captivating and entertaining, but it takes a while to get into. The first 20 minutes are quite entertaining, and then it takes about 40 minutes before we get back on track. I did find the dialogue to be quite good, but there are a few moments that feel awkward.
It is a 2 hour movie, and I think that length is warranted, but the middle of the movie lacks the pop that the rest has. I would have loved it if the writers could have found a way to hold my attention for the whole movie like they do at the beginning, and definitely at the end. The ending of the movie is a little bit predictable, but it is satisfying.
All in all, this is a pretty good Christmas movie. It’s probably not one you will watch a second time, but it is definitely worth checking out. The characters alone are good enough to make this one worth checking out. Go jump into that Christmas spirit just a little bit early!
Sebasitan: 7.7/10
This was definitely a cute little Christmas movie that was fun to watch. Going in I did not realize that the movie was a musical and that was a surprise but a good one as there were some fun songs throughout. This movie is not going to necessarily stand out among other Christmas movies as it reminds me of quite a few but at the same time it is original enough that it has its own charm. In my opinion the best part of the film was its story as I found it was different enough with some of the toys invented that it captured my imagination and did have some magic within its story. The characters were quite fun to follow along with some great acting talent playing the leads as well with Jeronicus Jangle ( played by Forrest Whitaker) and Gustafson ( played by ( Keegan-Michael Key) being the biggest names as well as two of the best characters. The child acting was quite good as well especially from Madalen Mills who plays Journey gives the film an energetic and fun flare. Overall, the songs are quite charming and fun with some even being quite catchy. The movie has some good laughs as well with good dialogue being another compliment to this movie. The set design of Jeronicus’ shop and the little village is quite detailed and helps the world feel lived in. The framing device of the movie, in this case being a story being told to kids is a Christmas classic and well utilised in the film. If I had any negatives it would be that the middle of the movie was not exactly engaging the whole time with my interest wavering during that part of the film.
All in all a very entertaining and fun Christmas movie that I recommend for families and while it may not be a new Christmas classic will be a cute and new Christmas tale to enjoy.
Nathanyal: 7.5/10
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey was a good movie to enjoy during the Christmas holidays. Filled with many musical numbers, a heartwarming story, and fun characters and themes, this movie checks all the boxes for a fun Christmas movie for the family to enjoy. The songs are quite catchy, which is great for a younger audience. The plot is simple and doesn’t try to be something more complicated than it already is. Even the characters are pretty basic, but are enjoyable to watch, nonetheless.
I think the greatest part of the movie for me was the math and equations that floated around when Jeronicus and Journey invented. It was nice seeing those pretty symbols float over the screen. Although math may be complicated, showing it in that magical way is a good way to portray math as magical, which it is.
The main downside of this movie is its simplicity. It does nothing wrong, and at the same time, doesn’t do anything spectacularly. With everything so simple, the only real standout quality was its combination of math and magic.
All in all, this movie is nice for families to enjoy together during the festive season. Although it doesn’t do anything bad, there isn’t anything too spectacular as well.
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