So, hell yes I got Disney+.
I’m still exploring it. I have a lot of old Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM) on my Watchlist, so get prepared for those. And I have a planned So Weird binge watch. But for now, I’ve watched Endgame yet again and I’m in the middle of watching the recording of the Newsies stage musical.
However, I also took some time to watch Noelle, an original Christmas movie made for the platform. So let’s spread some holiday cheer and enjoy this sweet if wacky movie.
Ho ho SPOILERS!
We start on Christmas Eve as two kids wait for Santa. When he arrives, the little girl runs out and catches him. He then checks his list – twice – to see if she’s been naughty or nice. The girl grows annoyed and tells him that he knows she’s been good…because he’s her father! Santa (Jay Brazeau) chuckles and greets his daughter, Noelle (Oakley Bull). Mrs. Claus (Julie Hagerty) and his son Nick (Owen Vaccaro) join as well.
Santa gives them their presents. Noelle gets some fun items and magazines while Nick gets a Santa hat. His parents explain that its time for him to start his Santa training and he’s less than thrilled. No one seems to notice as they get caught up in the excitement. Noelle asks her father if she can be Santa and he says that it goes to Nick. But that she needs to spread cheer and support her brother because he’s going to need her help to be Santa. She’s disappointed but agrees.
Meanwhile, their nanny, Elf Polly (Shirley MacLaine), gives him the stink eye in the background. I was wondering if this was going to be Shirley MacLaine teams up with Anna Kendrick to destroy the patriarchy.
Spoiler alert—it wasn’t.
Years pass and Noelle is not a grown woman (Kendrick). She’s pretty spoiled, demanding Polly bring her breakfast in bed and clean up after her. It’s amazing Polly hasn’t thrown her out of the window Noelle uses to try to call her pet reindeer by singing like a princess. It doesn’t work and she usually ends up calling him by name – Snowball. He’s a baby and he’s adorable.
Noelle then goes through the North Pole, telling us in voiceover that her father had died earlier that year. So her brother Nick, now Bill Hader, is in training to become the next Santa Claus. And all the elves are nervous he won’t be ready. Especially since he can’t seem to nail any of the Santa duties. Noelle tries to reassure them and her mother asks her to do the same for Nick.
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| Hello, Noelle |
Spoiler alert—everyone wants an iPad.
After this series of disappointments, Noelle takes her brother out for hot chocolate. She encourages him to go away for a weekend and relax. Then he can come back (with some new magazines) and really buckle down to become Santa Claus.
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| That is a man crying out for help |
No, seriously, everyone acts as if she killed Santa and stole Christmas herself. Her mother is disappointed and everyone glares at her. She offers to go get her brother but apparently there are rules about leaving the North Pole. Elder Elf Abe (Michael Gross) says that a male Kringle must become Santa—which Polly mutters isn’t true—and so Noelle’s cousin, Gabriel Kringle (Billy Eichner), becomes Santa.
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| Gabe is just as surprised. |
Noelle and Elf Polly crash land in a mall, which is all decorated for Christmas. Security rush out to greet them and they are brought to the manager, Helen Rojas (Diana Maria Riva). She is telling them they need to go when a hunky Petco employee rushes in to tell Helen that the mall is packed with people who have come to see the real reindeer. Noelle notices that Helen likes him and tries to gossip with her but Helen keeps shutting it down. But she does decide to let the sleigh and reindeer stay while Noelle tries to track down her brother.
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| Talk about your fish out of water. |
Jake Hapman (Kingsley Ben-Adir) gives his latest client some bad news just as Noelle enters his office. He notices her odd get up as she asks if he can find her brother for her. Jake brushes her off, saying he needs to go pick up his son. He realizes his phone is dead. She tells him to ask someone to borrow theirs but most people ignore them. Noelle then spots a man getting out of a car and tells Jake to ask him. She says she can tell he’s nice. She hurries over and asks the man if Jake can borrow his phone. The man agrees, proving Noelle right. Jake makes his call and then tells Noelle to come back the next day (with real money since she initially tried to pay him in North Pole chocolate gold coins) so he can help her find her brother.
Noelle returns to the mall and tries to get money from Helen but she can only give her merchandise. Polly and Noelle spend the night in the sleigh.
The next day, Noelle returns to Jake’s apartment/office and meets his son, Alex (Maceo Smedley). She talks with Alex, who is pushing his breakfast around. He tells her that his dad isn’t the greatest cook but he doesn’t want to make him feel bad. Noelle tries some of his breakfast and realizes that it is bad. She helps him hide the meal and Jake is pleased that his son finished the breakfast.
Jake says he has some leads on her brother but that he has plans with Alex. Alex, though, wants to help his father and so they all go on a trip through Phoenix to try and find Nick.
Their search brings them to a homeless shelter, where Noelle realizes that not everyone has everything they need. She meets a young girl named Michelle (Shaylee Mansfield), who is deaf. Noelle surprisingly starts signing to her and finds out what she wants for Christmas—for her mother to get a job. And an iPad. Jake says that they don’t know who Nick is and so they leave, Noelle’s eyes opened.
Noelle does start to wilt in the Phoenix heat and there’s a funny scene where she spends time in a grocery store’s refrigerated section in order to enjoy the cold. Jake thinks she’s weird but is more amused by her than anything else. Meanwhile, Noelle continues to bond with Alex and encourages him to be honest with his father.
Eventually, Jake finds Nick. He gets her some sunscreen and then drops her off in front of a yoga studio. She goes inside and finds Nick there, leading a class through “Christmas yoga.” He is surprised to see her and takes her into a backroom. She tells him he needs to come home because he’s Santa and everyone is mad at her for telling him to take a weekend off. But Nick says that he’s happy being a yoga instructor and that he never wanted to be Santa in the first place. Noelle is convinced that he’s still just burnt out and that he just needs a confidence boost so Nick asks her to leave.
Meanwhile, things get worse at the North Pole. Gabe has gone mad with power and has automated everything, including the naughty and nice list. He lets an algorithm determine who deserves presents and it determines there were only 20 good children in the world. Everyone else was naughty and could try again next year. Mrs. Claus tries to get her nephew to see reason (that forgetting to brush one’s teeth once or twice doesn’t warrant the naughty list for example) but it doesn’t work. She sends Snowball with a letter for Noelle.
Snowball crashes into Noelle and she reads her mother’s letter. She rushes back to Nick’s yoga studio but finds it’s closed for the holidays. Noelle decides to have Snowball sniff out his scent and the reindeer leads her to a bus that’s going to a yoga retreat. She boards it and heads out to talk to her brother.
When she gets to the retreat, she finds him in silent meditation. She tries to talk to him but he asks her to respect the silence. Noelle tries but is unable to stop, so he escorts her out. She apologizes for not listening to him or respecting his wishes. She asks him to read the letter from Mom and to then come find her.
Meanwhile, Alex comes clean to his father and tells him he loves to cook. He then also says that Noelle promised him that he would get his Christmas wish – to have Christmas dinner with his whole family, including his dad. Jake is not pleased to hear that.
Nick does find her the next day but says he still doesn’t think he can be Santa. Noelle convinces him to give it another shot. When the mall’s Santa is late, she dresses him up and puts him in the chair. Nick struggles with the first couple children while Noelle is able to determine who is nice and who is naughty (including one girl who was making fun of her best friend behind her back) as well as what they want.
Jake shows up and Noelle leaves Nick for a bit to talk with him. He says he’s happy she found her brother and thanks her for leading Alex to open up to him. But he’s upset that she told Alex that he would celebrate Christmas with him. Jake doesn’t want to make things awkward for his ex-wife and her new husband (read: He doesn’t want to see his ex-wife with her new husband). He tells her to stay away from them and goes away, leaving a disappointed Noelle.
She returns to Nick and sees things have gone downhill fast. There are angry children and a scared Santa. And it only gets worse when the real mall Santa finally shows up. He tries to kick Nick and Noelle starts to fight him, insisting her brother is the real Santa. The police are called and they take her to a hospital for a mental evaluation.
In the hospital, Noelle sees a news broadcast where the anchor reports that children around the world are getting messages from Santa saying they were naughty and would not be getting any presents this year. They could try again next year. Everyone is upset and the Christmas spirit is plummeting. Noelle curls up in her hospital bed, dejected and feeling like a failure.
Elf Polly goes to visit Jake. She reveals that she is an elf and that Noelle is Santa’s daughter. And she convinces Jake that he needs to help Noelle and Nick get back to the North Pole so they can save Christmas. He agrees.
Noelle meets with a psychologist, Dr. Shelly Sussman (Chelah Horsdal), but isn’t having much luck convincing her that she isn’t crazy. She also does some introspective, realizing that maybe she has been acting like a selfish princess and needs to change her ways.
Jake convinces the cop watching Noelle to give him a few minutes with her. She apologizes for overstepping with Alex and he tells her he believes she is Santa’s daughter. He explains he’s there to help her escape and motions to Elf Polly, Nick and Snowball in the sleigh. Dr. Sussman comes out and faints when she spots it as well. Jake catches her and encourages Noelle to climb out the window. She thanks him and gets in the sleigh. They take off, heading back to the North Pole.
Everyone in the North Pole is glum since Gabe isn’t doing a proper Christmas. The few children who got past his algorithm will get their presents by drone. It’s so bad, they are almost happy to see Noelle – and get even happier when Nick is with her. Everyone is certain he’ll get Christmas back on track but he doesn’t want to be Santa, appearing to leave Gabe still as Santa. He advocates for Noelle though and the Elder Elf reveals what Elf Polly already knew – there is nothing in the laws that say Santa has to be a male Kringle. It seems Noelle can become Santa.
They quickly get the sleigh loaded up and get Noelle into the suit. It’s pretty big on her but her mother says it will fit her once she’s ready to fill it. Noelle climbs aboard the sleigh and then calls for Snowball, asking him to take the lead. They take off and Noelle begins her first flight as Santa.
She has a rough start, missing cities and forgetting gifts. She even lands in the house of a Jewish family, who take it in stride. By the time she gets to Phoenix, she’s certain she’s ruined Christmas and will never be Santa again.
Then she wakes up everyone at the shelter as she tries to deliver their presents. Michelle, though, is kind to her and treats her like Santa. Noelle finds her confidence and is able to get everyone back to bed so she can deliver her presents. As she leaves, the Santa suit shrinks to fit her.
Noelle then goes back and corrects all her mistakes. And she finishes her run by bringing Jake to Alex’s house so he can spend Christmas with his son. Christmas is saved!
With her first flight under her belt, Noelle settles in as Santa. She works with her mother and Gabe to make sure all the nice children have good Christmases. Nick stays in the North Pole and starts up yoga classes to help the elves find some zen. And Elf Polly gets to be an Elder Elf, a role she clearly cherishes. Noelle reveals that Michelle and her mother do get to leave the shelter and Helen finally goes on vacation with the Petco guy. And Noelle stays in touch with Jake and Alex, so there are only happy endings all around.
Merry Christmas!
Noelle is a cute Christmas movie. It’s pretty paint by numbers, though I am impressed that Noelle doesn’t end up in a romance at the end. She and Jake just stay friends and I like that. I thought there would be a bit more of a feminist lilt to this – Shirley MacLaine crushing the patriarchy as she gives Noelle the information she needs to stand up to the Elder Elves. But then one elf just went and rechecked the rules to see that Santa doesn’t have to be a man.
It was anti-climatic.
But this probably was never meant to be a big statement movie. It was just meant to be a cute Christmas movie and it succeeds on that front. I’m not sure if it’ll become another Christmas classic but I imagine this will ultimately end up on the Disney Channel and joining Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas next year.
*****
So it’s the start of another year. I know I promised I would post more in 2019 and then I didn’t. Honestly, I didn’t get as much done as I wanted to in 2019. But it’s now a new year and a new decade. And I get a chance to start over.
I do plan to post more now and I feel I have the tool to do so now. I got a Roku for Christmas, so I can now watch my streaming services on my TV. That will make things easier. I can watch more and hopefully recap/review more then. After all, I’m well into a binge-watch of The Magicians. It’s definitely going easier than before I got Roku.
We’ll see what the next 12 months bring but I hope it’s more posts for this blog.
Happy New Year!
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