''A Mom for Christmas'' is a 1990 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

Juliet Sorci Juliet Sorci (born July 4, 1979) is an American actress best known for her numerous roles as a child actress. Early life Born and raised in Bakersfield, California, Sorci graduated from William S. Hart High School in Santa Clarita in 1997. C ...

Doug Sheehan Douglas "Doug" Stuart Sheehan (born April 27, 1949) is an American actor who played Ben Gibson throughout four seasons of the prime-time drama ''Knots Landing'' from 1983 to 1987. His character was the second husband of Valene Ewing ( Joan Van A ...

and

Doris Roberts Doris May Roberts ( Green; November 4, 1925 – April 17, 2016) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades of television and film. She received five Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild award during her acting career, which bega ...

, directed by

George T. Miller George Trumbull Miller (born 28 November 1943) is a Scottish-Australian film and television director and producer. He has directed '' The Man from Snowy River'', '' The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter'' and ''Zeus and Roxanne''. He sta ...

and produced by

Walt Disney Television Disney General Entertainment Content, doing business as Walt Disney Television, is an American entertainment company that oversees television content and assets owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Forming the company's General Enterta ...

. The film marked Newton-John's television film debut and her first film appearance in seven years since '' Two of a Kind'' (1983). It was written by

Gerald Di Pego Gerald Di Pego (born July 22, 1941) is an American screenwriter and producer. Feature film screenplays *'' W'' (also known as ''I Want Her Dead''), Cinerama, 1974 *'' Sharky's Machine'', Orion, 1981 *''Phenomenon'', Buena Vista, 1996 *'' Messag ...

based on the book ''A Mom by Magic'' by

Barbara Dillon Barbara Dillon is an American author of children's books including ''The Beast in the Bed'', ''What's Happened to Harry?'', ''Who Needs a Bear?'' and ''Mrs. Tooey and the Terrible Toxic Tar''. Ms. Dillon is best known for her book ''A Mom by Magi ...

and originally premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on December 17, 1990. Production was centred around the former Shillito's Department Store (later Lazarus/Macy's) in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Plot

The story revolves around 11-year-old Jessica Slocum (

), whose mother died when she was three years old. Her father, Jim (

), is a workaholic with little time for his daughter and hasn't been able to spend time with her since her mother's death 8 years prior and still seems to be mourning her. Just before the Christmas holiday season, Jessica wins a free wish from a wishing well. Her wish for a mother for Christmas is granted by Philomena (

) and Amy Miller (

), a department store mannequin, is brought to life to be a mom for Jessica. However, there is a catch and Amy can only be a mother to her until Christmas Eve. To clear up any confusion for Jim, Amy claims herself to be a nanny from Australia hired to help care for Jessica while he's at work and she is given a spare room on top of the garage. Amy and Jessica get along until they suffer a brief misunderstanding. Jessica briefly wants to take back the wish and sees Amy go lifeless from her bedroom window. Horrified, she runs out in the rain and stairs to Amy's room, frantically knocking on her door. Amy opens up and Jessica is relieved to see her fine as she is ushered in. The next day, Jessica visits Philomena at the department store to see if she could take back the original wish. She wants Amy to stay forever with them because her father has grown fond of her and she can't bear to lose another mother. Philomena wishes she could help alter the wish, but shows Jessica what Amy will be up against if she isn't there to save her and the other mannequins with faces. The store she works at is planning to replace all the mannequins with faceless ones. Philomena tells Jessica there is only one way to avoid this and if she really wants to save Amy, they must act fast and join hands with her. That isn't the only thing Amy is up against, an inquisitive store detective suspects her of taking a missing Santa mannequin (needed for Jessica's Christmas pageant) from the store and questions her. However, Amy's mannequin friends come to her aid, especially a male mannequin dressed as a driver who warns him to keep his distance from her. Amy and the Santa mannequin both help Jessica overcome her stage fright and put on a convincing performance that wow's the crowd. Jim takes a photograph of Jessica, his first picture of her since her mother died. Christmas Eve and Philomena is late to perform the ritual needed to save Amy so she has to return to the store. Jessica recruits Jim to help save her and they head to the store. By the time they reach the store, they see Amy having gone back to being a mannequin and Jessica throws herself at her. She begs her father to grab Amy's hand and he reluctantly does. The ritual works and Amy is brought back before them. They head for home and Amy's mannequin friends wishes her the best of luck in her new life, while the store detective is awakened by Philomena using her magic feather duster. The film ends with a Christmas picture of Jim, Amy and Jessica.

Cast

as Amy Miller *

as Jessica Slocum *

as Jim Slocum *

as Philomena *

Carmen Argenziano Carmen Antimo Argenziano (October 27, 1943February 10, 2019) was an American actor who appeared in over 73 movies and around 100 television movies or episodes. He was best known for playing Jacob Carter on ''Stargate SG-1''. He had recurring role ...

as Sergeant Morelli *

Brett Harrelson Brett V. Harrelson (born June 4, 1963) is an American actor. Early life Brett Harrelson was born in Midland, Texas, the son of Diane Lou (née Oswald) and Charles Voyde Harrelson, who divorced in 1964. He has two brothers, Jordan and Woody Harr ...

as Kendall *

Elliot Greenebaum Elliot Greenebaum (born 1977) is an American film writer and director, best known for his award-winning debut movie, ''Assisted Living''. He also appeared in the role of Chip Wright in the 1990 Disney TV movie ''A Mom for Christmas''. Backgrou ...

as Chip Wright (credited as Elliot Moss Greenbaum) *

Erica Mitchell Erica Mitchell (born July 15, 1987) is a women's ice sledge hockey player that compete for the United States women's national ice sledge hockey team The United States women's national ice sledge hockey team is the national team representing th ...

as Stephanie Clark *

Aubrey Morris Aubrey Morris (born Aubrey Steinberg; 1 June 1926 – 15 July 2015) was a British actor known for his appearances in the films '' A Clockwork Orange'' and ''The Wicker Man''. Early life and career Morris was one of nine children born to Becky ...

as Nicholas *

Jim Piddock Jim Piddock (born April 8, 1956) is an English actor, producer and writer who began his career on the stage in the United Kingdom before emigrating to the United States in 1981. Personal life Piddock was born on April 8, 1956, in Rochester, K ...

as Wilkins *

Gregory Procaccino Gregory may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gregory (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gregory (surname), a surname Places Australia *Gregory, Queensland, a town in the Shire of ...

as Detective Price * Steve Russell as Mr. Milliman * Jesse Vincent as Teddy O'Neill *

Paula Dione Ingram Paula or PAULA may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Paula, in video game ''EarthBound'' * Paula, in ''The Larry Sanders Show'' * Paula Campbell (''EastEnders''), in 2003 Film and television * ''Paula'' (1915 film), a si ...

as Mrs. Garcia * William C. Ingram as himself

DVD release

On October 21, 2008, ''A Mom for Christmas'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

as a ''Disney Movie Club Exclusive'', available only to club members for mail or online ordering.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mom for Christmas, A 1990 television films 1990 films 1990s fantasy comedy films NBC network original films Christmas television films Disney television films American Christmas comedy films American fantasy comedy films 1990s English-language films Mannequins in films Films based on children's books Films set in department stores Films shot in Ohio Films directed by George T. Miller Films scored by Sean Callery 1990s Christmas comedy films 1990s American films

Plot

Cast

DVD release

See also

References

External links