''Annabelle's Wish'' is a 1997 American

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy w ...

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

film that revolves around a young

calf Calf most often refers to: * Calf (animal), the young of domestic cattle. * Calf (leg), in humans (and other primates), the back portion of the lower leg Calf or calves may also refer to: Biology and animal byproducts *Veal, meat from calves *C ...

who aspires to learn to fly and become one of

Santa Claus' reindeer In traditional festive legend and popular culture, Santa Claus's reindeer are said to pull a sleigh through the night sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children on Christmas Eve. The number of reindeer characters, and the names given ...

. It is narrated by American country singer

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. Active from 1978 until being incapacitated by a stroke in 2013, he has recor ...

and stars voice actress

Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM), a radio station in ...

as the voice of Annabelle.

Hallmark Home Entertainment Hallmark Media (formerly Crown Media Holdings) is an American media production company with corporate headquarters located in Studio City, California, and is a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards. Hallmark Media consists of Crown Media Productions and ...

released the film to video on October 21, 1997, followed by a television broadcast later that year on Fox.

Plot

Annabelle, a calf, is born on Christmas Eve in the rural farming community of Twobridge,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

. Upon meeting

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

, she becomes fascinated with

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subs ...

and their ability to fly, and wishes to fly herself. Having been granted the temporary ability to speak, she befriends farmer Charles Baker's grandson, Billy, who is

mute Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), a scien ...

from inhaling smoke from the barn fire that killed his parents. Billy's Aunt Agnes, the sister of Billy's late father, arrives from the city the next morning. Charles despises Agnes and the two get into an argument about Billy's well being, with Charles pointing out that Agnes didn't want custody of her nephew after his parents passed away, but she reconsidered, mostly in order to have a "perfect Christmas". Charles refuses to give up Billy, but Agnes threatens legal action against him. Meanwhile, Annabelle accidentally reveals her ability to speak, but her mother Star tells her that Billy cannot speak, therefore their secret is safe. They go sledding with Billy's friend Emily and accidentally crash into the fence of Gus Holder, the neighbor and former friend of Charles. Gus' sons Bucky and Buster, who commonly pick on Billy for his muteness, tell their father. Knowing that Charles cannot pay for the damages to the fence, Gus takes Annabelle until Charles can raise the money, which he does by selling an old music box that belonged to Billy's mother and his daughter, the late Sarah Baker. Annabelle enjoys the change of seasons with Billy and Emily. Winter comes around and Bucky and Buster harass Emily and Billy one day after school. When the harassment becomes physical, Annabelle retaliates by knocking them down. The boys lie about the incident to their father who calls the sheriff, but he had received an eyewitness statement from the school bus driver. Gus sends his sons to their room and the sheriff talks to him about how his

Ebenezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge () is the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella '' A Christmas Carol''. At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. The tale of his redemption by three spirits (the Ghos ...

-like behavior since his wife's passing has affected his sons. The sheriff also tells Gus that Charles had to sell his daughter's music box to an antique dealer in town in order to pay for both the damages to his fence and to get Annabelle back. Gus starts to feel guilty about what he did to both Charles and Billy after the sheriff reminds him about what it's like to lose a loved one. Agnes' lawyer later finds a loophole that would grant her custody: Billy can only stay with her if he remains mute. When Agnes returns to Charles' farm to bring Billy back to her home, the animals push her car into a ditch to stall for time. As a result, she has to stay on the farm overnight on Christmas Eve. That night, Santa comes and Annabelle asks him to permanently give her Christmas voice to Billy. Touched by her selflessness, he agrees. The next morning, Billy finds a present and upon opening it, magically gets his voice back. This renders Agnes' custody order void, allowing Billy to stay with Charles. Billy shows Annabelle his ability to speak, but is shocked to discover that she gave up her voice for him and that hearing him speak again was her true wish. Gus, Bucky, and Buster arrive and apologize for their behavior. Gus reveals that he bought the music box from the antique shop and gives it to Charles. Agnes and Gus become acquainted, and according to the narrator, they marry and Agnes becomes a step-mother to Gus's two sons. Years later, Billy (who is revealed to have been the narrator all along) and Emily have grown up, gotten married, and now own the farm after Charles' retirement. Annabelle, having grown old and weary, gives up on her belief that she will ever fly. On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus arrives to fulfill her true wish (a wish from Billy) and she becomes a young reindeer and is given her voice back. She flies away as Santa's lead and bids Billy goodbye and a Merry Christmas.

Cast

as the narrator and adult Billy *

as Annabelle (both young calf and adult reindeer) * Hari Oziol as young Billy * Jerry Van Dyke as Grandpa Charles Baker *

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomina ...

as Aunt Agnes * Jim Varney as Gus Holder * Charlie Cronin as Bucky Holder *

James Lafferty James Martin Lafferty (born July 25, 1985) is an American actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Nathan Scott on The WB/ CW teen drama television series '' One Tree Hill'' (2003–2012). Early life Lafferty was bo ...

as Buster Holder * Aria Curzon as young Emily *

Beth Nielsen Chapman Beth Nielsen Chapman (born September 14, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter who has written hits for country and pop music performers. She was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016. Nielsen Chapman is two-time Gr ...

as adult Emily *

Kay E. Kuter Kay Edwin Emmert Kuter (April 25, 1925 – November 12, 2003) was an American actor who appeared on television and in films. He is mostly recognized for his role as farmer Newt Kiley on the CBS sitcoms '' Green Acres'' and '' Petticoat Junction ...

* Jennifer Darling as Star * Rue McClanahan as Scarlett * Jerry Houser as Slim *

Steve Mackall Stephen James "Steve" Mackall (born December 9, 1959) is a Canadian-American voice actor, voice-over announcer, comedian, director, screenwriter and songwriter. He was known as the voice of NBC's Must See TV, and performed voice of the lead cha ...

as Owliver * Brian Cummings as Brewster *

Mary Kay Bergman Mary Kay Bergman (June 5, 1961 – November 11, 1999), also credited as Shannen Cassidy, was an American voice actress and voice-over teacher. She was the lead female voice actress on ''South Park'' from the show's 1997 debut until her death. Thr ...

and

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series '' Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrenc ...

as the hens * Jay Johnson as Ears *

Clancy Brown Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...

as the town sheriff and the lawyer *

Stu Rosen Stuart M. Rosen (June 26, 1939 – August 4, 2019) was an American voice director and voice actor. History Shortly after graduating from California State College, Long Beach, Rosen got work as a production assistant at KCET. He wrote and starr ...

as Doc Taylor *

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass- country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed wit ...

, and

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

provided additional voices.

Music

The film's score was by

Steve Dorff Stephen Hartley Dorff (born April 21, 1949) is an American songwriter and composer whose work is mainly in the field of country music. Career Dorff has written several songs for other artists, including " Hypnotize the Moon" and " My Heart W ...

, who also wrote the film's songs with John Bettis and Travis. The songs were performed by Travis,

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...

Kevin Sharp Kevin Grant Sharp (December 10, 1970 – April 19, 2014) was an American country music singer, author, and motivational speaker. Sharp came on the country music scene in 1996 with his first single: a cover of Tony Rich's "Nobody Knows (Tony Rich ...

, and Nanci Griffith.

Release

''Annabelle's Wish'' was released by

on October 21, 1997, and was the first film created by Ralph Edwards Films to be released. The film later aired on Fox on November 30, 1997.

Reception

The special received mixed reviews from critics. Lynne Heffley of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' praised Travis' narration, the score and songs, and the film's "gentle message of selfless love". Andrea Higbie of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' referred to the character of Agnes as the film's version of

Cruella de Vil Cruella de Vil is a fictional character in British author Dodie Smith's 1956 novel ''The Hundred and One Dalmatians''. A pampered and glamorous London heiress and fashion designer, she appears in Walt Disney Productions' 17th animated feature fi ...

, and wrote that the film would appeal to young viewers but that "its narcissistic dysfunction angle ("If Aunt Agnes doesn't love Billy, why does she want to take him away from Grandpa?") will leave them wishing for a villainess who simply has fur coats on her mind," in reference to de Vil. When the film premiered on Fox, it was the highest-rated television program among children between the ages of two and five. ''Annabelle's Wish'' was also among the top-five best-selling videos during November and December 1997, and was Hallmark Home Entertainment's best-selling video as of January 1998. A portion of the video sale revenues were donated to the

Make-A-Wish Foundation The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness between the ages of and 18 years old. Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 and headquart ...

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0133372 1997 direct-to-video films 1997 animated films 1990s Christmas films Sonar Entertainment films Animated Christmas films Animated films about orphans American Christmas films Animated films about mammals Films about cattle Films about deer and moose Films about shapeshifting Films scored by Steve Dorff Films set in Tennessee Country music films American animated featurettes American children's animated fantasy films American direct-to-video films Santa Claus's reindeer Santa Claus in film 1990s English-language films 1990s American films