''Ernest Saves Christmas'' is a 1988 American

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 ...

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 ...

directed by John Cherry and starring

Jim Varney James Albert Varney Jr. (June 15, 1949 – February 10, 2000) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his broadly comedic role as Ernest P. Worrell, for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award, as well as appearing in films and ...

. This is the third film to feature Varney's character

Ernest P. Worrell Ernest P. Worrell is a fictional character portrayed by American actor Jim Varney in a series of television commercials and later in a television series (''Hey Vern, It's Ernest!'') as well as a series of feature films. Ernest was created with ...

, and chronicles Ernest's attempt to help find a replacement for an aging

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

Plot

A man claiming to be

arrives in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, where

is working as a

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

driver. Ernest picks up Santa, who tells him he is on his way to inform a local celebrity named Joe Carruthers that he has been chosen to be the new Santa Claus. Joe hosted a long-running, but recently-cancelled local children's program with emphasis on manners and integrity, which Ernest remembers fondly. While they are driving, a runaway teenage girl who says she is named Harmony Starr joins Ernest and Santa in the taxicab. When they get to their destination, Santa possesses no legal currency (only play money), so Ernest lets him ride for free which gets Ernest fired from his job. Ernest discovers that Santa left his magic sack in the taxicab, and Ernest begins a quest to find the old man and return it to him. At the Orlando Children's Museum, Santa tries talking to Joe, but is interrupted and rebuffed by Joe's rude

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

Marty Brock. Santa begins to worry when he discovers his sack is missing, and becomes discouraged because of his increasing forgetfulness, a result of being 151 years old. Santa tries to explain his predicament, but Marty refuses to believe and help him, and has him arrested. Ernest poses as an employee of the governor with Harmony as the governor's niece, and the two help Santa escape from jail by convincing the police chief that Santa must be taken to a mental hospital. Santa explains to Ernest and Harmony that he was handed down the job of Santa Claus in 1889 and has enjoyed it ever since, but the magic grows weaker over time. The only way to restore its full strength is to pass it on to someone else which is why he must find Joe and make him the new Santa Claus by 7:00 PM. Ernest disguises himself as a snake rancher so he can sneak Santa into a movie studio. Marty presses Joe to quit his focus on teaching children goodness and instead land a part in a horror film titled ''Christmas Slay'', about an alien which terrorizes children on Christmas Eve, a concept that offends Santa so deeply he punches the director. Meanwhile, while all these events are taking place, two holding dock workers receive several large crates marked for release to "Helper Elves". The two dock workers argue over the shipping papers and the contents of the crates. The crates are revealed to contain flying reindeer. The dock workers seek help from the local animal control services only to be told that there is nothing animal control can do to help when they arrive and are shocked to see the reindeer walking on the ceiling of the warehouse. Santa later tracks down Joe at his home. He explains about passing the position of Santa Claus over to him because otherwise the magic will eventually die. Santa also explains that from Orlando, Joe must leave to deliver the presents by 7:00 PM; if he leaves any later, he will run into daylight before he finishes. Joe declines, but later is overcome by conscience when the film director wants him to use foul language, which he refuses to say in front of the children on the set. Ernest and Harmony (whose real name is later revealed by Santa to be Pamela Trenton) discover the magic power of Santa's sack, and Pamela starts to abuse it. She steals the sack, and attempts to run away again. However, on Christmas Eve, her conscience prevails, and she rushes back to find Ernest and Santa and return the sack. Ernest meets Santa's elves at the airport and they retrieve the reindeer from the dock workers and Santa's sleigh from the holding dock. Because they are short on time, Ernest decides to fly the sleigh to the children's museum, much to the helpers' objection. Having trouble controlling it at first, the reindeer and the sleigh fly all over the sky. At a meeting, Joe sees the reindeer and sleigh flying and it convinces him that everything Santa told him is real. Joe turns down the acting job and leaves to find Santa. Joe finds Santa at 6:57 PM at the children's museum and tells Santa that he wants the job. Very pleased, Santa transforms Joe into the new Santa Claus. The new Santa uses his new magic to make it snow in Orlando. Ernest and the helpers arrive at the museum at 6:58 PM. Pamela has called her mother and has decided to come home. The new Santa decides to have Pamela be his special helper and then take her to her home, and allows Ernest to be the sleigh driver for the night. The old Santa resumes his former identity, Seth Applegate, and spends Christmas Eve with an elderly museum employee named Mary Morrissey, whom he previously befriended. The new Santa takes off at 7:00 PM to deliver the gifts. An ending scene shows the two holding dock workers receiving a large crate with shipping papers marked "E. Bunny" and arguing over the name spelling when two large rabbit ears suddenly burst through the top of the crate just before the film credits begin to roll.

Cast

Douglas Seale Douglas Seale (28 October 1913 – 13 June 1999) was an English film and stage actor. Early life Born in London, Seale was educated at Rutlish School in Wimbledon and trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Career He m ...

/ Seth Applegate *

Oliver Clark Oliver may refer to: Arts, entertainment and literature Books * ''Oliver the Western Engine'', List of books in The Railway Series#Oliver the Western Engine, volume 24 in ''The Railway Series'' by Rev. W. Awdry * ''Oliver Twist'', a nove ...

as Joe Carruthers, The New Santa Claus * Noelle Parker as Pamela Trenton / Harmony Starr *

Gailard Sartain Gailard Sartain (born September 18, 1946) is an American retired actor, often playing characters with roots in the South. He was a regular on the country music variety series ''Hee Haw''. He is also known for his roles in three of the Ernest mo ...

as Chuck, Storage Agent *

Bill Byrge Bill Byrge (born July 16, 1932) is an American character actor and comedian, best known for his work as Bobby in various Ernest P. Worrell projects. Career In 1986, Byrge began appearing alongside longtime co-star Gailard Sartain in a series o ...

as Bobby, Storage Agent *

Billie Bird Billie Bird Sellen (February 28, 1908 – November 27, 2002), better known professionally as Billie Bird, was an American actress and comedian. She played Margie in '' Dear John'' (1988–1992). Early life Born in Pocatello, Idaho, Bird was ...

as Mary Morrissey * Key Howard as Immigration Agent * Jack Swanson as Businessman * Buddy Douglas as Pyramus The Elf *

Patty Maloney Patricia Anne Maloney (born March 17, 1936) is an American actress. Early life She was born in Perkinsville, New York. She stands and weighs . Career Maloney is best known as Honk from ''Far Out Space Nuts'', as Lumpy from the ''Star Wars ...

as Thisbe The Elf * Barry Brazell as Cab Passenger * George Kaplan as Mr. Dillis *

Robert Lesser Robert Lesser or Bobby Lesser (born October 22, 1942) is an American actor. Lesser was born in New York City, and lives in Santa Barbara, California. His earliest work dates back to 1967 with "David Holzman's Diary", directed by Jim McBride. His ...

as Marty Brock * Zachary Bowden as Boy In The Train Station

Production

Filming locations

This was the first major feature production filmed almost entirely in

, at the then-unfinished

Disney-MGM Studios Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Based on a concept by Ma ...

. Exterior scenes set at the house of Ernest's friend Vern were filmed at a house located on Residential Street at the park, and which was part of the

Studio Backlot Tour The Studio Backlot Tour was an attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It was a combination of a walking and trackless train, tram tour of the backlot area of the ...

until it was demolished in 2002. The remainder of the scenes were filmed in various locations in the greater Orlando area, including

Orlando International Airport Orlando International Airport is a major public airport located 6 miles (10 km) southeast of Downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2021, it handled 19,618,838 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and seventh busiest airport i ...

, Epcot Center Drive,

Lake Eola Lake Eola Park is a public park located in Downtown Orlando, Florida. Lake Eola is the main feature of the park. Also located in the park (on the west side) is the Walt Disney Amphitheater, which hosts many community events and various perform ...

Church Street Station Church Street Station, also called the Old Orlando Railroad Depot, is a historic train station and commercial development in Orlando, Florida. The historic depot and surrounding buildings house a retail and entertainment center. The complex also ...

and

Orange Avenue ''Orange Ave.'' is the fourth studio album by American post-grunge band Seven Mary Three. It was released on July 14, 1998, on Atlantic Records. The album peaked at #121 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album is named after a street running throu ...

Downtown Orlando Downtown Orlando is the historic core and central business district of Orlando, Florida, United States. It is bordered by Marks Street in the north, Mills Avenue (SR 15) in the east, Orange Blossom Trail (US 441) in the west, and Kaley Avenue in th ...

, a toll booth on the

Bee Line Expressway State Road 528 (SR 528), alternatively named the Martin Andersen Beachline Expressway (with parts previously named the Bee Line Expressway), is a partially- tolled state road in the U.S. state of Florida; it is maintained by the Flori ...

(now known as the "Beachline Expressway"), the original

Orlando Science Center The Orlando Science Center (OSC) is a private science museum located in Orlando, Florida. Its purposes are to provide experience-based opportunities for learning about science and technology and to promote public understanding of science. The O ...

which is now the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (used as the "Orlando Children's Museum" in the film), and the Orlando AMTRAK station. The Lake Mary studios of then-

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

affiliate

WOFL-TV WOFL (channel 35) is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outlet WRBW (channel 65). Bo ...

(channel 35, which is now owned by Fox itself) were used for the ''Christmas Slay'' film scenes, as the station already had a promotional relationship with Jim Varney and the Ernest character. Other smaller scenes were filmed in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Reception

The film was not a critical success, though it was commercially successful, being the highest-grossing of the five theatrical Ernest films. In its opening weekend, ''Ernest Saves Christmas'' was #2 at the box office behind '' Child's Play'' and grossed $5,710,734 from 1,634 theaters. Its domestic total was $28,202,109. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it holds approval rating with a 4.9/10 average rating, based on 14 reviews.

Home media

The DVD was released on September 3, 2002 from

Touchstone Home Entertainment Touchstone may refer to: * Touchstone (assaying tool), a stone used to identify precious metals * Touchstone (metaphor), a means of assaying relative merits of a concept Entertainment * ''Touchstone'' (album), a 1982 album by Chick Corea * T ...

. ''Ernest Saves Christmas'' is the only Ernest film out of the original "Disney Four" to not receive a release on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

. The film was added to

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

on November 26, 2021.

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1988 films 1980s children's comedy films 1980s Christmas comedy films 1980s fantasy comedy films American children's comedy films American Christmas comedy films American fantasy comedy films Ernest P. Worrell films Films directed by John R. Cherry III Films scored by Mark Snow Films set in Orlando, Florida Films shot in Florida Films shot in Tennessee Santa Claus in film Touchstone Pictures films 1988 comedy films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films