''Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever'' (referred to onscreen as ''Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever! The Movie'') is a 2014

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 fo ...

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 ...

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 Tim Hill, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jeff Morris. The film stars Internet celebrity cat Tardar Sauce, also known as "Grumpy Cat", and

Megan Charpentier Megan Charpentier (born May 26, 2001) is a Canadian actress, best known for her roles as the feral child Victoria in the horror film ''Mama'' (2013), as the Red Queen in '' Resident Evil: Retribution'' (2012), and for her role as Gretta Keene ...

as a young girl who befriends and later adopts Grumpy Cat, only to discover that the two can communicate with one another. The film premiered on Lifetime on November 29, 2014, to generally negative reviews from critics.

Plot

Grumpy Cat Tardar Sauce (April 4, 2012 – May 14, 2019), nicknamed Grumpy Cat, was an American Internet celebrity cat. She was known for her permanently "grumpy" facial appearance, which was caused by an underbite and feline dwarfism. She came to promin ...

is a lonely and grumpy cat living in a mall pet shop that is slated to be closed. She is bitter at being constantly passed over for other animals in the store, but is surprised to find that she can communicate with Crystal, an equally lonely 12-year-old girl who is shocked that Grumpy Cat can "talk". The two are initially at odds, but start to befriend each other, especially after a high-priced

Leonberger The Leonberger is a dog breed, whose name derives from the city of Leonberg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Description Appearance This breed occurs with a generous double coat; the Leonberger is a large, muscular, and elegant dog with balance ...

dog is dognapped from the pet shop for its value.

Cast

as herself **

Aubrey Plaza Aubrey Christina Plaza (born June 26, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She began her career performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. She starred as April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom '' Par ...

as Herself and the voice of Grumpy Cat *

as Crystal *

Daniel Roebuck Daniel James Roebuck (born March 4, 1963) is an American actor and writer. His best known roles include Deputy Marshal Robert Biggs in ''The Fugitive'' and its spinoff film ''U.S. Marshals'', Jay Leno in ''The Late Shift'', and Dr. Leslie Arz ...

as George *

Russell Peters Russell Dominic Peters (born September 29, 1970) is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008. In 2013, he was number three on ''Forbes'' list of the world's highe ...

as Santa Claus * Shauna Johannesen as Tabby * David Lewis as Marcus Crabtree *

Tyler Johnston Tyler Johnston (born June 14, 1987) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Stewart on the comedy series ''Letterkenny'' and Danny Lubbe in ''Less Than Kind''. Career Johnston's credits include appearances in the television se ...

as Gill Brockman *

Evan Todd Evan Todd (born February 25, 1989) is an American actor and producer. Life and career Todd grew up in Kissimmee, Florida. He is of Italian descent. He finished his senior year of high school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, ...

as Zack * Isaac Haig as Donny *

Jay Brazeau Jay Brazeau is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Sam Fisher in ''Cold Squad'', as Harlan in ''Stargate SG-1'' (1997–2007), and for voicing Uncle Quigley in '' Sabrina: The Animated Series''. He is also known for his role as Bobby in ...

as Roger *

Stephen Stanton Stephen Walter Stanton (born August 22, 1961) is an American voice actor and visual effects artist. His roles include Sasha Nein in ''Psychonauts'' and ''Psychonauts 2'', Grand Moff Tarkin in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, Admiral Raddus in ''Rogu ...

as the voice of JoJo the Dog * Chris Williams as the voice of Lance the Gerbil *

Trevor Lissauer Trevor Ryan Lissauer (born October 29, 1973) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role as Miles Goodman in '' Sabrina, the Teenage Witch''. Career Acting Born in Dallas, Texas to a Jewish family, Lissauer began his act ...

as the voice of Jackie the Jack Russell *

Trevor Devall Trevor Devall (born November 10, 1972) is a Canadian-American voice actor and podcaster. He worked for various other studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for years, before he relocated to Los Angeles, California, US in 2013. Early life ...

as the voice of Wilson the Cockatoo

Production

The film was created to showcase Tardar Sauce, the subject of an

Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

which first appeared in 2012. By the end of 2013, the company which manages Grumpy Cat's image was valued at around $1 million. The company is managed by Ben Lashes, who is credited as an Executive Producer on ''Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever''. Tim Hill, one of the writers, had previously directed '' Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties'' and ''

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three s ...

''. When Plaza was cast to perform Grumpy Cat's voice, she was initially unfamiliar with it, but learned about the cat before production. The film was shot in its entirety before Plaza recorded her lines. She re-drafted around 90% of her dialogue, explaining,

Once I realized that the cat's mouth wasn't going to move, I just kind of went for it, and thought, 'Well, if it's just going to cut to the cat and I can say my line, then I can just comment on other things, too.' The movie kind of has a ''
Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. ...
'' vibe to it, so it's like you're getting Grumpy's commentary throughout the whole thing, but then Grumpy is also starring in the story.

Reception

The film was first broadcast at 8pm EST on November 29, 2014, on the Lifetime channel in the United States. A

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

representing the film, #WorstChristmasEver, trended during the first half of the movie. It was watched by 1.7 million viewers. The film received mostly negative reviews. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

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 ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 27%, based on 11 reviews, and an average rating of 4.17/10. ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' and ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' both panned the film. ''The A.V. Club'' called it "the largest turd in ifetime'scrap crown of original programming...so unforgiving, so psychologically trying, that the process alone leaves the viewer straining to hear the dialogue over the sound of the soul being crushed wholesale, bone and sinew wrenched apart at the joint." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''MySA'', and ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-De ...

'' were more positive in their reviews, with the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' commenting that although the film was "terrible" they still enjoyed it overall. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' also gave the film a positive review, stating " e Christmas miracle of this movie is that ''Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever'' isn't the worst Christmas movie ever," and praising the writing and

's voice acting.

References

External links