''A Mom for Christmas'' is a 1990 American made-for-television

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 ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving 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 literature and d ...

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 o ...

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 Awards, Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one s ...

, Juliet Sorci, Doug Sheehan 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 Enter ...

. 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 *''Message ...

based on the book ''A Mom by Magic'' by Barbara Dillon and originally premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

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 w ...

Plot

The story revolves around 11-year-old Jessica Slocum ( Juliet Sorci), whose mother died when she was three years old. Her father, Jim ( Doug Sheehan), 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 * Juliet Sorci as Jessica Slocum * Doug Sheehan as Jim Slocum *

as Philomena * Carmen Argenziano as Sergeant Morelli * Brett Harrelson as Kendall * Elliot Greenebaum as Chip Wright (credited as Elliot Moss Greenbaum) * Erica Mitchell 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 as Wilkins * Gregory Procaccino as Detective Price * Steve Russell as Mr. Milliman * Jesse Vincent as Teddy O'Neill * Paula Dione Ingram as Mrs. Garcia * William C. Ingram as himself

DVD release

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