''Prancer'' is a 1989

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 ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the ...

, written by Greg Taylor, and starring Rebecca Harrell,

Sam Elliott Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Board of Review Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Aw ...

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 nomin ...

Abe Vigoda Abraham Charles Vigoda (February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2016) was an American actor known for his portrayals of Salvatore Tessio in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and Phil Fish in both ''Barney Miller'' (1975–1977, 1982) and ''Fish'' (1977–1978 ...

Michael Constantine Michael Constantine (born Gus Efstratiou (Ευστρατίου); May 22, 1927 – August 31, 2021) was an American actor. He is most widely recognized for his portrayal of Kostas "Gus" Portokalos, the Windex bottle-toting Greek father of Toula ...

Rutanya Alda Rutanya Alda (born Rūta Skrastiņa; October 13, 1942) is a Latvian-American actress. She began her career in the late 1960s, and went on to have supporting parts in ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), ''Rocky II'' (1979), and ''Mommie Dearest'' (1981). S ...

, and

Ariana Richards Ariana Clarice Richards is an American painter and former actress. She is best known for her role as Lex Murphy in the blockbuster film '' Jurassic Park''. Richards won several Young Artist Awards for her acting as a child, but as an adult has ...

. It is set in

Three Oaks, Michigan Three Oaks is a village in Three Oaks Township, Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,622 at the 2010 census. The village of Three Oaks is located in the southwest corner of Michigan, just 5 miles from the shores o ...

, where town exteriors were filmed. Filming also occurred at the Old Republic House in

New Carlisle, Indiana New Carlisle is a suburban village in Olive Township, St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,861 at the 2010 Census. It is part of the South Bend–Mishawaka, IN- MI, Metropolitan Statistical Area. History New ...

La Porte, Indiana La Porte (French for "The Door") is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States, of which it is the county seat. Its population was estimated to be 21,341 in 2022. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City-La Porte, India ...

, and at

Starved Rock State Park Starved Rock State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Illinois, characterized by the many canyons within its . Located just southeast of the village of Utica, in Deer Park Township, LaSalle County, Illinois, along the south bank of the ...

in Utica, Illinois. The film was followed by a

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 was p ...

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

, '' Prancer Returns'', released by USA Home Entertainment in 2001.

Plot

Eight-year-old Jessica Riggs and her older brother, Steve, are being raised by their widowed father, the grieving and cantankerous John. Their apple farm has fallen on hard times. John is temporarily being helped by his sister-in-law, Sarah. While walking home after a school Christmas pageant, Jessica and her ex-best friend, Carol, witness a plastic reindeer fall from a Christmas decoration being hung above the main street in town. She concludes that it was Prancer from the order given in the poem ''

A Visit from St. Nicholas ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', more commonly known as ''The Night Before Christmas'' and ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously under the title ''Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas'' i ...

'' (a.k.a. ''The Night Before Christmas''). Afraid he will be unable to provide for Jessica, John discusses a plan for Sarah to take her in to raise temporarily. She overhears this, but initially does not know the full details. She and Carol go sledding and knock down some flowers at a house owned by a reclusive widow named Mrs. McFarland. While walking home, Jessica encounters a live reindeer in the woods. It runs away, disappearing into the darkness. Later, while walking home from school, she finds its tracks and follows them into the woods once more. She hears a gunshot, and continues to walk. John eventually finds her, but almost hits the reindeer who is now standing in the road. Noticing it is wounded, he grabs his rifle, intending to shoot it. As Jessica pleads for him not to do so, it disappears. Later while dreaming of Prancer, Jessica is startled awake by the scene of the plastic reindeer falling from earlier. She hears a noise and sees that the window to the barn is open. Investigating, she finds the reindeer is now inside among the other animals. Afraid John will find him, she moves him to a shed. Certain that he is the "real" Prancer, she takes it upon herself to nurse him back to health. She calls veterinarian Dr. Orel Benton who initially refuses, but comes over to find him. Jessica later tells a

mall Mall commonly refers to a: * Shopping mall * Strip mall * Pedestrian street * Esplanade Mall or MALL may also refer to: Places Shopping complexes * The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria * The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India * M ...

Santa 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 ...

that she has Prancer, and gives him a

Polaroid Polaroid may refer to: * Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras * Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation * Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs * Polar ...

picture and a letter to give to the real Santa before Christmas Eve. He takes them to the editor of the local newspaper. Eventually, Jessica apologizes to Mrs. McFarland for knocking down her flowers, and asks her if she can have a job to help pay for oats for the reindeer. Mrs. McFarland agrees to pay her if she cleans a room in her house, and they become friends. The newspaper editor, inspired by Jessica's faith, writes an article which is then read by the local pastor in the middle of his sermon, which makes Jessica find out that she has been outed to the entire town. She becomes mad at Carol, who she thinks squealed. She then terminates her friendship with Carol, and later finds the article in the paper. John, meanwhile, is reading the paper. Before he finds the article, he discovers Prancer has escaped from the barn and let all the other animals out too. While he tries to round them up, Prancer goes inside the house and wrecks it. Townspeople begin to converge on the farm, wanting to see him. John grabs his rifle, threatening to shoot him when a local butcher stops him, offering to buy Prancer. Jessica, afraid the butcher will kill him, runs away in the night determined to rescue him. The butcher keeps him as a sales tool for his Christmas tree lot. Steve runs after her, telling her that he loves her even though they fight. She attempts to open Prancer's cage but falls, injuring her head in the process. Jessica stays in her bedroom, becoming despondent. John goes to her and she asks him to read a passage from "

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" is a line from an editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church titled "Is There a Santa Claus?", which appeared in the New York newspaper '' The Sun'' on September 21, 1897, and became one of the most famous ...

". He tells her that times may continue to be hard for a long time but while he could bear losing the farm, it would absolutely kill him to lose her. He changes his mind about sending her away to Sarah. He suggests they take Prancer to Antler Ridge, which would be the perfect place for Santa to pick him up. The townspeople gather outside her bedroom window and begin singing to cheer her up. Prancer is taken to Antler Ridge where he runs out of sight. Following his tracks, John and Jessica notice that they vanish at the edge of a cliff. The faint sound of sleigh bells can be heard, and a streak of light is seen rising to meet Santa's sleigh. Jessica bids Prancer farewell, and to always remember her. The sleigh flies across the full moon and over the town toward the Riggs farm—its very first stop.

Cast

* Rebecca Harrell as Jessica Riggs *

as John Riggs *

as Mrs. McFarland *

as Dr. Orel Benton *

as Mr. Stewart/Mall Santa *

as Sarah *

as Carol Wetherby * John Joseph Duda as Steve Riggs *

Johnny Galecki John Mark Galecki (born April 30, 1975) is an American actor. He played Leonard Hofstadter in the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019) for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and David Healy in the ABC sitcoms '' Ro ...

as Billy Quinn *

Mark Rolston Mark Rolston (born December 7, 1956) is an American character actor, known for his supporting roles in popular films such as ''Aliens'', ''Lethal Weapon 2'', ''The Shawshank Redemption'', ''The Departed'' and the ''Saw'' film series, as well as G ...

as Herb Drier *

Walter Charles Walter Charles (born April 4, 1945 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) is an American actor and singer. Charles made his Broadway debut in '' Grease'' in 1972. Additional Broadway credits include '' 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue'' (1976), ''Sweeney Tod ...

as Minister * Michael Luciano as Bert *

Jesse Bradford Jesse Bradford (born May 28, 1979) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor at the age of five and received two Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film nominations for his performances in ''King of the ...

as Boy #1 * Sandra Olson as Town woman * Dan Atherton as Town man * Boo as Prancer

Release

Critical reception

The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. It holds a 65% rating 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 ...

based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The critical consensus reads, "''Prancer's'' good-natured holiday cheer -- and a terrific performance from its young star -- are enough to make this yuletide adventure a moderately rewarding watch". The film's young lead actress, Rebecca Harrell, garnered a nomination for a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

for Best Young Actress Starring in a Motion Picture for her performance, but lost to

Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...

for her role in '' Great Balls of Fire!''. Movie critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

highlighted Harrell's performance, saying:

And what really redeems the movie, taking it out of the category of kiddie picture and giving it a heart and gumption, is the performance by a young actress named Rebecca Harrell, as Jessica. She's something. She has a troublemaker's look in her eye, and a round, pixie face that's filled with mischief. And she's smart -- a plucky schemer who figures out things for herself and isn't afraid to act on her convictions.

Home media

The film 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 kind ...

by MGM Home Video with several re-packagings in 2003 and 2004, and a newer release on October 7, 2014.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prancer 1980s Christmas drama films 1980s Christmas films 1980s fantasy drama films 1989 drama films 1989 films Alliance Atlantis films American Christmas films American fantasy drama films Canadian Christmas films Canadian fantasy drama films English-language Canadian films Films about children Films about deer and moose Films about father–daughter relationships Films directed by John D. Hancock Films produced by Raffaella De Laurentiis Films set in Indiana Films set in Michigan Films scored by Maurice Jarre Films shot in Illinois Films shot in Indiana Films shot in Michigan Orion Pictures films Santa Claus's reindeer 1980s English-language films 1980s American films 1980s Canadian films