''Benji's Very Own Christmas Story'' is a 1978 American

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...

featuring Benji and is one of two such ''Benji'' specials to have been nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

. Patsy Garrett and Cynthia Smith reprise their respective roles as Mary and Cindy. The special was broadcast on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

on December 7, 1978.

Plot

Mary and Cindy from the ''Benji'' films are on a promotional tour in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and are asked to be grand marshalls of a Christmas parade in

Zermatt Zermatt (, ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the German language, German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is cl ...

. Due to a broken leg, Kris Kringle is sending his elves out to deliver presents, and, as this will force them to miss the parade, he wants them to meet Benji first. With help from Mary and Cindy, Kringle realizes the true meaning of Christmas and performs a musical number showing how

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

appears all over the world.

Cast

* Benjean as Benji (daughter of original Benji, Higgins) * Patsy Garrett as Mary * Cynthia Smith as Cindy Chapman *

Ron Moody Ron Moody (born Ronald Moodnick; 8 January 1924 – 11 June 2015) was an English actor, composer, singer and writer. He was best known for his portrayal of Fagin in '' Oliver!'' (1968) and its 1983 Broadway revival. Moody earned a Golden Glob ...

as Kris Kringle

Crew

The show was directed by Joe Camp.

Nominations and awards

''Benji's Very Own Christmas Story'' was nominated for an

in 1979 for Outstanding Children's Program along with '' A Special Sesame Street Christmas'' and '' Once Upon A Classic'' with ''

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street ''Christmas Eve on Sesame Street'' is a ''Sesame Street'' Christmas special first broadcast on PBS on Sunday, December 3, 1978. Plot The special starts with live-action versions of the Muppets enjoying an ice skating party. Afterward, they hea ...

'' being the eventual winner. Actress Cynthia Smith was nominated for a Youth in Film Award (now known as the

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 ...

) in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

for her performance. The other nominations in her category were

Patsy Kensit Patricia Jude Francis Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Birds Eye frozen peas. She went on to appear in films ...

for '' Hanover Street'',

Brooke Shields Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress. A child model starting at the age of 11 months, Shields gained widespread notoriety at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film ''Pretty Baby (1978 film), Pretty Baby ...

for '' Just You and Me, Kid'',

Mariel Hemingway Mariel Hemingway (born November 22, 1961) is an American actress. She began acting at age 14 with a Golden Globe-nominated breakout role in ''Lipstick'' (1976), and she received Academy and BAFTA Award nominations for her performance in Woody Al ...

for ''

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

'' and

Trini Alvarado Trinidad "Trini" Alvarado (born January 10, 1967) is an American actress best known for her performances as Margaret "Meg" March in the Little Women (1994 film), 1994 film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel ''Little Women'' and Lucy Lynskey ...

for ''Rich Kids''. The winner was

Diane Lane Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. Lane made her film debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Littl ...

for ''

A Little Romance ''A Little Romance'' is a 1979 American romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Laurence Olivier, Thelonious Bernard, and 13-year-old Diane Lane in her film debut. The screenplay was written by Allan Burns and George Roy H ...

''. The film was also nominated in the category of Best TV Series or Special Featuring Youth. Also nominated in the same category were ''

The Waltons ''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural mountainous Western Virginia of the Appalachian Mountains / Allegheny Mountains / Blue Ridge Mountains chain, during the economic hardships and mass unemp ...

'', ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books comprise a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adulthood in the Midwestern United States, Americ ...

'', ''

Diff'rent Strokes ''Diff'rent Strokes'' is an American television sitcom, which originally aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and ...

'' with the eventual winner being ''

Eight is Enough ''Eight Is Enough'' is an American comedy-drama/sitcom television series that aired on ABC from March 15, 1977, to May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight childre ...

''.

References

External links