One Magic Christmas

What this episode covers

It's Christmas time, and to celebrate, Julia and Geoffrey watch a movie that traumatized tiny Julia: One Magic Christmas. Here's Julia's summary before re-watching:"It's Christmas time and there's a family who maybe is having economical difficulties? Anyway, one day right before Christmas the dad gets shot, maybe at a bank or a grocery store that's getting robbed? The entire rest of the movie is the family grieving and also trying to figure out how to deal with even more financial trouble now that Dad is dead. But eventually the little girl meets santa, who, I think makes them go back in time to stop the dad from getting shot? And like, that's it. Merry Christmas! You're a TINY bit less miserable now, I guess? Oh, and you can tell that the timeline changes because the Christmas lights on the houses flicker ominously."  And here is what Disney+ has to say about it:Image Description: Disney plus home screen for One Magic Christmas. In the still, Gideon, the Christmas angel holds the little girl, Abbie, while Abbie's brother looks on. The description of the movie reads, "A young mother rediscovers the joy and beauty of Christmas thanks to the unshakable faith of her six-year-old daughter, Abbie, and Gideon, her very own guardian angel."Mind you, this has been updated since Julia watched it in November, when the description was shorter. Here's the picture of the Disney+ home screen for this movie on Julia's TV a month ago:Image Description: A cell phone photo of the Disney+ home screen on Julia's TV for One Magic Christmas from November 22nd, 2019. The description of the movie reads, "A young mother rediscovers the joy of Christmas thanks to the unshakable faith of her daughter." So, apparently between November 22nd and December 23rd, Disney decided they needed to mention that there's an angel involved. Okay… That … doesn't really sound like what Julia remembers… What if we click for more details?Image Description: The details section of the Disney+ page for One Magic Christmas. The text reads, "Award-winning actress, Mary Steenburgen, gives a solid performance as Ginny Grainger, a young mother who rediscovers the joy and beauty of Christmas, thanks to the unshakable faith of her six-year-old daughter Abbie (Elizabeth Harnois) and Gideon (Harry Dean Stanton), Ginny's very own guardian angel. Ginny's wondrous experience will touch your heart and warm your soul in the timeless tradition of past Disney favorites. ONE MAGIC CHRISTMAS fulfills all your most treasured Christmas fantasies. Share it with those you love."Also, if you select the Extras tab on Disney+, you get a clip of Abbie getting a tour of Santa's workshop. So who's right about this movie's overall tone? You be the judge!Merry Christmas if you celebrate! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, you probably aren't going to have to work eternally in a factory after you die! Congratulations!P. S. According to Wikipedia, there are several alternative names for snow globes, but none of them is "glass ball". And here are the plastic ball hair ties Julia talked about having as a kid (just like Abbie). If you're having fun listening to us, please tell your friends about us! Subscribe to our newsletter at thisiswhywerelikethis.substack.com for free, or pay $5/month to get access to two bonus paid episodes each month! We're also on Patreon if that's your jam! Rate and review us! follow us on Twitter where we're @thisiswhy_pod! And, of course, you can always drop us a note at at [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thisiswhywerelikethis.substack.com/subscribe

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