Publisher's Synopsis
Collection of six festive-themed family films. In 'The Santa Clause' (1994) Tim Allen stars as Scott Calvin, a cynical toy company executive who is forced to take over the job of Santa Claus when he and his son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) witness the previous incumbent falling off a roof. Soon Scott finds himself putting on weight, growing a white beard and fulfilling his obligation to deliver presents to all the children around the world. He even finds himself reluctantly getting into the spirit of things! 'A Christmas Carol' (2009), Robert Zemeckis's animated retelling of the classic novel by Charles Dickens, features the voice talent of Jim Carrey in the multiple roles of Ebenezer Scrooge and the three ghosts who haunt him. Old miser Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future who aim to rid him of his contempt of friendship, love and all things Christmas. In order to do so, the ghosts take him on a journey through time, opening his eyes to the truths he is yet to face and the consequences should he refuse to do so. But in the end it is up to old Scrooge himself to realise the emptiness of his existence and open up his heart before it is too late. The film also features the voices of Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Robin Wright Penn and Bob Hoskins. In 'Santa Buddies' (2009), an animated adventure from Disney's popular Buddies series, the puppies take a trip to the North Pole where they visit Santa (George Wendt)'s workshop. When they get there they discover that Christmas is losing its spirit but, with the help of Santa Paws (voice of Tom Bosley)'s son, the puppies work together to save the day. 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (1993) is a stop-motion animated musical fantasy set in a parallel world where different lands represent different holiday periods. Our hero is Jack Skellington (voice of Chris Sarandon), a man from Halloween Town who becomes converted to Christmas and sets out to spread joy in the world. However, when Jack's new mission leads him to kidnap Santa (Ed Ivory), it becomes clear that he is not really in tune with the Yuletide spirit. The film was produced and visualised by Tim Burton. In 'The Muppet Christmas Carol' (1992) The Muppets present their own version of Dickens' tale about a bitter old miser who is shown the error of his ways. Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine) is the antithesis of the Christmas spirit. The money lender tyrannises his employees, who include Bob Cratchit (a role assumed by Kermit the Frog - voice of Steve Whitmire), and is utterly dismissive when his eager nephew, Fred (Steven Mackintosh), comes to invite him to Christmas dinner. Indeed, the only reason Scrooge agrees to allow Bob to take Christmas Day off is that the lack of custom would mean it would be a waste of coal to heat the office. However, that night Scrooge is visited by a number of Christmas ghosts, played by Muppets including Statler (Jerry Nelson) and Waldorf (Dave Goelz), and he may well have a change of heart when he meets a sickly young boy... In 'Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas' (1999) Mickey (voice of Wayne Allwine) and Minnie (Russi Taylor) recall a magical Christmas when they each gave up something important for the other's sake, while Donald Duck (Tony Anselmo)'s nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie (also Taylor) remember when the festive holiday nearly turned into a disaster!
