
Have you watched Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey yet? It’s a wonderfully made Christmas movie. As I mentioned before, I especially like it because its all-Black cast executes a brilliant performance through a familiar trope, a Christmas story. However, with many movies, it’s challenging for me to focus on the innovation because I recognize so many similarities to other movies. Here are a few that I noticed:

The setting is very much like Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, a story about a 243-year-old owner of a magic store, Mr. Magorium. The store’s liveliness is connected to Mr. Magorium, whose eccentricity means he keeps a zebra on his couch and washes his ties in the dishwasher. Aside from bright oranges, reds, and blues, puppets puppeteer themselves and fish mobiles are comprised of fresh fish one would find in the ocean. Jangles and Things, like Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, is owned by “the greatest inventor in all the land, Jeronicus Jangle.” “Everything was alive,” including “even things that shouldn’t be,” like mini air balloons that seemed to float around the shop independently.

Like many Christmas movies, Jingle Jangle is a frame story, a story within a story, but it is particularly reminiscent of The Polar Express, in that both main characters lose their belief in something. For the young boy in The Polar Express, it is his belief in Santa Claus that is waning. Jeronicus Jangle is an adult and life’s circumstances have led him to lose his belief in magic, specifically his own gift as an inventor. For both of these characters, the only way they can find their way back to life as they once knew it is through belief. Also, worth mentioning is that both movies include a little bit of singing and dancing to move the plot along.
Jeronicus Jangle’s life shifted for the worst when his wife, Joanne died and he insisted his daughter, Jessica move on without him. Jangle and Things grew grey and Jangle turned the store into a pawn shop. Jangle’s sadness and lack of spirit reminded me of A Christmas Carol’s. Ebenezer Scrooge. The death of Scrooge’s sister early in life, combined with his business partner, Jacob Marley’s recent death seemed to have both contributed to his overall negative attitude. Scrooge was so surly that Christmas carolers stopped singing as he passed. Jangle wasn’t so much mean as he was sad; he sat in the dark, ignored blatant advances from a woman mail carrier, and hadn’t communicated with his daughter in years. Either way, death affected both men, and only the magic that Christmas brings could cure it.

WALL-E isn’t a Christmas movie, but the main character, WALL-E, an old forgotten robot that represents our throwaway culture, looks an awful like an invention Jangle’s daughter created and granddaughter, Journey brought to life, Buddy 3000*. They’re both little, square robots, with round, bulging eyes. WALL-E has wheels, speaks only a few words, and plays VHS tapes; Buddy 3000, however, has feet and hands, mimics his surroundings, flies (and allows you to fly) if you believe in yourself.
I could go on and on because I’ve noticed a lot more, but let me know if you recognized any other similarities.
*You’ll have to watch the movie to find out how the granddaughter got in the story.
😀 I haven’t seen it, but I’m going to thank you because lately, it had been hard to find a movie (positive and fun to watch, with a Xmas touch). and here it is – so many 😉☕️🕺🕺
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Well, this will definitely lift your spirits with all the singing and dancing they do lol
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😀🌹⛄️🎄❄️ Super! Looking forward, going to watch this ev 😀
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i have seen it.súper
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I totally agree ❤
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Yes! I didn’t see Scrooge much (but I get it) and def YES to the WALL-E look-alike!
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That look-alike has me distracted girl lol
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LOL!
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We need to see this. I am putting it on the list for Friday evening.
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OMGosh, yes! I think you and the kids would love it!
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Years ago, I loved WALL-E too. Thanks for the reminder, I need to put it in the cue. Still haven’t gotten to Polar Express or Mr Majorium, but they’re on the list. This has nothing to do with Christmas, but I am currently bingeing on Star Trek Discovery, which I absolutely love. It’s such fun to disappear into clever stories!
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WALL-E is the BEST!
I only know you from the interwebs, but somehow, I think you’d really like Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium.
Sci-fi is a no-go for me lol But Dwight watches it (I think)…is that the one with the black lady Spock?
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I’ll rent them both this weekend. Gotta watch Jingle Jangle again first though.
“The black lady Spock” LOL. That tells me for sure you’re not a trekkie, but yes, I think you’re talking about “Michael,” played by the phenomenal Sonequa Martin-Green. Come to think of it, she was also in a cute holiday movie some years ago you might like called “Holiday Rush”
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I think I may have seen that one. Was it on a network, like Hallmark or Lifetime? Either way, I’m gonna check it out.
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Okay I had to come back and say I did watch that one…last year. I didn’t even realize that was her!
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LOL. She’s got some range. Having been introduced to her via Star Trek Discovery, I wouldn’t have automatically cast her in a romantic comedy, but she was good.
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I can’t promise I’m going to watch it, but I am curious to do so. I would love to know from the makers of this film if the similarities you noticed were part of the inspiration. We probably won’t find out for another five or 10 years when they do some sort of retrospect of it. This film seems to be a winner in your book. I’m slowly coming around to trying it out.
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…slowly.
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LOL
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lol so that means I have to write a THIRD review, huh? Just kidding. I don’t have it in me. And I think you’re right. There has to be some childhood connection the writer or director had with these other films.
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Definitely gonna watch it now 😊
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Yay! Let me know what you think.
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Jingle Jangle was refreshing. Vocal performances were breathtaking.
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I agree about the vocals!
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You are truly Christmas movie obsessed. I get the tried and true turning points and themes being repeated but the copy of WallE was a bit much, and some of the mr magorium set details. Maybe they were going for a feel of a movie that immediately feels familiar, one that you walk away feeling you’ve watched it every Christmas in your conscious memory and intend to watch ever Christmas forever more.
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You know I am! If I could add some gifs where I would lol I’ll text you some, instead.
Maaaayyybe 🤔 for someone who like originality, all of these similarities were distracting. But also, maybe they weren’t counting on anyone really remembering these details.
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😂😂😂 now the gif makes sense. Collective consciousness at play or just copy cat-ness. Not sure how I’ll access the movie, but I’ll try too and we’ll watch it!
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I’ll add this because I know you’ll appreciate it. There’s a theory called heteroglossia, which basically says there’s no new thought/word…we just keep adding to what’s already there.
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Ooh had no idea there was a name for it! Thanks … I reckon that one word and concept may be inspo for an essay! 🙌🏾
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I haven’t watched Jingle Jangle yet, but The Polar Express and Wall-E stay on my re-watch list – I never get tired of either of them, so I’m moving Jingle Jangle up on my watchlist. Thanks!
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I OVER love The Polar Express! Let me know if you notice these similarities, or if I’m just tripping.
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I haven’t seen Mr. Magorium’s but I like how you’ve noted the similarities with the other movies. I noticed right away the likeness between buddy &wall-e.
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Yeah, as soon as I saw Buddy, I was like…hmmm, and then I couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the movie lol
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Love the Christmas blog. Thanks
Pearl McMillan
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Look at you! You figured out how to comment ❤
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We have not seen Jingle Jangle yet but it looks amazing………we are always searching for a holiday movie that we haven’t seen yet. Thank you for sharing this.
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You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy it!
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thank you!
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You’ve convinced me. I definitely am going to watch this movie. It sounds wonderful.
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LOL
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We have this penciled in for the 19th after my daughter finishes classes
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Cool! Let me know if you (or she) recognize any similarities of other films, too.
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👍
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