Ernest Saves Christmas

A touching and hilarious Christmas CLASSIC
It amazes me how much this movie has been passed over in the annals of Christmas classics. It is one of my family's personal favorites. For starters, it has some of the most beautiful opening credits I've seen in a Christmas film - gorgeous Norman Rockwell illustrations of Santa Claus mixed with classic accapella music.

For those of you that love Ernest, this is his hands down his very best film. Unlike his other films, he is not the central character here. He is definitely an important player, but the story centers around an aging, forgetful Santa Claus looking for a predecessor. Most of the film is centered around Santa's efforts to convince the man he's sure is suited for the job that he truly is Claus. Ernest, in his glorious innocence, is a believer from the beginning, and a sidekick runaway picked up part way through the film is his polar opposite.

Jim Varney really shows his comedy chops in this movie by whipping out just about ever character he's ever played. The snake...

ERNEST DOES SAVE CHRISTMAS & THIS GEM IS A CHRISTMAS CLASSIC
YES - I AM AN ERNEST FAN! ISN'T EVERYONE?

Like most everyone who reviews Ernest films, I am an Ernest fan -- but I wasn't always. Then, in 1990, I just happened to stumble onto "Ernest Goes To Jail" via its opening -- "Ernest versus the Rug Shampooer"! It did not matter that it was on a marble floor, this was classic ERNEST -- knowwhutImean?!

HOW DOES ERNEST SAVE CHRISTMAS?

DON'T ASK!

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

Santa Claus [Douglas Seale -- the Sultan from Disney's Aladdin] has to retire as he can't remember all the things he must any longer. He held on one year too many because he just loved the job as any true Santa would, but he has now resorted to taking notes, and as he points out, you just can't do the job that way. Christmas is indeed in jeopardy.

Santa shows up in Orlando, right before Christmas Eve, as his choice of successor is there. Ernest is the cab driver that picks up Santa, which is how they became acquainted...

Christmas is coming! Know what I mean?
1988's "Ernest Saves Christmas" is a loveable children's movie that's packed with goofy gags and silly holiday humor. Of course, most of the magic is brought out by America's favorite country bumpkin, Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney).
After 151 years on the job, Santa Claus (Douglas Seale) moves to Orlando, Florida to retire. To keep the Christmas spirit alive, he attempts to hire a former T.V. show host named Joe Curruthers (Oliver Clark) as his replacement. Joe is chosen because of his unending devotion to making kids happy. However, Joe's money-hungry agent, Marty Brock, (Robert Lesser) offers him a chance of a lifetime; a starring role in a gruesome horror movie called "Christmas Slay." Later on, after believing that Santa isn't who he claims to be, Marty has the old man arrested and taken to prison! Even worse, Santa accidentally left his bag of toys behind! Meanwhile, Ernest is an airport taxi driver who tries to celebrate Christmas with his flabbergasted...

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