Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsvery great Christmas Movie
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2016
This special, while being a warm, funny, and imaginative take on what happens to toys once kids leave the vicinity, contains a surprising bite of frigidness; the fear of being caught by humans, and the resulting death-like state that awaits all toys who step out of line, make this show unique, and timeless. Peppered with heartbreaking moments throughout, Christmas Toy also captures the tender feelings experienced by children on Christmas Day. This is not standard kiddie stuff, and adults should not shy away from watching this one.This story is about a roomful of toys and their adventures on Christmas Eve. Rugby the Tiger Cub is the little girl Jamie's favorite toy, and Apple the doll, Jamie's former favorite toy, is trying to make Rugby understand that a new favorite toy will be coming to replace Rugby tonight. Rugby refuses to believe it and ventures out to the living room to take his rightful place under the Christmas tree, but Apple and the rest of the toys know that if Rugby is found out of place by humans, he'll be frozen forever.There is genuine danger and suspense, as the toys actually "die" if caught outside the playroom by a human. For me, this film contains the suspense and excitement of Christmas Eve itself, the possibility of being caught, or catching Santa in the act - feelings I felt as a child sneaking down to the tree on Christmas Eve myself. I've always felt this film perfectly captured the magic, joy, and terrifying butterflies which reside in all children on Christmas Eve. I had a VHS copy of this when I was younger, but was ecstatic to find it on dvd a few years ago. The film is filled with life lessons, excitement, suspense, songs, laughter, and tears. Even as an adult, I still cry upon viewing.By far, one of the best Jim Henson movies ever made, though pretty much everything he made was the best. I think the last time they showed this was in 1993 or around that time, which was/is really heartbreaking, as it really is an excellent movie. I have been racking my brain for the past 10 years or so (around the holidays) trying to remember the name of this movie. Finally, just a few minutes ago i decided to put in a search engine, "jim henson christmas movie about toys" as i had to do with the obscure jim henson tv show called what people? "The Storyteller"If you weren't a video-phile like me, you wouldn't be able to tell this was shot in the 80's, the quality was perfect - not grainy or faded or anything! Unfortunately, I'm not much of an audio-phile, so I could not provide much on the sound quality except for the fact that it says on the back it is Dolby 2.0. The only thing that gave away the fact this movie was shot in the 80's was the types of clothes the people were wearing!!
My one and only complaint is that the ending is a bit sugarcoated, the happy resolution is sudden, and seems to contradict several "rules" in the toy universe; however, I understand Henson's choice, as Christmas should ultimately be a happy, joyous occasion free from fear and sadness.
