Unbeatable Christmas Movie – “Christmas Tree”

Not worth noting

As you know, we have a lot of movies related to Christmas. We know Kevin alone at home by heart , Hello Santa Claus or Miracle on 34th Street. There are also Letters to M., Muscular Santa Claus, Family Man and a whole bunch of different versions of A Christmas Carol.I could list the titles here for a long time, but that is not the point for me to create a star list. The problem is that there are plenty of pictures, some better, some worse, but everyone has the right atmosphere, the spirit of the star and something that makes them pleasant to watch. And whether it’s a romance, a comedy, or even a not-so-good idea, these features mean that we associate films well and we want to come back to them. Even Hulk Hogan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who at first do not associate themselves with Christmas, and star movies with them are more of a kit than a hit, can be a nice addition to the Christmas idyll.

Meanwhile, in 1991, an animated film was made so terrible that it had already been poured out with an ocean of criticism – but it is still not enough. It is called Christmas Tree (originally The Christmas Tree) and has received the worst marks for years. It even got banned from Wikipedia for being “not worth noting.” And yet it is directed by Flamarion Ferreira, a guest who participated in such productions as The Smurfs, Animaniacy, Pink Panther, Animek Adventures or Phineas and Ferb. So what went wrong that instead of Christmas balls and stars, dogs are hung?

Beloved orphan tree

Let me first introduce you to the plot of the Christmas tree.It is simple, hackneyed and not so bad in the description itself. Just an ordinary Christmas movie, of which many. There is an orphanage in a small town. Its director is the evil Mrs. Mavilda who doesn’t care about the children. He forces them to work hard, does not allow them to play with the dog, does not buy clothes. Instead, he prefers to drink and play poker with his friends. And he has considerable funds for it. The local mayor spends a fortune on orphans, and the clever Mavilda only pretends to him that she cares for the children. Our orphans are unhappy, then, and all they have is a Christmas tree they call Miss Hopewell. One day Judy appears in the town with her husband and two children. The man immediately goes on a business trip, and our heroine is employed in an orphanage. The children are immediately captivated by the good, nice and sympathetic new babysitter. The head of the facility, however, hates her. He intends to get rid of the subordinate and cut down his beloved children’s tree. These plans are overheard by her charges and decide to save both Judy and the Christmas tree. To this end, they all give up their wishes and ask Saint Nicholas for help. Two of them, Pappy and Lily, additionally travel to the North Pole to present their request in person. Eventually the mayor learns about the director’s scams, our benevolent bearded man in a red suit arrives in a sleigh and defends a tree, and Judy takes over the orphanage, and all goes well. As you can see, there is no madness, no novelty and no surprise, but it is not as tragic as everyone says. So what is all this criticism about? These plans are overheard by her charges, and they decide to save both Judy and the Christmas tree. To this end, they all give up their wishes and ask Saint Nicholas for help. Two of them, Pappy and Lily, additionally travel to the North Pole to present their request in person. Eventually, the mayor learns about the director’s scams, our benevolent bearded man in a red suit arrives in a sleigh and defends a tree, and Judy takes over the orphanage, and all goes well. As you can see, there is no madness, no novelty and no surprise, but it is not as tragic as everyone says. So what is all this criticism about? These plans are overheard by her charges, and they decide to save both Judy and the Christmas tree. To this end, they all give up their wishes and ask Saint Nicholas for help. Two of them, Pappy and Lily, additionally travel to the North Pole to present their request in person. Eventually, the mayor learns about the director’s scams, our benevolent bearded man in a red suit arrives in a sleigh and defends a tree, and Judy takes over the orphanage, and all goes well. As you can see, there is no madness, no novelty and no surprise, but it is not as tragic as everyone says. So what is all this criticism about? to present your request personally. Eventually, the mayor learns about the director’s scams, our benevolent bearded man in a red suit arrives in a sleigh and defends a tree, and Judy takes over the orphanage, and all goes well. As you can see, there is no madness, no novelty and no surprise, but it is not as tragic as everyone says. So what is all this criticism about? to present your request personally. Eventually the mayor learns about the director’s scams, our benevolent bearded man in a red suit arrives in a sleigh and defends a tree, and Judy takes over the orphanage, and all goes well. As you can see, there is no madness, no novelty and no surprise, but it is not as tragic as everyone says. So what is all this criticism about?

A tragedy in forty-two minutes

Time for answers. The Christmas tree has gained the title of the worst Christmas movie due to terrible animation, stupid dialogues, a lot of mistakes, inconsistency and overall underdevelopment. In fact, I could now write you down minute by minute and point out error after error. It looks like someone is making a Christmas treefast, with the thought “this is a Christmas, animated film, so it will sell anyway”. And so the opening credits themselves are bad. Usually, when we get to know actors, directors or screenwriters, we get a background in which something is happening. There is only a black screen with subtitles. Then we see a book in which the story allegedly was written. The cartoonist didn’t even want to pretend there were letters in it! On the flipped pages you can see colored rectangles instead of text. At this point, we already know that it will not be good.

I will now mention a few bugs and shortcomings. The ones that stuck in my memory the most. When they show us Judy, we see her first in a purple dress, in a moment she is already wearing her official clothes, and then she is dressed in an outfit again. All in one scene, happening within two minutes. When is she changing? Although she is nothing. The weather is even faster. Here we have snow outside, in a moment beautiful meadows and full summer, then bare trees again and winter. Melts and rainfall are immediate here. But the mayor is the master here. The peasant is wearing glasses that disappear when he changes his face! Either he takes them off faster than our eye can notice, or they absorb into his body to appear when needed.

The creators did not want to invent a more precise story. They didn’t even give the town a name. We also do not know why or where Judy’s husband suddenly goes. Most children do not have names. The characters come and go completely suddenly. They all still wear the same clothes, regardless of the weather. There is even a scene where five people appear – the three standing in the foreground looks normal, but the two people standing further back are only gray outlines. Can you imagine? They were not completely painted in, but left this way. The team was so lazy that the mayor always brings money for the children in two bags. Nobody counts money, says how much or what currency it is. Everything counts in bags here! There are even words like “this is a bag of money for clothes” or when playing poker “I put two bags”. I wonder if it also looks like this in stores.

It’s still nothing. The plot is racing like crazy, so there is no time to think about something. When Judy learns that her daughter may be dead, she makes a puzzled face and opens her mouth. And then we forget about everything. Why bother with children? There is no time for this. Let’s save this tree and finish. There are also some absurdities. For example, Judy knows that Mavilda has lost her cards and is cheating on the mayor, but instead of reporting it to someone, she just makes a puzzled face and sighs.

Animation and dubbing are also terrible. The characters have too large eyes and disproportionate bodies. They make strange faces and move unnaturally. Many scenes are repeated to somehow clog the plot. There is a lack of synchronization at times, and the words spoken by children are in many cases incomprehensible.

The ending is also hopeless. Of course, the Christmas tree is saved, the children have a new babysitter, the mayor gives more money and everyone is happy. And our Mavilda? There is no penalty for his monstrous behavior! Sure, it’s Christmas, it’s a forgiveness time, but no exaggeration. She did so many scams, hurt orphans, Judy’s daughter almost died because of her, and, attention, note, she didn’t even apologize. She was forgiven because she was. Without a word of explanation. Suddenly she became cool. Finally, let’s say about the only good thing about this production – it’s short. It only lasts forty-two minutes with credits, so you don’t have to bother with it for hours.

Well-deserved grades

When I look at the Christmas tree, a paraphrase of the lyrics of a famous song comes to my mind and I humming “the creator took the money, then he started drinking”. Because the bottom came out here, zero and nothing. Christmas treeIt is rightly called the worst Christmas movie in history, its ratings do not exceed two – I maintain the opinion that it is a film of unfortunate holidays. There is nothing in it that can be saved. Hopeless animation, dialogues, dubbing and script. The plot is stretched, there is no moral. You do not feel the atmosphere of Christmas here and you will not find the spirit of Christmas in it. It was shown only once on American television, and in the Polish version we could see it only on VHS tapes. In fact, it should never come into being. If you want to break down, shoot a facepalm, curse and sigh for forty-two minutes, watch it. But believe me, it’s not worth it. Let it suffice for you that I did it.