Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)

6/10

Starring

Forest Whitaker

Keegan-Michael Key

Anika Noni Rose

Madalen Mills

Ricky Martin

Directed by David E. Talbert

Jingle Jangle is a musical fantasy movie set during the festive period, telling the tale of a toymaker who falls into hard times and needs that tiny spark of hope to get back on his feet. That spark comes from his beautiful granddaughter.

The movie has some fantastic musical numbers, and the acting from all the cast is inviting, making you want to sit through the movie. The characters are memorable, and the movie is well-suited for the family, offering plenty of entertainment.

The film is both written and directed by filmmaker David E. Talbert. I’d like to think he made this magical Christmas movie to stand alongside the old classics that didn't feature Black characters in the forefront. The movie isn't perfect—there are some pacing problems, and it takes quite a while to finally get going—but regardless, it's a nice movie.

Talbert’s movie starts in the toy shop of an inventor named Jeronicus. Jeronicus’s whole world consists of his inventions and his family. In this nice intro to his life, we meet his young apprentice, Gustafson, who also wants to be as good as Jeronicus.

We see Gustafson fail in one of his inventions, and the store occupants laugh at him as they all crave the toys made by Jeronicus. A parcel arrives, and we’re drawn deeper into Jeronicus’s world as we watch him open the parcel, which contains the missing part for his new invention—a robot toy that can talk and move by itself. The invention produces a toy called Diego (voiced by Ricky Martin). Diego is immediately self-absorbed, vain, and wants all the attention. When he finds out that Jeronicus plans to make more of him, he becomes angry and jealous. He manages to poison and persuade the young, naive Gustafson to steal Jeronicus’s book of inventions and the plans to make more of him.

That singular act ruins Jeronicus, as it plunges him into a world where he wants to get back on top. The reason? Gustafson (Keegan-Michael Key) starts spinning out toys that Jeronicus (Forest Whitaker) has not yet made. Soon, Jeronicus is no longer popular, losing everything—even his family.

His daughter leaves him, and we see Jeronicus at the mercy of the bank, about to lose everything. One day, he gets a visit from his granddaughter, Journey (Madalen Mills), who is curious to meet her grandfather. Journey is like her grandfather—smart, inventive, and full of life (just like Jeronicus used to be).

Soon, the pair are working together, and against them are Gustafson and Diego, still after anything new Jeronicus comes up with.

The movie is about how this pair of grandfather and granddaughter go up against the other pair of Gustafson and Diego.

The movie is very colorful and filled with a cast that delivers grand performances of their own.

You can catch this on Netflix.