Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You
Directed by: Guy Vasilovich
Written by: Temple Mathews
Starring: Mariah Carey, Breanna Yde, Henry Winkler, Phil Morris, Bria D. Singleton
Review by Stephanie Cooke
When this Blu-ray first arrived on my doorstep, I couldn’t help but mutter to myself “Why God, whyyyyyyy?” several times. Over and over again. The cover of the movie (as you can see on the right) boasts 3 ALL-NEW MARIAH CAREY SONGS (oh em gee!). The movie doesn’t already have a sufficiently long enough title. So, instead of just being called All I Want For Christmas Is You, the film is actually called Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You. Oh boy.
Looks can be deceiving though, so I decided to simply clear my mind and try to watch the movie objectively.
The “you” in question in the title isn’t a man or any romantic interest that you may think of when you hear the song that the film is named after. Instead, the movie’s “you” is a puppy. Mariah Carey is the narrator of the story and retells the Christmas when all she wanted was something to love… specifically again, a puppy.
This seems like a heartwarming premise, right? Right?? Well, sure. I mean, tons of people can relate to wanting a puppy as a kid. Well, Little Mariah seems to want a puppy really badly. She doesn’t address her desire for this to happen until some of the popular girls at school come by with their dogs and tell her that she can only be in the school play if she has a dog to join her.
Not wanting to be left out of things, Mariah assures them that she is going to ask for a dog for Christmas so she’ll probably definitely have one and therefore she can start rehearsals ASAP. What could possibly go wrong here? Other than the fact that her entire want for a dog currently revolves around simply wanting the approval of others…
Mariah eventually backtracks and talks about her long-standing desire for a puppy that happens to also exist outside of her want to hang out with the popular kids.
So how is the overall film? Honestly, I went in wanting to snarky and sarcastic about the whole thing (as is my way) but it wasn’t a terrible movie. The animation isn’t the best. It’s not Pixar level or anything, but aside from the style of the characters themselves (with the big heads and eyes, etc.), it’s watchable and well done. It’s more on par with something more like an animated series (like Clone Wars) rather than an animated feature, but that’s not a bad thing.
The dialogue is a little bit silly at times, but it is a film made for the young ones. I think that’s mostly forgivable because ultimately it works for each of the characters and tells the overall story.
Ultimately, the story evolves from a really superficial plot of a little girl wanting a puppy for the wrong reasons into a film filled with the essence of Christmas spirit. Mariah grows as a character and realizes what it means to be responsible for another life and what it means for the people around her.
All I Want For Christmas Is You doesn’t cater to adult audiences at all. It’s not one of those films that has innuendo and such thrown in for grownups that may be watching along. The film is purely family friendly and made solely for the intended audience. There’s some fun moments for the adults (Mariah’s grandpa is a delightful prankster voiced by Henry Winkler). Again, this film isn’t made for anyone over the age of 11 or 12.
Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You Blu-ray Special Features:
- A Wish Come True: Making Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You
- Optional English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles
Verdict:
This is completely dependent on you. Do you have kids or little ones who visit during the holidays? If so, then I’d actually say Check It Out. The animation is decent. While it won’t be something that you want to watch over and over again, the little ones will likely enjoy it.
If you don’t have kids, however, this is a holiday movie that you can certainly skip. It’s definitely not made for older audiences so the appeal largely exists for children.
