''How the Toys Saved Christmas'' is a 1996 Italian animated film directed by

Enzo D'Alò Enzo D'Alò (born 7 September 1953) is an Italian animator and director. Life and career Born in Naples, D'Alò moved to Turin in 1979 and there he started his career as animator working with the group "La Lanterna Magica". In 1983 he debuted ...

, based on a tale by

Gianni Rodari Giovanni Francesco "Gianni" Rodari (; 23 October 1920 – 14 April 1980) was an Italian writer and journalist, most famous for his works of children's literature, notably '' Il romanzo di Cipollino''. For his lasting contribution as a children's ...

. In the original version, the story took place during the

Epiphany Epiphany may refer to: * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...

Eve, because in the Folklore of Italy the

Befana In Italian folklore, the Befana () is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5) in a similar way to Santa Claus or the Three Magi Kings.Illes, Judika. ''Encyclopedia of Spirits: The U ...

is a good witch that gives presents and candies to the children during the night between 5 and 6 January.

Plot

On the

Eve, La

falls ill and must take off for a night, recruiting Scarafoni to help deliver all the toys that must go to the Italian children. No one but the toys knows that Scarafoni plans to auction off the toys to the highest bidder, which means that the toys won't make it to the children who have been good all year and therefore deserve them. The toys decide to deliver themselves: the story follows them as they struggle to avoid the heartless Scarafoni and to find their true homes. Meanwhile, a young boy named Francesco wishes to receive as an

present the model of the ''Freccia Azzurra'' (''Blue Arrow''), the train where his late father used to work on. While Scarafoni is out looking for the escaping toys, a couple of burglars, Lesto and Scarpa, kidnap Francesco and force him to sneak inside the

's shop and taking away all the money. Francesco, instead, uses the telephone inside the shop to call the police who arrest the burglars;

understands that Francesco is not involved in the attempted robbery and, with much gratitude, exonerates Francesco. Of all the toys, the plush

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

Spicciola wishes to be given to Francesco. During the evening, after a fight against Scarafoni that splits him from the group, Spicciola turns into a real dog. The next morning, Spicciola finds Francesco and the two bonds immediately. In the end, all the toys manage to deliver themselves to the children in their homes, but Scarafoni still has the money. However, everyone rushes to the toy shop and find Scarafoni with the money and the people manage to get it back from him, as Scarafoni is arrested by the police who sent him to prison.

, after having found that her illness was provoked by Scarafoni himself, who gave her a light poison instead of medicine, hires Francesco as her new helper, joined by Spicciola.

U.S. version

In 1997, the film was imported to the U.S. and released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

by Buena Vista Home Video, under the title "How the Toys Saved Christmas" (although, as shown in the previews, originally going to be titled "The Toys Who Saved Christmas"). The film featured

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), which ...

as the voice for the Befana, renamed "Granny Rose" and described as Santa Claus' helper,

Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play '' The Odd Couple'' by Neil Sim ...

as Scarafoni, renamed "Mr. Grimm", Michael Caloz as Francesco, renamed "Christopher Winter", and Sonja Ball as Spicciola the dog, renamed Jingles. Instead of being set during the

Eve, the film is set on Christmas Eve. The plot is otherwise very similar to the original Italian version, with some minor alterations. Rather than desiring the Blue Arrow for himself, Christopher Winter writes to Santa on behalf of his friend Charlie, a fellow orphan and the one who ultimately receives the train as his gift. For himself, Christopher asks for "one special friend", making his adoption of Jingles a fulfillment of his actual wish in this version. The film also had some scenes from the original Italian release deleted or placed before other scenes, along with some music scores taken out and new music added in.

Cast

Home media

Buena Vista Home Video released the film in its English-dubbed version on DVD in 2003.

Echo Bridge Home Entertainment Echo Bridge Entertainment is an American independent distribution company. It acquires and distributes feature films, scripted and non-scripted series, documentaries, and children’s programming for home video, digital and television in the United ...

re-released the film on DVD in 2011.

References

External links