''The Magic Christmas Tree'' is a 1964 American

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

-themed

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, a ...

about a boy who uses a

magic ring A magic ring is a mythical, folkloric or fictional piece of jewelry, usually a finger ring, that is purported to have supernatural properties or powers. It appears frequently in fantasy and fairy tales. Magic rings are found in the folklore of ...

to bring a

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern G ...

to life. The tree then grants the boy three wishes.

Plot

Three boys are walking home from school on the afternoon of

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. ...

. On the way home, one boy, Mark, agrees to help a strange old woman to get her cat,

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...

, out of a tree. Mark climbs the tree, but falls and is knocked unconscious. When Mark wakes up, he discovers that the old woman is really a

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have u ...

. The witch gives Mark a

, and tells him that if he plants the seeds inside along with the wishbone of a

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

turkey, a magic tree will grow. When Thanksgiving comes, Mark performs the

magic spell An incantation, a spell, a charm, an enchantment or a bewitchery, is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremon ...

that the witch taught him, and a magic evergreen tree grows overnight in the back yard. Mark's father tries to cut down the tree, but to no avail. Later, on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipati ...

, the Magic Tree comes to

life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

, and grants Mark three wishes. The boy first wishes for one hour of absolute power, which he promptly abuses. Mark's second wish is to have

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

all to himself. When Mark sees the unhappiness his selfishness causes after seeing a giant, however, he uses his third wish to return Santa Claus to the children of the world on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

. Mark wakes up, and realizes that the entire adventure was all a dream...or was it?

Production

In the style of ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' or ''The Wizard of Oz'' most commonly refers to: *'' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', a 1900 American novel by L. Frank Baum often reprinted as ''The Wizard of Oz'' ** Wizard of Oz (character), from the Baum novel serie ...

'', ''The Magic Christmas Tree'' presents a full-

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...

dream sequence A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other ...

bracketed by

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

'reality' sequences. It was filmed in

La Verne, California La Verne is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 31,063 at the 2010 census, down from 31,638 at the 2000 census. History The European history of the area dates back to the 1830s when Ygnacio Palomare ...

on an extremely low budget.

Home video

''The Magic Christmas Tree'' was released on VHS by Goodtimes in 1992. It has been marketed in a two-pack with the Mexican film ''

.'' In 2011, the film was parodied by Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and

Bill Corbett William Daniel Corbett (born March 30, 1960) is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''), for which he voiced the r ...

RiffTrax RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to mostly public domain feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''M ...

.Rifftrax: A Guide to Christmas and Holiday Episodes - Den of Geek
/ref>

External links

*
Original theatrical trailerCinema Snob's take on the 1964 filmAvailable for free on Internet Archive''The Magic Christmas Tree'' on Tubi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magic Christmas Tree 1964 films 1960s fantasy adventure films Santa Claus in film American Christmas films American fantasy adventure films American independent films Films about witchcraft 1964 independent films American films about Halloween 1960s English-language films 1960s American films Films about magic rings

Plot

Production

Home video

See also

External links

References