The Christmas Chronicles is a popular Christmas movie that has been streaming on Netflix since 2018.
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- The Christmas Chronicles is a 2018 American Christmas comedy film.
- It was directed by Clay Kaytis from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman.
- The film stars Kurt Russell, Judah Lewis, Darby Camp, Lamorne Morris, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and Oliver Hudson.
- It is the first installment in the The Christmas Chronicles film series.
- The film was produced by 1492 Pictures and Wonder Worldwide.
- It was released on November 22, 2018 on Netflix.
- The plot follows two children, Kate and Teddy, who notice Santa Claus in their home and jump into his sleigh with his reindeer. However, the sleigh eventually malfunctions and crashes, and the Christmas presents are lost. As Christmas morning approaches, it is up to the children and Santa to save Christmas by correctly delivering all presents.
- The Christmas Chronicles received generally positive reviews from critics.
- A sequel titled The Christmas Chronicles 2, with much of the original cast returning.
- It was released on November 25, 2020.
- Santa’s list includes several of Kurt Russell’s grandchildren.
- The mint condition Mickey Mantle rookie card given to a man in the restaurant and then torn up by his wife was sold in 2018 for $2.88 million.
- Oliver Hudson who plays Doug, the deceased father of the Pierce family, is a son of Goldie Hawn with her first husband Bill Hudson.
- Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn have been in a relationship for 35 years, as of 2018.
- The kid who asks for a snowboard in the video letters is Kurt’s actual grandson Bing Bellamy.
- The band playing the song in the jail scene is the real band of Steven van Zandt (the character named Wolfie), AKA Little Steven, who also played in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. The band’s name is The Disciples of Soul.
- This movie features yet another Kurt Russell connection to Elvis Presley, of which there have been several in his career.
- Kurt Russell’s first movie was “It Happened at the World’s Fair” (1963), in which Elvis pays Russell to kick him in the shin. Sixteen years later, Russell was the lead in the TV movie “Elvis” (1979).
- Then, 15 years later, Russell lent his voice to the actor playing a young Elvis Presley in “Forrest Gump” (1994).
- Russell played an ex-con who robs a casino during an Elvis Impersonator Convention in Vegas in “3000 Miles to Graceland” (2001). And here in The Christmas Chronicles (2018), the song that Santa (Russell) sings in the jail scene is one of Elvis’ most popular Christmas songs, “Santa Claus is Back in Town” (1957).
- The first name read for a present in San Francisco is Ryder Robinson, which is the name of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn’s real-life grandson (Kate Hudson’s eldest son)
- The theme music for the movie “The Polar Express” plays briefly, at two separate times, in this movie.
- The valet of the restaurant is seen sitting at his booth watching his iPad with headphones.
- He is watching Stranger Things, a staple in the Netflix family.
- At one point Santa refers to having flown over Lake Shore Drive. In “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2,” Kurt Russell plays Starlord’s father. “Lake Shore Drive” plays near the beginning of the movie
- Among the actors considered for the role of Scott Calvin/Santa in The Santa Clause was Kurt Russell. That film also had a scene in which Santa is jailed and his elves have to come to his rescue.
- Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Oliver Hudson also worked together in several episodes of Nashville (2012).
- LaMorne Morris, who plays one of the officers attempting to arrest Santa Claus, also played a police officer in the television series New Girl.
- The restaurant where Santa tries to get a lift is called Nick’s Place. This may be a nod to the bar in It’s A Wonderful Life which is called Nick’s in the fantasy section.
- Despite the fact that this was filmed with the Red Weapon Dragon with spherical lenses, Filmed in Panavision is listed in the end credits.
