Movie buff's 25 Days of Christmas: Yes, Virginia.

[movie buff]

Hi, everybody!
To conclude my series on newer Christmas movies and TV specials, I will be looking at another special that came out in 2009: The CGI animated special entitled simply “Yes, Virginia.”
Based on the true story of one of the most famous newspaper editorials ever written, it stars Neil Patrick Harris, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Alfred Molina, and Beatrice Miller as the titular 8- year old.
   In 1897, young Virginia O’Hanlon and her friend Ollie love Christmas, and eagerly await Santa’s arrival. However, a run- in with a snotty girl named Charlotte leaves the children wondering if there’s any way to prove Santa Claus exists. She remembers her father (voice of Neil Patrick Harris) always praising the New York Sun for how factual it is, saying repeatedly, “If it’s in the Sun, it’s so.” So, she sends a letter to the New York Sun asking if Santa Claus exists. Enter Sun editor Francis Church (Voice of Alfred Molina), a cold and bitter man who initially throws her letter out on the grounds that the Sun only reports facts.
 However, he would soon change his mind about that. See, Virginia asks her mother (Voice of Jennifer Love Hewitt) about it, and the mom replies that there is a Santa Claus as long as we all act with kindness and mercy towards everyone, the way Santa would. Virginia decides to do this by doing a very kind and generous act towards a skinny bell- ringing street Santa (Voice of Michael Buscemi, brother of legendary cult- actor Steve Buscemi) whom she and Ollie had met earlier, and who it happens used to be one of Church’s employees. When “Scraggly Santa,” as he’s known, reads Virginia’s letter (Charlotte found it in a garbage can and brought it to Virginia to further mock her), he storms into the Sun offices and urges Church to open his heart and respond to the letter. The result, of course, is history.
 Through Church’s heartfelt editorial in response to the letter, hope is rekindled in the hearts of readers everywhere, especially Virginia and her family, who receive a surprise visit from someone very special as the story ends.
About the only problem I have with ‘Yes, Virginia’ (Which I had never seen before) is that it felt too short, even for a half- hour short. They definitely could have shown more of “Scraggly Santa”’s history with the Sun, maybe revealed his real name.
       Now, for what I liked about ‘Yes, Virginia.’ The writing is quite good, revealing more of the story behind this famous editorial, and it’s quite a nice story at that. All the characters are charming and likable, especially Virginia. Her friend Ollie is such an adorable kid, and “Scraggly Santa” makes for a very likable character. The voice acting’s all great, too.
The CGI animation style for this is definitely original. The designs for New York look awesome, as do all of the costumes for the characters. The characters’ heads look a bit big, but that just makes them look cuter.
And, there you have ‘Yes, Virginia.’ A newer Christmas special, but one which I can see growing more and more popular every year (It has, after all, led to a Virginia balloon being in the last two Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parades). That wraps up my look at newer movies and specials. Tomorrow, I’ll start with the final theme.