Rating: G
Genre:
Children's/Family
Release Date: 10/02/2001
SubTitles: French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: 2/5.1/1
Run Time: 103 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: MGM
If you know the
Clement Clark Moore poem, you'll know that
Prancer is one of
Santa Claus' "eight tiny reindeer." When 9-year-old
Rebecca Harrell, who still believes in
Santa despite the remonstrations of her parents and the taunts of her peers, stumbles across the selfsame
Prancer in a remote part of the forest, no one will believe the girl. Later on,
Harrell's no-nonsense father
Sam Elliot comes across a wounded reindeer, he feels it his duty to put the suffering animal out of his misery. The deer, of course, is
Prancer, and it magically vanishes before
Elliot's startled eyes.
Harrell nurses the deer back to health in secret, with the help of kindly doctor
Abe Vigoda and her troublesome older brother
John Joseph Duda.
Harrell is determined to contact
Santa and let him know where
Prancer is, but her efforts only result in public humiliation for her father. But this is a Christmas film, and the spirit of goodwill is contagious by fadeout time, even transforming town-recluse
Cloris Leachman into a warm-hearted social animal. Filmed in Indiana,
Prancer isn't quite a classic, but it's perfect midwinter videocassette entertainment.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide