The 12 Dogs of Christmas
This holiday tale has all the elements of a classic heartwarmer--cuddly dogs, small town spirit, and even a full-fledged Christmas pageant. Set during the meager years of the Great Depression, 12 DOGS OF CHRISTMAS follows the story of Emma, a 12-year-old who is sent to live in Doverville, a rural town, with her aunt. The town has, like the rest of the nation, fallen on lean times and seem to have lost all interest in celebrating. However, Emma manages to enlist the town's dogs into a colorful holiday pageant that reminds the inhabitants that even the Great Depression cannot ruin the spirit of Christmas.
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- Cast：
- Jordan-Claire Green , Tom Kemp , Adam Hicks , Cathy Worthington , Jim Jackman , Richard Riehle , John Billingsley
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Reviews
Just perfect...
Fresh and Exciting
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Whatever happened to truth in advertising? Despite the appearance of a pug on the box cover, there were no actual pugs or likenesses of pugs in the actual movie!!! Was this a ploy to squeeze a few extra dollars in profit from the pug owners out there who love seeing the most wonderful breed of dog on earth on film? The evidence points to... YES! To show a pug on the cover and to not contain one was a severe disappointment to us and our two pugs. Mr. Kieth Merrill, (if that is your real name) you are a treasonous trickster of deceit, you got a few dollars from a few pug owners who thought there would be pugs in this movie.. does this make you happy???? How dare you!!!
Every year there are several movies that pop up in stores that have the appearance of being quality family entertainment. Generally, most of them are disappointing at best. To my surprise, "The 12 Dogs of Christmas" isn't among the disappointments, though it does have its share of flaws.Young Emma's father leaves her with her aunt in a small town that has just outlawed dogs. In an act of heroism, she rescues a puppy from the town's maniacal dogcatcher, and finds that she has a deep-rooted for canines. Along the way, she befriends the town's supposedly crazy "dog lady" and her son, as well as the local coach, a Russian dog-sledder and her initially angry aunt. In the process, she also makes enemies of the mean-spirited dogcatcher and his brother, the town's mayor. Yes, some of the characters are cookie-cutter, and the results are more than predictable. However, the movie uses the characters' -- and the viewers' -- love for dogs to bring about some very warm and pleasant results.After viewing, we realized we enjoyed this movie enough to add this DVD to our holiday collection. I recommend it in the best spirit of a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I'm old, and I don't mind admitting it. I remember when family movies were made by Disney, and they had story lines that kids and parents could watch together without embarrassment or fear, and which were just plain old simple entertainment. Somehow somewhere along the track Hollywood slipped off the rails and decided that little kids needed to hear naughty words, and parents wouldn't take their kids to a show if they couldn't see some at least some implied sex. WRONG!!! Kieth Merrill seems to have remembered. Here is a story where the bad guys are bad, but on a level that kids can cope with, and the good guys are good, but on a matching level. Folks like I know and live around. The protagonist boy and girl are nice kids, they don't kiss, they don't even get romantic. The school marm looks a bit like Lily Tomlin, and is just the right level of taught and nasty, and redeems herself at the end. The mayor is pompous and stuffy, and comes around in the end too.It is all wonderful fluff, with dogs that behave a lot of the time, and don't, just enough of the time, to make the film extra believable. The camera work and acting are outstanding. I have no hesitation in recommending this film to any family anywhere for watching together as a family. Please buy it and thumb your nose at the "experts" in Hollywood who just don't "get" it that nice clean family fun like this is worth making, and has a market.
My husband and I enjoyed watching The 12 Dogs of Christmas. Not only were we impressed with the vintage feel, character development and wonderful display of dogs we were impressed with Eric Lutes, my husbands brother who played the coach. The next morning we tested the movie on our 3 year old daughter. She and her 14 month old brother were totally delighted! Often she would gleefully shout out Uncle Eggie!, Uncle Eggie!I do hope folks spread the word about this endearing movie. Oh, our local Walmart in Vermont was sold out of the DVD's! Happy Holidays! ~The Lutes Family