How the Toys Saved Christmas
| How the Toys Saved Christmas | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Enzo D'Alò |
| Produced by | Paolo Conte |
| Written by |
Enzo D'Alò Umberto Marino |
| Starring |
Mary Tyler Moore Tony Randall Neil Shee |
Production company |
Alpha-Film Lanterna Magica Monipoly Productions |
| Distributed by | Miramax Family |
Release dates |
(theatrical release)
(VHS release) |
Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian |
How the Toys Saved Christmas (Original Italian title La freccia azzurra, English: The Blue Arrow) is a 1996 Italian animated film directed by Enzo D'Alò.
Plot
When Santa's helper La Befana falls ill and must take off a Christmas Eve, she recruits Scarafoni to help deliver all the toys. No one but the toys knows is that Scarafoni plans to auction off the toys to the highest bidder, which means the toys won't make it to the children who have been good all year and deserve them. The toys decide to deliver themselves starting with a wind-up teddy bear named Theo going to the little boy's bed, and the story follows them as they struggle to avoid the heartless Scarafoni and to find their true homes (with the French general followed by a duo of dolls, then Captain Skippy, then a group of colored pencils and after, a train the Blue Arrow driven by the conductor and his crew). Meanwhile, a young boy named Francesco tries to find his true Christmas present - one special friend. In the end, the toys deliver themselves, but Scarafoni still has the money. However, everyone rushes to the toy shop and find Scarafoni with the money and manage to get it back from him, as Scarafoni is sent to prison. Francesco gets his true friend - a new puppy whose name is Jingles.[1]
U.S. version
In 1997, the film was imported to the U.S. and released direct-to-video by Buena Vista Home Video, under the title "How the Toys Saved Christmas" (although, as shown in the previews, originally going to be titled "The Toys Who Saved Christmas"). The film featured Mary Tyler Moore as the voice for the Befana, who was named "Granny Rose", Tony Randall as Scarafoni (whose name suggest "scarafaggio" that means beetle), who was named "Mr. Grimm", and Michael Caloz as Francesco, who was named "Christopher Winter". The film also had some scenes from the original Italian release deleted or placed before other scenes, along with some music scores taken out and new music added in.
In the original version, the story took place during the Epiphany Eve, because in Italian folklore the Befana is a good witch that gives presents and candies to the children during the night between the 5th and 6th of January.
Home video releases
Buena Vista Home Video released the film in its English-dubbed version on DVD in 2003. Miramax Films re-released the film on DVD in 2011.