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10) Prancer What starts out as a syrupy, whiney melodrama, as dark as "The House Without a Christmas Tree", with similar themes, turns out to be very Grinchlike as townspeople rally to save the spirit of Christmas. A predictable storyline won't stop children from loving this movie. It might even make some people well up in the old eye sockets... 3 out of 4 elves recommend this christmas movie! 9) Santa Claus: The Movie This movie was so hyped up. I was a freshman in college, and with a buddy of mine who was also a christmas freak, and we drove 40 miles to see the premiere. It was supposed to be "Santa Claus" as if done by George Lucas - special effects abound, and it was, visually, pretty darn impressive. What I didn't like was Dudley Moore - never a personal favorite. Like "The Grinch", perhaps the hype and the expectations were not met. 3 out of 4 elves recommend this movie! 8) The Santa Clause It's hard to imagine Tim Allen as Santa. After a...

He'll be a mean one, again, for sure. Did you hear that Robert Zemeckis has tapped Jim Carrey to play Ebenezer Scrooge AND the ghost of christmas past, present and future in a new adaptation of Charles Dickens' " A Christmas Carol " (slated for a 2008 release)? Now Mr. Carrey will have played both the Grinch and Scrooge. According to IMDB, " A Christmas Carol " has been done 26 times. I really like the 1999 version with Patrick Stewart , and of course the 1951 version with Alastair Sim . I used to be an advocate of Mr. Carrey taking on the role of George Bailey in a remake of " It's a Wonderful Life " alongside Meg Ryan as his romantic opposite, but now I am feeling a little Jim Carrey overload, especially with him playing all four roles in the new film.

One of my best ideas ever was for Department 56 to make mini-movies set in their villages for scenery. They could make them stop-motion animated, like the holiday classics (pre-CGI) such as "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (speaking of which, I will post my top ten holiday classics later in the year!). For example, you could have an "Original Snow Village" movie featuring characters who live in the village, with the buildings and accessories as scenery. Expanding on this idea, why aren't there more D56 product placement in movies? Some of the village displays I've seen are downright cinematic.