We didn't always have cable when I was a kid, so I watched the VHS tapes we had a ridiculous number of times. One of those tapes was a copy of 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' purchased from a local video store and that tape had a trailer for this 'Prancer' movie. I was always sort of idly curious about it but never got around to watching it until some 30 years later.

I watched this with my girlfriend so some of the more interesting stray observations may be ones from her. For instance, she was surprised and almost fascinated by how much freedom Jessica had. I had to explain that in small rural towns in those days, the grownups basically didn't want to know about us until dinner time so you were pretty much free to explore around town or go through the woods.

Speaking of the woods, I took note of the bit when her dad started to tell her something like, "I told you to not go into the woods" and I started to think maybe it wasn't depicting childhood exploratory freedom quite the same way I remembered it but he quickly continued and qualified it, "this time of year. A hunter will shoot you."

Hey also I wanted to say some things about the supporting cast. I caught Abe Vigoda and Cloris Leachman's names from the opening credits, but I was only vaguely aware of Cloris Leachman - I think just from the Comedy Central Roast of Norm MacDonald in which he says, "Cloris, if people say you're over the hill, don't believe them. Why, you'll never be over the hill, not in the car you drive." which I guess doesn't much have anything to do with this movie but I liked seeing her show up based on the idea I had seen her from that. It seems like she's probably done something better and more important to get famous in the first place though but I guess she hasn't really showed up on my radar so much.

And then there were a couple of other moments where we were like "where have we seen this girl before?" in reference to Jessica's friend - who was giving her a hard time about her belief in Santa at the ripe old age of 9 - and we figured it out in the same shot "that's the girl from Jurassic Park!" and then some kid who ended up being David in 'Roseanne' was similarly spotted. And then when her dad showed up I was like, "hey it's that guy in the BIg Lebowski." The point being, we had a lot of fun recognizing people we didn't expect to see.

The movie is more or less realistic in its time and place. It is not a comedy like some of my other favorite Christmas movies - 'Home Alone' and 'Christmas Story' - for example, but I tremendously enjoyed spending some time in that setting and type of community.

The message, as near as I can figure, isn't so much that adults need to wise up and believe in childish things again, but more like it is easy to let practical concerns of life get in the way of other things that matter such as family and getting through things together.

Jessica's mom had apparently passed away and her dad feels like maybe she'd be better off living with her aunt who can provide things he can't and provide a mother figure for her. To his credit, he does try explaining to Jessica that this is what families do - they help each other out when they need it. He's clearly the type of guy that just wants to be concerned with practical concerns - getting through the day and surviving - but is self aware enough to recognize that he isn't doing so well at anything else.

He's not a bad guy, and wasn't doing anything wrong per se, but in the end he had to grow in ways he wasn't expecting in order to best deal with the situation. Rather than relying on others to fill in the hole left behind by the absence of Jessica's mother, he has to step up and try to be twice the parent because that's what his kids need from him and that's the right thing to do.

Oh and I guess there was a Reindeer and this movie really really really liked showing closeups of its eye for some reason.

Pleasant fantasy tale for the whole family. Nine-year-old Rebecca(Jessica Riggs)still believes in Santa despite the nay saying of her father(Sam Elliott) and the teasing from her friends. She finds an ailing reindeer in a remote part of the forest and she knows she will have to help the animal heal in secrecy...in her father's barn. Her father John is a no-nonsense apple farmer and knows some hay is mysteriously missing before discovering for himself the ailing deer his daughter has dubbed Prancer. The town's recluse(Cloris Leachman)lets Rebecca do odd jobs around her house in order to earn money to speed the deer's recovery. Prancer seems to have the ability to vanish rather rapidly and then reappear...he truly must be one of Santa's revered eight tiny reindeer. Also in the cast: Abe Vigoda, Michael Constantine, John Duda and Rutanya Alda.

Few movies inhabit the world of childhood quite as authentically as "Prancer." Until the very last moments, it doesn't matter whether young Jessica's belief that she has found one of Santa's reindeer is literally true. The fact that she could believe such a thing so strongly, and selflessly act on her belief to help the lost reindeer, is compelling enough on its own. Children occupy a world where naive clarity mingles with a confusing knowledge of how much of adult life remains unknown. "Prancer" creates an atmosphere that lets adults dip back into that almost-forgotten way of experiencing the world.

Sam Elliott delivers a fantastic performance as Jessica's father, a farmer who has recently lost his wife and will soon probably lose his farm. He is on the verge of losing his family, and the father-daughter relationship at the heart of the movie feels unaffectedly real. Cloris Leachman's turn as an embittered neighbor deserves note as well.

The film's greatest flaws occur in its last two minutes. First, a critical continuity error shows that the reindeer has shed a jingle-bell harness just before the sound of the harness is supposed to indicate the animal's presence. Finally, at the very end, the movie shatters its ambiguity about the literal truth of the reindeer's identity. In doing so, it negates the foundation of the story's authenticity and dramatic power, and trivializes the final reconciliation between Jessica and her father. If the reindeer is not a supernatural being, then Jessica is a silly little girl and the audience has been had. But if the reindeer is a magical beast from Santa's stable, then it is not a leap of faith for Jessica's father to accept her improbable belief in the animal. By revealing the answer one way or the other, "Prancer" cheapens itself and significantly undermines the emotional power of an otherwise subtle and moving drama.