Revisiting Netflix’s ‘Jingle Jangle’ For Christmas 2022

When NetflixNFLX
initially released the culturally savvy, deliciously decadent David E. Talbert musical Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, in 2020, your average movie goer [See: me] was ready for a bit of respite from navigating and thinking about Covid-19. Things were still a wee bit scary and tiresome, especially for parents and other caregivers. School was still being conducted remotely. Many activities for the littles were at a standstill. A major holiday was upon us and many traditional accoutrements of the time had to be recalibrated to accommodate our new viral reality.

That’s why my children needed a fun Christmas movie desperately. Something modern. Something featuring a diverse array of children who both look like my kids and also don’t look them. Something showcasing all those things that my own kids love and exhibit: wonder, colors, toys, mystery, magic, glee, joy and love for family.

Enter Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, the story of master toymaker Jeronicus Jangle, a brilliant inventor played by none other than Forest Whitaker. Jangle has a famous toy store but somehow he loses a little bit of his light and creativity. Meanwhile, Journey Jangle – Jeronicus’s granddaughter – comes to visit for a while. Portrayed by Madalen Mills, the character of Journey finds out something was stolen – a robot! – from her granddad and she sets out to recover it and so doing, she is able to restore her grandfather’s lost spirit.

It’s a well known, familiar trope when it comes to the Christmas film story line, but it works quite well – both then and now. Plus, elements of the movie are surprising – especially the quality of the singing and the sheer beauty of the costuming. Everyone dresses like they are in a brightly-colored candy shop.

It’s a well-done musical with nods to Afrobeats, R&B, black barbershop quartets and gospel. We watched this film in 2020 and immediately my kids heads were bopping and the children were singing the hopeful songs of an uplifting holiday movie featuring smart little kids with loads of natural hair coiffed to perfection, dressed up in the brightest colors imaginable, practically flying with joy — just like them.

One key song is named “The Square Root of Possible,” a nice nod to STEM lovers and anyone who believes that a positive attitude (and math skills) can overcome nearly any obstacle. It’s also cool that the lead characters do mental math (coded as magic) that power super-fantasmic toys.

For 2022, I think it’s time to revisit Jingle Jangle and push it solidly toward Christmas classic status. It is a fantasy musical with the crucial elements of timelessness, outstanding music, a heart-warming family tale, the grumpy father figure, the bright and happy kid, and a bad guy (who is expertly portrayed by Keegan Michael Key.) Key’s Gustafson is a deceptively friendly sort of antagonist, who stops at nothing to steal what he wants. The star-studded cast is rounded out by Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose and Ricky Martin (as an adorable- and passionate!- puppet). John Legend and Mike Jackson also signed on as producers.

The film is visually fun to watch too. The clockworks spinning, the golds and silvers, the nod to steampunk fashion. Plus the film took home two NAACP Image Awards in 2021 for Rashad’s character and for Mills, for whom this roll was a breakout performance. The film led to two books, which released in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Jingle Jangle streams on Netflix.