October has just begun but with spooky season fully underway that means another special time of year is just around the corner. That’s right, it will be the Christmas season before you know it and that means Christmas movie season is on its way. Netflix has released the first trailer for its upcoming Christmas movie, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, offering holiday movie fans their first look at the magical musical set to spread a bit of wonder and cheer for the coming holiday season.
In Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, Forest Whitaker plays Jeronicus Jangle, an inventive toymaker whose fanciful inventions burst with whimsy and wonder. However, when his trusted apprentice (Keegan-Michael Key) steals his most prized creation, it falls on Jangle’s equally bright and inventive granddaughter (Madalen Mills) along with one of Jangle’s long-forgotten inventions to heal old wounds as well as reawaken the magic within.
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Written by David E. Talbert — who also directs — the film also stars Anika Noni Rose, Phylicia Rashad, Sharon Rose, Kieron Dyer, Lisa Davina Phillip, Hugh Bonneville and Justin Cornwall. The film features original songs from John Legend, Philip Lawrence, Davy Nathan as well as the song “This Day” performed by Usher and Kiana Ledé.
For Talbert, the film is one that’s been a long time in the making. The director told Entertainment Weekly that he considered writing a Christmas-themed Broadway musical over 20 years ago, but it was the birth of his son that made him revisit it as a film.
“For me as a father of a little Black boy and an uncle of a little Black girl, it’s important for me to put images of wonder and magic that are universal out in the universe,” Talbert said. “Because if we never see it, then how do we know we can be it?”
“It’s something we’ve never seen,” he adds. “And when you watch it, you realize it’s something we should have seen.”
You can check out the official synopsis below.
A musical adventure and a visual spectacle for the ages, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey is a wholly fresh and spirited family holiday event. Set in the gloriously vibrant town of Cobbleton, the film follows legendary toymaker Jeronicus Jangle (Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker) whose fanciful inventions burst with whimsy and wonder. But when his trusted apprentice (Emmy winner Keegan-Michael Key) steals his most prized creation, it’s up to his equally bright and inventive granddaughter (newcomer Madalen Mills) — and a long-forgotten invention — to heal old wounds and reawaken the magic within. From the imagination of writer-director David E. Talbert and featuring original songs by John Legend, Philip Lawrence, and Davy Nathan, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey reminds us of the strength of family and the power of possibility.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey debuts on Netflix November 13th.
