Customer Reviews

Ugly Duckling's Christmas Wish [VHS]

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A warm-hearted tale of Omar, the ugly duckling, whose Christmas wish is simply to find a place where he belongs. Hitching a ride to the big city he meets up with a runaway girl and the two discover the true meaning of Christmas.

I stumbled across this Christmas 'toon by chance. It's a little rough around the edges, but tells a story that's full of heart and Christmas spirit.

Omar is a swan, who while still an egg, is stolen from his mother and ends up being raised by a family of ducks who's siblings poke fun at his less than perfect looks; so much so that Omar decides to run away. In doing this, he heads to 'The Big City' where eventually he comes across a dingy basement enhabited by a hapless little girl, Ruby, who has also run away from home and a feisty British mouse, Mr. Crumbs. Crumbs (also the story's narrator) introduces the two 'orphans' after making Omar promise to protect him from Ruby if she turns out to be afraid of mice. The story is told with the Christmas season serving as the backdrop. Both Ruby and Omar, unhappy in their current living conditions, make the best of it by putting together a make-shift Christmas tree and other festive decorations in their basement diggs. Afterwards, Omar drags Ruby up to the roof and the two wish upon a star with hopes of better days to come. Through the course of the story, Ruby and Omar decide that having each other is the best they can hope for at Christmas this year, but even after a rousing little song and dance that illustrates their resolution to be a family, Ruby still longs for her parents and cries herself to sleep. Soon after we learn why she has chosen to run away and it serves as the catalyst for the remaining plot of the story.

A casual glance at this picture could turn into a holiday viewing tradition for you and your little ones for years to come. The hand drawn animation's a little loose by today's digital standards, but not enough to get in the way of the heart warming story.

Finding this movie in another format other than what's offered here by Amazon might be a little tough as I don't believe it's been released on DVD in the US at this time. I found region 2 copies available for purchase on eBay so if you have a region free DVD player, you can get it there. Also there's the slight possibility that this title might end up available for streaming on your favorite provider.

Perennial Pictures
1996
1:09 Running Time
VHS / Region 2 DVD (Europe)