Hallmark Channel Premiere | November 29, 2020
This movie was so much fun! I caught myself smiling throughout, and I thoroughly enjoyed the allusions to The Wizard of Oz. Here are the ones that I caught:
If I Only Had Christmas / "If I only had a brain" (you're singing now, right?!)
Darcy Gale / Dorothy Gale
Bobo / Toto
Kansas City / Kansas
"There's a storm coming"
Emerald Education Trust / Emerald City
William Austin / the man behind the curtain
Stepmom Emma / Auntie Em
Darcy's brothers Huck and Zeke/ the farmhands Hunk (scarecrow) and Zeke (lion)
Darcy's dancing shoes/ ruby slippers
"Flying monkeys" were mentioned, along with "lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!"
The team at Emerald / the scarecrow, the lion, and the tinman
Bridget needs a heart/ Jackie needs good ideas / Riley (his last name is actually Lions!)
needs courage
Riley refers to the students as "munchkins"
The four walk arm in arm down the "yellow brick road" at AI Headquarters
"a horse of a different color"
"I'd like to pull the curtain back..."
At the gala, the "wizard" praises the brilliance of Jackie (the scarecrow gets his brain), says that Dr. Tinsley is the heart of the foundation (the tinman gets his heart) and highlights the courage of Mr. Riley Lions (the lion gets his courage)
"There's no place like home" is stated twice
The CFO tells William to "Fly - fly!"
William says everything changed when Darcy "dropped into [his] life"
Darcy says that she thought of William as "the great and powerful Austin"
In addition, Darcy wears a lot of green.
Hallmark gets an A on: the casting; the wardrobe; Darcy's kitchen; Balsam Hill ad placement; the meeting at the bar; the Christmas maze; the undercover boss angle; the very clever writing that made me laugh
Hallmark gets a D on: not much! This is a keeper.
Grade: A * Note Grading Scale: A = This is seriously a good movie. It will remain on my DVR for the season. B = Totally exceeded my expectations. I'm happy to recommend. C = This is an average Hallmark movie. Good holiday fun. D = I'm disappointed... but I watched it. Why not? F = I actually had a hard time getting through this one. And that says a lot.
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