Jessica Riggs is a pretty annoying and dopey little girl living with her caring but strict father on a farm in a small town. Her mother is gone and she has a lot to deal with in life at the moment, so the last thing she was expecting was to find a reindeer injured on Christmas (There are reindeer in Canada but everyone just calls them caribou, they aren't very special, they're on the Canadian quarter as well, just some extra trivia). Anyway, her loving pops is the very guy to run over the poor thing, and suggests eating it, to which Jessica freaks out and ends up hiding the reindeer in the horse stable, getting an elderly veterinarian to take care of it. She names the reindeer Prancer (ugh...) and hopes it'll somehow fly off like a jumbo-jet into the night sky to get back to Santa on Christmas Eve. Meanwhile she gets her cranky neighbor, Mrs. McFarLand, to stop being such a... a witch... and ends up making a new friend. But how long will Prancer remain her secret before pops finds out? I saw this when I was a little girl, and hated it. I decided recently to watch it again and see if maybe I'd enjoy it more, but no, just as bad if not worse. The soundtrack was typical and unmemorable, the acting decent but not enough to improve the movie, and so many flaws that you'd have to be either a three-year-old or a drunk to not see them. For one, Mr. Prancer the lovable reindeer, is a female caribou. And I'm not anti-religious or anything, but I'm not religious and I don't need all the "have faith in god" stuff shoved down my throat in a kid's movie. The story was easily predictable and boring.Now, I'm an adult and this is a movie for children, so I watched it with my little brother to see if he enjoyed it since he's a kid. Well, he told me halfway through it to pause it so he could go use the bathroom, and the next thing I knew he was climbing out the window, into the backyard and heading out to the shopping mall to escape. I honestly don't blame him.

Excellent film for the whole family. I predict this movie will become a cult classic in the ensuing years as people are re-discovering it. One never grows weary of it. The adorable lead child-actress, Rebecca Harrell, is awesome and captivating as little Jessica Riggs. The film has many redeeming qualities and so many remarkable scenes, backdrops, poignant dialogue, and subtle details with great casting. This is a holiday classic that should be presented each year as a choice for viewers by some intelligent broadcasting organization. I own the DVD now because there were some years it wasn't offered on the seasonal menu - where it belongs - up there with the BEST!

Don't get me wrong I really love this movie and it never fails to put a lump in my throat however... (SPOILER AHEAD) I only wish towards the end they didn't show that really goofy special effect streak across the sky and Prancer flying off to join Santa. Sure it adds the magic element that every Christmas movie needs but it would have been much better just to have the hoof prints going to the cliff and have Jesse hear the bells. It would have gone more along the lines of what the father was saying when he read the passage from "Yes Virginia There is a Santa Claus" that as long as you believe, there is a Santa Claus and there is a Prancer. (END SPOILER) Despite this one short coming I still give the movie a 9/10 1 point taken off for the ending. If you haven't seen it go out and rent it because it is usually overshadowed by "A Christmas Story" and every version of Scrooge imaginable during the holiday season.

This film proves that there are still unspoiled hearts left on Planet Earth. Those who find it sappy or irrelevant have spent too much time wearing Grinch suits and need a good dose of humanity to thaw that hard matter in their chests that passes for a heart.The child actors are the heart of _Prancer_. They are real, never overacting or coming off as children playing at making a film. Sam Elliot is the epitome of the overstressed, depressed man who has lost his wife and despairs of losing everything else too. His transformation is believable and worthy of the time spent to watch his character unfold. Cloris Leachman is a delight as the female Scrooge who is touched by two children--Jessica who reintroduces her to the joy of Christmas, and a little boy in church who reintroduces her to the joy of human fellowship.Above all, this is a story of transition. The earnest child must move forward to knowledge, and the jaded grownup must move back to mystery and faith. If your Christmas is too much take and not enough give, I prescribe hot chocolate, hot buttered popcorn, and a viewing of Prancer with people you love. Better yet, do as we have and make this movie part of your personal holiday tradition. It might help make you a better person the rest of the year.