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12 days of Christmas: ‘Jingle Jangle’ review

The Christmas season is a time of warmth, laughter and hope. Nothing captures those feelings quite like a musical. Netflix invites you to experience holiday magic in all it’s glory with it’s newest Netflix Original, “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey.” 

In the quaint town of Cobbleton, Jeronicus, Jangles is the greatest toy inventor in the world. His shop, “Jangles and Things,” is legendary and bursting at the seams with colors, music and laughter as he prepares to make his most ambitious invention yet. But when his jealous apprentice, Gustafson, steals his notes, he’s left feeling so hopeless, he loses touch with his creativity. It will take his spunky granddaughter, Journey, to help him find his genius again and more importantly, make him believe in magic again.

Full of bright colors, catchy pop beats and witty one-liners, “Jingle Jangle” is the offspring of “The Greatest Showman” and “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.” It’s the perfect film to have in the background while you decorate, relax or bake cookies. 

The production team spared no expense on sets, costumes, cinematography or star-power. Forest Whitaker (“Black Panther”) leads the almost all-black cast along with Keegan-Michael Key (“Key and Peele”), Anika Noni Rose (“The Princess and the Frog”) and Phylicia Rashad (“The Cosby Show”). Songwriter Phillip Lawrence, known best for his work with Bruno Mars on songs such as “24k Magic” and “When I Was Your Man”, wrote and produced the soundtrack along with co-producer John Legend. Ashley Wallen, the Australian dance instructor known for his work on “The Greatest Showman,” choreographed the film. 

While not a perfect film, it is visually stunning and a relaxing watch after a stressful semester. 

“Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” was released on Netflix on Nov. 13 and is available to stream now. 

 

Dara Lusk was born and raised in northern Virginia outside of Washington, DC. She is majoring in English with an emphasis in Technical/Professional Writing and a minor in Anthropology. When not writing she loves reading and annotating classic literature.

—dara.lusk@usu.edu

@dara_marie_