Did you ever want to see a Christmas special that looks like a cross between Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, made by the studio that brought us The Brave Little Toaster and featuring relatively known voice actors? Crazy thing is the Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer comparison was a fib.
The first time I heard of this special was when I saw a reference to it through an actor listing on Behind the Voice Actors. Since it's the holiday season, I figured I'd get this off the back burner while I could since there're a bunch of specials I really wanted to talk about. It was between this and a Popeye special from 2004, but at least now I don't have to worry about missing either.
The Tangerine Bear came out in the year 2000, on November, but thankfully not October, and it was back when people still gave a shit about Thanksgiving, it's as if some of these movies were ahead of their time in a way we never knew about.
While it was released on home video, apparently this aired on ABC around the same time (though I assume this time they aired it in December.) This was put out by Family Home Entertainment and Artisan Entertainment, who go either way when it comes to release quality (from copies of beloved cartoons to The Christmas Tree, those Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cash-ins, and more.)
The animation was produced by Hyperion, perhaps best known for The Brave Little Toaster, aka the only movie they made that people objectively like, I personally don't hate Bebe's Kids, I did say movies because their shows are warmer received, well aside from Da Boom Crew and maybe The Proud Family several years from now.
The film was written by Michael and Betty Paraskevas, who were behind The Kids of Room 402 and more importantly, Maggie and the Ferocious Beasts. You can pick up on that based on the art style presented in this film.
The cast used for this consists of not exactly major actors, but I can recognize a great deal of them. It has Tom Bosley who provided the voice of the titular character in the English dub of David the Gnome, Howie Mandel, David Hyde Pierce, Jon Polito, Dharma from Dharma and Greg, David Lander (who many of you may recognize as the voice of Henry from Oswald, but I also recognize him from an episode of Monsters), and Marlon Wayans.
The special stars Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Randy Taylor from Home Improvement, and this is one of two films I've seen to feature one of three boys from that show, the other being Longshot which had Zachary Ty Bryan (Brad), but Taran Noah Smith is still a no-show, and will be forever as he only did stuff people already know about.
Plot
I don't look for anything complicated in Christmas specials, but I do look for cohesion in simplicity. The film centers on Tangie, a bear who is assembled with an upside down smile, which causes a lack of confidence in suppliers and puts him with other bargain nightmares. I'm not gonna question how bears with moving mouths can't change their expression, because this falls under the Toy Story principle where toys remain as they always look when they are still.
I go into the first act expecting the other bears to treat him like crap because he is different, but surprisingly, they say nothing, and to add to this they acknowledge his existence, even if it's during a song. Small subversion goes a long way, as long as it doesn't involve shipping. Anyhow, the conflict behind this is that Tangie doesn't have the kind of welcoming appearance people are looking for, so is glanced over until his price is reduced. Realism in a Christmas special about sentient toys? What in the name of razzleberry dressing?
And my point is driven home, bonus points since I'm writing this as I watch it, as a boy picks a bear but changes his mind before buying it after taking a close look. The bear doesn't recognize the issue, but he never had a chance to look in the mirror so I have no reason to blame him. Up to this point all I can hate about this is narration where it doesn't feel welcome, but this probably was made for younger kids, and is already less obnoxious than Jay Jay.
Tangie is put on a bargain shelf, and I was anticipating a woe is me song, but it just leads to him questioning his place and meeting Marlon Wayan's character Louie Blue, and the obligatory doll character. For better or worse we don't run into assholes, at least not yet. I wanna see how far they can make it. I do question their moral conundrum regarding their low cost, but I guess it can represent how they don't feel as valuable if they're taken from the frontlines to an obscure corner.
Okay that's not the main focal point behind this, thankfully, the actual one is that while Tangie is happy on the inside, the mistake at the factory prevents him from showing it on the outside and.... I can kinda relate. I don't show a lot of emotion physically, but I am willing to do things with others, in spite of my awkwardness. It sucks when people think you're sad, even if you don't actually feel it.
After the realization, it segues into a song about Tangie's hope for someone to love him for who he is, I mean what else can bears hope for? To be them forever after being human? That makes for a crappy ending to a Disney movie. The movie contains four songs, two of which are done by country artist Trisha Yearwood who also does the narration, and one done by tenor Amick Byram.
It's obvious a different voice is used here for Tangie's song, we'd have another Secret of NIMH song fiasco with a tone-deaf actor, but here, they did the best possible way to justify the difference. Tangie himself doesn't do the singing, it's more like an inner monologue. It doesn't feel as awkward if he were actually singing. Oh, the other one was done by the cast early on to establish the importance of looking good enough to by, it's carried out well.
Louie Blue and Dolly prove to not be stay-withs as they're promptly bought, and this is saved from being contrived as it's a mother buying one thing for her son and daughter. The narration returns, and though it gets annoying, it isn't as bad as the Peppa Pig narrator (and that isn't for clout, this is basically recounting a story), at the very least Yearwood has a nice voice to listen to.
Tangie winds up at a second-hand store, where we meet more soon to be friends, a Jack in the Box who's, creatively, named Jack, a Chinese-knockoff Ariel clock, and I hate the Little Mermaid, why am I making such a cheap attempt at sounding smart? Oh, and a cuckoo clock bird who has agoraphobia. Jack is interesting, in that he provides another clue to the art department from Maggie and the Ferocious Beast working on this (a clue so you can tell too, dotted eyes and oblong full white ones.)
Anyhow, Mr. Winkle, owner of the new store Tangie is sent to, seems nice enough, willing to sell anything people might deem useful. He does acknowledge fault in what he obtains, so I can't call him delusional. He considers Tangie good enough to be put by the shop window, but this is mainly to ensure he meets the other essential characters.
Tangie learns that he is at a more obscure part of the shopping industry, a hand-me-down store that is otherwise glanced over due to all routes leading to the mall he was initially sent to. Anyhow, the mermaid is bugged over her inability to be bought, the bird I said was agoraphobic, and Jack is claustrophobic (plus has amuted bells hence him coming to the store.) I don't know about the mermaid, but I assume she was written off as a Disney knock-off and shelved accordingly, but actually she just wasn't... well... in.
We run into our first antagonist as Tangie tries to make himself look more noticeable, Mr. Winkle's dog Virgil. You'd think he'd make noise regardless if he was a stuffed animal, but surprisingly (and thankfully), walking by Virgil doesn't wake him up... or does it? Anyhow, Tangie tries to be fair, but Virgil does a chase anyhow, and even before I actually see it, I know who's taking the fall for all the damage, and this time it wasn't done by Tangie, Virgil's just a big enough entity to actually cause the damage. Tangie does apologize before Mr. Winkle finds out, and gets the chair regardless, so I can't call him an asshole.
Anyhow, the apology, as well as some aspects during his first encounter with the other toys represents Tangie's true feelings that are ruined by his sewn mouth, I am so happy this wasn't foregone.
I expected things to slow down when Tangie realizes his constant exposure to the sun caused his fur to fade, but this leads to him taking his namesake, so this wasn't all for nothing. Mr. Winkle's excuse for not being around is him going to the diner, but since he claims he needs to stay on top of rent payments, I imagine the diner is a cheaper option for his meals, plus the average morning coffee.
Jack and Bird get into an argument on whether or not Santa brings gifts to toys, and Bird is the one who claims otherwise (and since his schtick involves popping out of a clock in a room, they made the right call.) I also like how Thanksgiving is brought into this, namely that close to that time people would begin Christmas shopping, and since early shopping is also a point to this movie it's all the more welcome.
The toys try to make the store look more presentable to bring in passerbys, and we get the obligatory glimpse into the mind of the antagonist. Virgil wants the shop to close, as every night he works security and doesn't get to spend as much time with Mr. Winkle, let alone be outside of the store. Okay... justified, I guess.
The toys' efforts weren't in vain, as people do come to the store, and the mermaid is bought, but in between Virgil runs off, and he didn't go out to find him. I mean I get that if he left the store high and dry he'd be unable to keep up with the rent, but if you're closed, go out to look for him. Then again as this is the city it'd lead to a hell of a lot of walking, especially if he doesn't have the right kind of collar. But he does return so that negligence can't be considered incredibly reckless. I'd question why anyone would need a key to open a door from the inside but that could've been the thing with old-timey doors. Anyway, Virgil warms up to the others, one of the few things I expected out of the big list of Christmas cliches. This then leads to the final new song of the film, which is reserved for a decoration montage.
Anyhow, a ride by Virgil to alleviate the angst had by their decorations not doing much to inspire visits from customers leads to Tangie being left in the snow by accident, but he is promptly saved by Mr. Winkle, who had been picked by the town to be Santa this year. This was explained at the very least. I bring that up because this can prevent me from claiming that it'd be more interesting if Tangie was brought straight to a family, so points for not shooting for something out of the blue.
Soon enough, someone does come to buy him, even seeing his face and placing an offer. The reason for this is... the guy interested seeks out rare toys and Tangie's upside down smile goes against what the bears look like in this, as well as his faded color which he worked to even out, and for that I say... fair. But Mr. Winkle winds up turning him down, and the guy takes it surprisingly well.
With Tangie getting a pillow for the chair he took, and Jack's bells getting fixed, the group rules out that they found a family in each other and a home in the store. I saw this coming, but whatever, at least it leaves with the idea that happiness isn't something that can always be shown, so... fine enough.
Animation
The film is certainly nice to look at, simple designs that, again, remind you a bit of Maggie and the Ferocious Beast. However it's viewed, I can safely say they never forgot about the fact that Tangie couldn't smile because his face wasn't sewn that way, so the animators didn't make the same mistake the factory workers did.
Overall
I'm glad this didn't meet the touch of death of the average movie critic, because I think I found one of my most favorite Christmas movies ever. I expected the film to follow a lot of the holiday special cliches, but surprisingly they didn't unless it was necessary. The music was nice to listen to, so was the narration even if it felt forced in some areas, the animation's good and the moral at the end at the very least fit when it came to Tangie's deal.
But that's just me, some may find this special to be okay at best, but if you're looking for a break from Frosty and what not, this is worth at least one watch, it's cute for the kids, and chill enough for the elders to get through. It melted the ice in my heart I've reserved for specials people actually give a shit about.
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