Noelle's Bursts of Originality Highlight Its Heavily Derivative Elements

SPOILERS FOR NOELLE AHEAD

There's a really interesting idea for a Yuletide family movie nestled within Noelle, one of the first original films made for the Disney+ streaming platform (it was once set for a November 2019 theatrical release). But much like a Christmas present tucked away at the very back of the tree, it remains out of grasp of writer/director Marc Lawrence. Well, mostly out of grasp I should say. There is a stretch of the third act where Noelle actually manages to hit upon something special and unique. Unfortunately, too much of it settles for being derivative, a hodgepodge mixture of Elf, The Year Without A Santa Claus and Arthur Christmas. 

What Exactly Is The Year Without A Santa Claus?

Here's another exciting entry in this Holiday themed column, 25 Days Of Christmas Pop Culture! From now until Christmas Eve, I'll be tackling one piece of Christmas pop culture! It could be a book, movie, TV special, song....so long as it's festive for this time of the year, it'll be checked out in this daily column!

Among the Rankin-Bass holiday specials (which included, but are not limited to, Rudolph, Frosty The Snowman, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town), a few specials remain on the obscure side. The likes of Pinocchio's Christmas and Nester, The Long Eared Donkey are lucky to have a 6 AM showing on ABC Family while their kin flourish in primetime on one of the four major networks.