Eloise at Christmastime

Click to Buy	Ratings Summary (Scored out of a maximum of five)
	Audio		Video
	Goodies		Interface
	Value

The Movie

Eloise is back and looking not one day older. The second made-for-TV
movie was first aired on Wonderful World of Disney in 2003 and
was made directly after the first Eloise, presumably to capture
her on film before that nasty awkward stage hits. The rest of the original
cast is back as well; most importantly Julie Andrews as Nanny.

Eloise at Christmastime is developed from Kay Thompson’s book,
and this adventure finds the precocious 6-year-old (Sofia Vassilieva)
waiting for her mother’s return from Europe for Christmas. While she is
waiting, she plays matchmaker for her good friend and room service provider
Bill (Gavin Creel). Eloise discovers that the love of Bill’s life has
returned to the Plaza to marry upstanding Harvard graduate Brooks Oliver
(Rick Roberts.) And the love of his life just happens to be Rachel Peabody
(Sarah Topham), the daughter of Plaza Hotel owner Mr. Peabody (Victor
Young). Will true love win out over class distinctions? Will Eloise’s
mother get home in time for Christmas? Will Eloise ever pay her room service
bill? Most of these questions are answered by the end of the movie.

The story is good fun, the sets are gorgeous and appropriately Christmassy,
and the cast is first-rate. Julie Andrews and the young Sofia Vassilieva
have great chemistry together, and are well settled in their roles. If
you are a fan of Julie Andrews, this is a must-own DVD. She really gets
into the part, swigging too much eggnog and dancing around with Christmas
garland wrapped around her; quite the opposite of the regal, proper Andrews
of Princess Diaries or even Mary Poppins. She is a hoot
in this role. Gavin Creel has performed on Broadway and sings several
show tunes and Christmas carols. He will most likely star in many future
Disney films; keep an eye on him.

The Goodies

There are two featurettes presented: “Absolutely Kay Thompson”
and “Making Eloise at Christmastime.” The Kay Thompson featurette
is mainly still black-and-white photographs interspersed with colleagues
and friends of Thompson reminiscing about her. My 7-year-old found this
feature yawn-inducing, but it’s well worth watching if you are a fan of
the book series. Rex Reed explained that, “Kay never needed a therapist,
because she had Eloise.” Eloise was her alter ego, a character who
was allowed to do all the naughty things Thompson wanted to do but that
a woman in her 50s probably shouldn’t have. Hilary Knight, illustrator
of the book series, talks about her and Thompson’s creative process in
writing the books.

“Making Eloise at Christmastime” will cause your 7-year-old
sit up and pay more attention. This is basically your standard, “this
is us shooting the movie and we loved making this movie, and everyone
was fabulous etc. etc.” type feature, with a few notable exceptions.
Since the book Eloise at Christmastime did not really have any
plot to speak of, writers had to come up with a plot that would still
respect the tone and ideas in the book. The director would take specific
pages from the book and film little vignettes in exact detail for the
movie. They took great care in re-creating the flavor of the book, right
down to the mistletoe on Weenie the Pug’s collar.

Video, Audio, and Interface

The movie is presented in 1.33:1 fullscreen, the same aspect ratio it
had in its standard television broadcast. In other words, it looks just
like it did when it first aired last year. And that’s not a bad thing
considering how gorgeous the colors are. The picture is crisp and sharp.
The audio is clean and matches the scenes perfectly. Most of the music
is orchestral arrangements of Christmas carols and melodies, which adds
that extra touch of holiday atmosphere. The interface is similar to the
first Eloise movie; the Eloise book opens to display the menu options
to the tune of the Nutcracker. It’s very basic, but there are not a lot
of extras to navigate through on this disc.

The Final Evaluation

“But it’s only a TV movie,” you say. “Shouldn’t I save
my money for something released in the theatres?” I would encourage
you to reconsider Eloise at Christmastime. Even though this disc
was first a TV movie, the high quality of the movie and the nice extras
allows this film to outclass several theatrical released DVDs this Christmas.

Need a gift for your little girl, niece, grandchild or other deserving
little person? Buy Thompson’s book (first released in 1958!) and add the
Eloise at Christmastime disc. Most Julie Andrews fans will want
to have this in their collection as well. Actually, most families looking
for a new Christmas movie to enjoy should pick this DVD. Eloise continues
to be a crowd pleaser.