One of the many movies starring Jim Varney as Ernest P. Worrell. This time, our bumbling hero finds himself involved with none other than Father Christmas himself, Santa Claus. The current Santa (who has had the job for well over 100 years) is running low on the magic of Christmas, and the only way to renew it is to pass the tradition on to another person.
The person he has chosen, a man who used to have a children's show and is now beginning a movie career, naturally doesn't believe that he is actually Kris Kringle. A typical Christmas story of man - doesn't - believe - in - Santa - but - is - won - over - by - charms - of - eccentric - old - man - and - learns - true - meaning - of - Christmas ensues. But, because of the presence of Jim Varney's Ernest P. Worrell character, hilarity also ensues.
The story takes place in Orlando, Florida, for an added twist on the story (which is fairly trite, in and of itself). In the company of Ernest and Santa are "Harmony Star" (a runaway girl whose real name is Pamela Trenton), and Joe Curruthers, the new Santa. Santa is thrown in jail (forcing Ernest to create one of his trademark disguises), Harmony wants to get Christmas presents, and she steals the magic sack, and the sleigh is going to have trouble getting to its appointed place in time (thanks to Ernest). And of course, Joe doesn't believe in Santa.
But, with the Christmas Spirit, Santa Claus, and of course, the help of Ernest P. Worrell, you know that everything has to turn out okay!
This movie was released in 1988, and was one of the first Ernest films to be released. It cost $6 million to make, and earned over $28 million. The cast:
Say what you will about the Ernest movies being stupid, but I love them. Ernest as The Snake Guy is absolutely hilarious. And Bobby and Chuck are hilarious as the airline shipping agents who deal with the reindeer. Overall, this is a great Christmas movie.