Aug 23 10
Ernest Saves Christmas: Preview
In Ernest‘s first holiday feature, the do-gooder protagonist finds himself as a cab driver in Orlando when he encounters a portly, grey-bearded passenger claiming to be none other than Santa Claus. When Ernest inquires what brings Santa so far south of the North Pole, he finds out that Santa is in town to inform Joe Carruthers, an Orlando based Mr. Rogers clone, he has been chosen as the heir apparent to the jolliest job on the planet, the role of Santa Claus. While riding with Santa, the pair offer a lift to a young teenage girl who claims her name is Harmony Star.Santa meets Carruthers at the (fictional) Orlando Children’s Museum, where he attempts to speak with him about the Santa position, but he is cut off by Carruthers’ agent Marty Brock. Eventually after finally getting a word in with the disinterested Brock playing keeper to Carruthers, Santa is disheartened to find that neither Brock nor Carruthers believe Santa’s story. Mistaking Santa for a nutcase, they have him arrested, but trusting Ernest is not so quick to abandon his new friend. To make matters worse, Santa has somehow misplaced his magic sack of gifts. Ernest poses as Aster Clement, an official from the governor’s office, along with Harmony who pretends to be the governor’s niece, as the duo spring Santa from jail, claiming he has “infectious insanity” and is a danger to everyone there unless placed in solitary confinement. The disguises are not done, however, as Ernest now dons Apopka snake rancher attire in an effort to get Santa on a movie studio lot (delivering snakes to a horror set of course) so he can once again try to convince Carruthers to take the job. After finally tracking down Carruthers, he informs Santa that his agent has persuaded him to star in a lewd and violent holiday flick dubbed Christmas Slay, which adds insult to injury for poor Santa Claus. With Santa’s replacement gone to the dark side and Santa’s magic sack of gifts still missing, Ernest take’s it upon himself to make everything right and save Christmas.