| A Martian Christmas | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | José Alejandro García Muñoz |
| Screenplay by | Linda Miller Alex Mann John Behnke Rob Humphrey |
| Story by | Linda Miller Alex Mann |
| Produced by | Jose C. Garcia de Letona |
| Starring | Cindy Robinson K.C.D. Shannon David Lodge Mac Grave Robert Mark Klein Katie Leigh Dave Mallow |
| Edited by | Sean Stack |
| Music by | Guy Michelmore |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Porchlight Home Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 45 minutes |
| Countries | United States Mexico |
| Language | English |
A Martian Christmas is aMexican-American[1]sci-fiChristmasanimated film, releaseddirect-to-video on November 11, 2009. The film was produced byÁnima Estudios andPorchlight Entertainment.[2] The film was directed by José Alejandro García Muñoz.[3]
Although it was described as a "television movie",[2][4] there is currently no further information about the film's air date or network.
Elementary school kids are at a school putting up decorations for the Christmas holidays. While doing so, they get a strange visit. A band of Martians (and their dog Rover) drop down and are fascinated by what these bizarre Earthlings are doing. They start asking the kids all sorts of questions about the holiday which the kids answer. The thing that gives the Martians the most fascination is the singing which the students end up teaching them.
It is all good spirited as friendships start developing but then Darph Meanie – the Martin spaceship commander – comes and gets mad at the Martians for not having freeze-dried the Earthlings. Their original reason for having dropped into Earth was to pick up fuel for their spaceship – snow – which the elementary school kids are only happy to give them. This culminates in a celebration of Christmas for everyone – the very first Martian Christmas![5]
On 6 October 2008,The Hollywood Reporter reported thatA Martian Christmas is in development fromPorchlight Entertainment andÁnima Estudios.[2] Post-production services was handled by Telegael.
Sierra Filucci ofCommon Sense Media gave this film 2 out of 5 stars and said, "Unfortunately the build-up to the main part of the story -- the journey to Earth -- takes so long and is packed with so much backstory that kids and even adults might get lost, or just bored. Once the trip begins, things pick up and it's sort of interesting to see humans and Christmas from outsiders' eyes."[6] WhoeverIMDb gives a score of 8.1.
This film was released on DVD on 11 November 2009 byPorchLight Home Entertainment. Due to its obscurity, it remains one of the rarest films to this day, most likely due to lack of promotion, and the fact that this film was primarily produced inMexico, as it is difficult for a Mexican animated production to get into theUnited States market, according to producer Fernando de Fuentes.[7] The DVD of the film is only available on online shopping sites, such aseBay andAmazon.com.