Jingle All the Way (1996)

"PUT THAT COOKIE DOWN! NOW!!"

- Howard delivering the film's most famous line

Jingle All The Way is a Christmas comedy movie released in 1996, directed by and starring  and, with , , ,  and. Inspired by real-life Christmas toy sell-outs for products such as the and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the film was written by Randy Kornfield. Producer of Home Alone fame rewrote the script, adding in elements of satire about the commercialization of Christmas, and the project was picked up by 20th Century Fox. Delays on Fox's remake of  allowed Schwarzenegger to come on board the film, while Columbus opted to cast Sinbad ahead of as Myron. The movie was set and filmed in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul at a variety of locations, including the. After five weeks filming, production moved to California where scenes such as the end parade were shot. The film's swift production meant merchandising was limited to a replica of the Turbo-Man action figure used in the film.

Synopsis
Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a hard working employee at a mattress company, and is stuck doing extra work on the day his son, Jamie (Jake Lloyd), is earning a new belt in karate. Despite his promise to make it, he runs into trouble with a traffic jam and Officer Alexander Hummel Robert Conrad, a sadistic cop from hell. Because of this, Howard ends up missing the karate class. In order to make it up to Jamie, he promises to get him anything he wants for Christmas. What Jamie wants is the immensely popular "Turbo Man" action figure, based on the Saturday-morning live action TV show of the same name. Unfortunately, as is the habit with him, Howard had promised to buy the action figure earlier in the year and then promptly forgotten about it. To add further salt to the wound, his wife Liz (Rita Wilson) informs him that since the action figures are the must-have gifts of the season, they are virtually impossible to find especially this close to Christmas.

Desperate to not disappoint his family again, Howard sets off on a wild goose chase all over Minneapolis to find the doll. At the first store he gets to, he meets Myron Larabee (Sinbad), a post office worker who's looking for the doll too. It is eventually revealed that this is going to be a "no holds barred" scavenger hunt, with lots of shoving, fighting, arguing, and worse. Throughout Howard's quest, the many stores he hits and the chaos that ensues at each one ultimately results in nothing, and at one point he has another run in with Officer Hummell. While stopping at the Mall of America, Howard resorts to buying a doll from a con Santa Jim Belushi, who is the leader of a counterfeit toy-making operation. Unsurprisingly, he pays $500 for a Spanish speaking Turbo Man doll that falls apart the moment he opens the package. Angered at being ripped-off, Howard accuses the Santas of undermining the values of Christmas and ends up in a brawl with the entire gang. The police show up to bust the ring, and Howard manages to get out of trouble by posing as an undercover cop using a toy badge.

Later, Howard arrives at Mickey's Diner and use's their phone to call home. Jamie answers, and Howard unintentionally scolds him over Turbo Man when he tries to get him to hand the phone to Liz. In turn, Jamie scolds his father for never keeping his promises and hangs up. Liz overhears the conversation and becomes disappointed in her husband. Howard encounters Myron at the diner, and they attempt to patch things up by sharing their woe stories; Myron explains that when he was young, his father was unable to buy him a Johnny Seven OMA action figure on Christmas. Their conversation is interrupted when they hear on the KQRS radio station that the DJ is holding a Turbo Man competition, and whoever can name all of Santa's reindeer wins the prize! Resuming their rivalry, Howard and Myron barge into the studio and give the correct answer, only to discover that the prize is just a gift certificate. Enraged, Myron threatens the DJ with a package which he claims is a mail bomb, but it turns out to be a fake. The cops soon arrive (along with Officer Hummell), and Myron bluffs them into backing off by pulling out another package and claiming it to be a bomb (unaware that it actually is one). Officer Hummell inspects the package and declares that it is no threat, only for it to explode in his face when he tries to open it.

After returning to the diner to find that his car has been stripped and spray-painted by thieves, Howard decides to call it quits and returns home to explain everything to Liz. But upon seeing his neighbor Ted (wikipedia:Phil Hartman|Phil Hartman)(who always seems to be homing in on Liz when he is not around) in HIS house putting HIS star on HIS tree, a furious Howard breaks into Ted's house and steals the Turbo Man doll he bought for his son Johnny. However, he changes his mind at the last minute as he could not see himself stealing from a child. Before he has a chance to replace the doll, Howard is attacked by Ted's pet reindeer and he unintentionally sets some stuff on fire. The commotion causes Howard to be caught by Ted and a distraught Liz, and they leave to attend the Holiday Wintertainment Parade with Jamie and Johnny.

Broken, Howard decides to to keep the one promise he can, by making his way to the parade to be with his family. Meanwhile, Ted attempts to make a pass at Liz, only to be hit with a thermos of eggnog after the latter sees who he really is. Upon arriving at the parade, Howard runs into a bandaged Officer Hummell and accidentally drenches him with hot coffee. In the ensuing chase, Howard runs into a preparations room for the parade where he is mistaken for a replacement for the actor who will play Turbo Man on a parade float. And best of all, he gets the opportunity to pick a child to present a coveted limited-edition Turbo Man doll! Who else does he pick but his own son! But before Jamie recognizes his father, Myron appears dressed as Turbo Man's arch nemesis Dementor (having tied and gagged the real actor) and chases Jamie all around the parade, with the crowd thinking that this is part of the act. Howard does his best to keep up, but has little skill in controlling the Turbo Man suit. Howard/Turbo Man ultimately defeats his nemesis and saves both Jamie and the doll. Jamie is sad that his dad wasn't there to see it...until Howard removes his helmet to reveal his true identity!

Meanwhile, Myron is being hauled off by the police, dismayed by his ultimate failure to retrieve the doll and not giving his son the toy for Christmas. Touched by his words, Jamie gives the doll to Myron and says that he no longer needs it since his father is the REAL Turbo Man! Myron and Howard apologise and become friends, and Howard apologises to a shocked Officer Hummell for everything. Howard is declared a hero and is crowd-surfed away.

At home, Christmas Eve is finally spent right, as the star is mounted on the tree, and everyone's happy. Liz is so happy that Howard was willing to do so much to get a present for Jamie, that it has her wondering what he got for her. The shocked expression on his face tells the whole story. Uh oh!

Soundtrack
TVT Records released the film's soundtrack album on audio CD on November 26, 1996. It features only two of composer 's pieces from Jingle All the Way, but features many of the songs by other artists that are included in the film, as well as other Christmas songs and new tracks by. The track listing for the soundtrack is as follows:

Score album
On November 3, 2008, released the full score of Jingle All the Way on audio CD as the 80th volume of the Intrada Special Collection album series. The CD was a limited edition of 10,000 units.