Jingle Jangle (2020) – Rewatch

Forest Whitaker is an inventor and toymaker who loses his creative spark when his apprentice steals his newest design. Years later, his granddaughter whom he’s never met comes to visit and helps him find his way. Last year when I first watched this, I found it a bit strange and lacking. The whole production is a weird and somewhat jarring mix of steampunk, Victorian, but modern sensibilities. The songs and Christmas touches are mostly a miss and the ending is a bit silly, but I do really enjoy the energy given in the dancing sequences and the dazzling details and colors in the costumes and sets. The cast as a whole, including Keegan-Michael Key, Anika Noni Rose, Ricky Martin, and young Madalen Mills, really shines.