Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
DVD cover
Genre	Christmas special Fantasy Comedy-drama Mystery Musical
Written by	Jim Fisher Jim Staahl
Story by	Fred A. Rappoport Elmo Shropshire Jim Fisher Jim Staahl
Directed by	Phil Roman
Starring	Michele Lee
Voices of	Elmo Shropshire Michele Lee Alex Doduk Susan Blu Cam Clarke Christopher Gaze Phil Hayes Scott McNeil Pauline Newstone Maggie Blue O'Hara Venus Terzo Jim Fisher Jim Staahl Kathleen Barr
Narrated by	Elmo Shropshire
Composer(s)	Nathan Wang Randy Brooks
Country of origin	United States Canada
Original language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Phil Roman
Producer(s)	Jim Fisher Noel-Quinn Roman Jim Staahl
Running time	51 minutes
Production company(s)	The Fred Rappoport Company, Inc. Phil Roman Entertainment SFM Entertainment
Distributor	Warner Home Video
Release
Original network	The WB
Original release	October 31, 2000 (2000-10-31)

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer is a 2000 Canadian–American animated Christmas TV special, directed by Phil Roman. The special was first released on home video in October, and then aired on The WB network on December 21, 2000. The title and story are based on the 1979 novelty song of the same name.

The film subsequently airs on The CW (the successor to The WB) and AMC, and also aired on Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Freeform. Because Warner Home Video distributed this special, Warner Bros. owns the copyrights.

Plot

The special begins by introducing Jake Spankenheimer and his family, most notably his grandmother, who owns a small general store in the town of Cityville. The store happens to be the only piece of property not owned by Austin Bucks, the wealthiest man in town, whose CEO corporation specializes in making Christmas easier and less involved for the town's busy residents. Grandma tells Austin that his method of trying to make Christmas easier is not really for the best and refuses to sell the store. This runs afoul of the gold-digging Cousin Mel, who plans to sell the store anyway.

Jake and Grandma love the holiday season, though the rest of the family aren't as excited. Jake and his sister Daphne argue over Santa Claus' existence, and their parents gently try to break the news to him that Santa is not real. Meanwhile, Cousin Mel comes up with a plan to sabotage Grandma's famous fruitcake recipe, secretly adding an ingredient with hopes that they won't sell, forcing Grandma to sell the store to Austin. Grandma, who hasn't taken her medication that evening, leaves the house with the fruitcake on Christmas Eve night as Santa's reindeer fly overhead. Suddenly they go out of control and crash into her. Jake witnesses the accident, but his family refuses to believe him except for his grandfather who also had seen the incident. The next morning, Grandma is indeed missing and the police find an imprint of her in the snow, along with her belongings. Cousin Mel finds a letter that she quickly hides from the others.

Nine months pass without Grandma and the store's business drops. During this time, Cousin Mel comes up with a new plan to sell the store to Austin, by tricking Grandpa into giving her his power of attorney. When Jake objects, Austin agrees to give him another week in order to find Grandma before going through with the deal. Adamant in his belief that Santa ran over her, Jake emails Santa, and soon Quincy, Santa's head elf, comes to take Jake to the North Pole. It turns out that Santa had taken Grandma back to the North Pole for medical treatment. Unfortunately she has developed amnesia from the accident, and until receiving Jake's e-mail Santa had no idea of who she was. After Jake explains the situation, Santa, Quincy, and Grandma agree to go with him to stop the deal.

When they arrive in Cityville, however, Cousin Mel and her attorney, I.M. Slime, quickly trick Grandma into going with them. After Santa explains to Austin what has happened, Jake and Quincy discover that Grandma has gone missing once again. Cousin Mel uses the opportunity to accuse Santa of being behind her disappearance. Santa is arrested and put on trial for kidnapping, leaving the scene of an accident, and "sleighicular negligence". The two then plot to sue him, deducing that someone who can pay for billions of presents must be incredibly wealthy.

Three months later, Daphne suspects that Cousin Mel may have been involved in Grandma's second disappearance, and Jake and Quincy follow her to a cabin in the woods where she and I.M. Slime are keeping Grandma out of sight. They rescue Grandma and find Santa's letter explaining what happened, that Cousin Mel had found at the site of Grandma's accident, and also the vial of the ingredient Cousin Mel added to Grandma's fruit cake that Christmas Eve night, which had the effect of "reindeer-nip" irresistible to reindeer. They manage to restore Grandma's memory by feeding her some of her own fruit cake, and rush to the courthouse to prove Santa's innocence.

Confronted with the evidence, Cousin Mel is forced to confess everything she did. She even admits that she hates the true meaning of Christmas and is nothing more than a greedy person. She is then placed under arrest for obstructing justice and "almost ruining Christmas," and the judge lets Santa go after finally discovering the truth. Austin approaches Grandma again, this time offering to franchise her store throughout the country, having seen how much she and Jake care about their family and their business.

The show ends with Grandma accidentally picking up the tainted fruit cake instead of her own recipe, with the result that Santa hits her again as he is trying to fly back to the North Pole. Grandpa and Jake pick her up; this time she did not suffer amnesia. Santa's sleigh takes off into the night with him saying the Spanish phrase for "Merry Christmas": "Feliz Navidad."

Characters

• Grandma Spankenheimer (voiced by Susan Blu) – The eponymous character, Cousin Mel, Jake and Daphne's loving grandmother and Frank's mother who loves Christmas. Grandma is the owner of a general store in Cityville. Merchandise at the store includes ornaments, toys, and Grandma's famous "Killer Fruitcake."
• Jake Spankenheimer (voiced by Alex Doduk) – The main protagonist of the film, Jake leads the search for Grandma when she mysteriously disappears, and Grandma being hit by Santa's sleigh. A firm believer in Santa Claus, Jake proves his family wrong when he finds the real Santa Claus.
• Cousin Mel (voiced by Michele Lee) – The main antagonist of the film. Cousin Mel is a money-grubbing woman who wears too much makeup and jewelry and beats Grandpa at cards. Cousin Mel is out to sell the store to the wealthy Austin Bucks, and makes Santa Claus the fall guy in a lawsuit over Grandma's disappearance so she can get all his money. Her partner in crime was her lawyer, I.M. Slime, who was also in on Mel's scheme. At the end of the film, she’s arrested, sent to prison and is on Santa's naughty list for life. Other than simply "a cousin," it’s unclear as to her exact relationship within the family or even if she is a Spankenheimer.
• Grandpa Spankenheimer & The Narrator (both voiced by Elmo Shropshire) – Jake, Cousin Mel and Daphne's grandfather, Grandma's daffy husband and Frank's father. Grandpa accidentally gives Cousin Mel power of attorney, giving Cousin Mel the power to sell Spankenheimer's General Store to Austin Bucks. The narrator is the adult Jake telling the story.
• Austin Bucks (voiced by Cam Clarke) – A monopolizing store tycoon that wants to buy the store from the Spankenheimers, but near the end of the special, decides instead of buying out the Spankenheimers, he decides to franchise the store, which Grandma eventually accepts the offer to franchise the store. Bucks is completely unaware of Cousin Mel's plots and, in fact, gives Jake the opportunity to prove his story, despite not really believing it.
• Santa Claus (voiced by Jim Staahl) – A jolly old man who delivers gifts around the world on Christmas Eve. Santa accidentally runs over Grandma with his reindeer-drawn sleigh, and takes her to his hospital at his North Pole workshop.
• Mrs. Claus (voiced by Kathleen Barr) - She’s known for making cookies with the elves, caring for the reindeer, and preparing toys with her husband. She makes an appearance in this film reading an article in the newspaper about her husband getting arrested and later flying home with him after he was acquitted.
• Daphne Spankenheimer (voiced by Maggie Blue O'Hara) – Jake's older sister, Cousin Mel’s younger cousin and Grandma and Grandpa's granddaughter. Daphne is a bit more skeptical and less apt to helping Grandma than Jake is, but she isn’t as apathetic as Cousin Mel. Despite this, she still cares about her brother and Grandma and Grandpa.
• Frank Spankenheimer (voiced by Scott McNeil) – Jake and Daphne's father, Cousin Mel’s uncle and Grandma and Grandpa's son.
• Rita Spankenheimer (voiced by Kathleen Barr) – Jake and Daphne's mother, Cousin Mel’s aunt and Grandma and Grandpa's daughter-in-law.
• I.M. Slime (voiced by Kathleen Barr) – Cousin Mel's money-loving lawyer and the secondary antagonist. Sent to prison with Cousin Mel.
• Officers - (voiced by Jim Fisher and Kathleen Barr) - Two police officers who investigate Grandma's disappearance and later arrest Cousin Mel and I.M. Slime.
• Quincy - (voiced by Philip Maurice Hayes) - Santa's head elf who helps Jake rescue Grandma and clear Santa's name.

Songs

All songs written and composed by Nathan Wang, Elmo Shropshire and Rita Abrams.