Jingle Belle facts for kids

Jingle Belle is a fun comics character created by Paul Dini. She is the teenage daughter of Santa Claus. Jingle Belle often has funny arguments with her famous dad. She usually acts out because she feels like her father doesn't appreciate her. Sometimes, she gets jealous of all the attention Santa gives to children around the world.

Her stories are usually separate adventures. Jingle Belle often battles the Blizzard Wizard, who doesn't like Christmas or the Kringle family. She also tries to make her own mark on the holiday, separate from her dad. Sometimes, she helps people she meets who are in trouble. She also has many adventures with her friends Polly, Ida, and Tashi.

Jingle Belle has appeared in many different types of comics. These include creator-owned comic books, short stories, strips, and a graphic novel. Most of these were written by Paul Dini. Many different artists have drawn her stories, like Stephen DeStefano, Jose Garibaldi, Bill Morrison, J. Bone, Sergio Aragonés, Kyle Baker, and Stephanie Gladden.

How Jingle Belle Started

The idea for Jingle Belle came to Paul Dini after he got a Christmas card from film director Steven Spielberg. This made Dini wonder how famous people's own kids saw them. He thought maybe they might feel a bit annoyed having to share their famous parents with the whole world.

Dini said he wanted Jingle Belle to feel like a fun Sunday comic page. He liked how those old comics could use a lot of space to tell their stories.

Jingle Belle's Comic Book Journey

In 1998, Paul Dini started working on two funny comic series for Oni Press. One of them was Jingle Belle. The first designs for Jingle Belle were made by Lynne Naylor, based on Dini's drawings.

Her first story, "Sanity Clauses," appeared in Oni Double Feature #13 in 1999. Stephen DiStefano drew this story. Later that year, a two-issue miniseries called "Miserable on 34th Street"/"Santa's Little Hellion" came out.

More short stories and one-shots followed. In 2002, "The Mighty Elves" was even nominated for an Eisner Award. This award is like an Oscar for comics!

Oni Press published Jingle Belle's first graphic novel, Dash Away All, in 2003. It was drawn by Jose Garibaldi.

Later, Jingle Belle's stories moved to Dark Horse Comics. They published a four-issue miniseries in 2004-2005. This included stories like "A Very Special Jingle Belle Special" and "Ring-a-Ding Jing."

In 2005, "The Fight Before Christmas" came out. In 2006, "The Bakers Meet Jingle Belle" showed Jing meeting artist Kyle Baker and his family. She even made a small appearance in a Simpsons comic!

In 2007, Paul Dini moved his characters, including Jingle Belle, to Top Cow Productions. He even started a new comic line called DiniCartoons. The first comic there was "Santa Claus vs. Frankenstein" in 2008.

In 2011, a comic called "Gift Wrapped" was released. Later, in 2017, new illustrations and a story called "Jingle Belle's Christmas Party" appeared online.

IDW Publishing became the new publisher in 2016. They released a big collection called Jingle Belle: The Whole Package!. In 2018, a new comic called "Jingle Belle: The Homemades' Tale" came out.

Jingle Belle in Other Media

In 1999, there were plans to make a live-action movie about Jingle Belle. However, this project never happened.

Four short Flash-animated cartoons were put on the JingleBelle.com website in 2000.

Paul Dini has said he's gotten offers for more movie versions. But he doesn't want to give up control of his character.

You can find many Jingle Belle items too! These include statuettes, a bobblehead doll, a Christmas tree ornament, a lunch box, notecards, and a t-shirt.

Meet the Characters

Jingle Belle Kringle

Jingle Belle is the rebellious and sometimes naughty daughter of Santa Claus and Queen Mirabelle. But deep down, she has a good heart. In one story, she says she is 151 years old, which is "sixteen in elf years." This means she was born around 1857, the same year the song "Jingle Bells" was first published.

She looks like a pretty teenage girl with pointy ears, blonde hair, and blue eyes. She usually wears green short overalls over a white sweater, red and white striped stockings, and black boots. Sometimes she wears a green "elf hat" with a red feather.

Paul Dini says she's a fun person who rebels against rules. Her rules just happen to be her dad and all the Christmas stuff. Jingle's mischief often comes from not wanting to do her Christmas duties. Or she feels her dad doesn't appreciate her enough. Sometimes, though, she gets into trouble trying to help people. Jingle Belle is a great athlete and is the captain of the North Pole Elves hockey team.

Kris Kringle (Santa Claus)

Kris Kringle is Jingle's father. He is the spirit of Christmas cheer and kindness. In the Jingle Belle comics, Santa is a real, famous person. He delivers toys to good children on Christmas Eve. He often takes Jing with him to teach her about family duties. But this usually causes him trouble! Santa tries to discipline his daughter, but it often makes her rebel more. Still, they love each other, and sometimes they connect.

Queen Mirabelle (Mrs. Santa Claus)

Queen Mirabelle is the Queen of the Northern Elves. She is Santa's wife and Jingle Belle's mother. Long ago, an evil wizard enslaved Mirabelle and her elves. Santa Claus, with help from talking animals, freed them. Soon after, she and Santa married and had Jingle Belle.

She is often upset by her daughter's actions. But she is less strict than Santa. Jing has a better relationship with her mom than with her dad. Queen Mirabelle has a magic wand that can do powerful things, like bringing objects to life.

Polly Green

Polly Green is a teenage witch from Autumn Falls, Massachusetts. She is one of Jing's best friends. They met on a TV talk show about "My kid is a holiday horror." Polly has strong magic powers. Her greedy family tries to use her powers for their own gain. But Polly can take care of herself. She often uses her magic to help Jing with her plans. Polly usually wears a costume like Jingle Belle's, but with a Halloween theme.

Tashi Ounce

Tashi Ounce is a female Tibetan snow leopard who acts like a human. She is the captain of a hockey team made up of other girl snow leopards. Her team is the main rival of Jingle Belle's Elves. Tashi loves sports, just like Jing. They met at the "All Arctic Winter Games." They showed their sportsmanship by immediately trying to hurt each other's knees! They are known for their fierce rivalry on the ice. But outside of games, they are actually quite friendly.

Sheriff Ida Red

Ida Red is a teenage girl with mutant powers. She is the sheriff of Mutant, Texas. She can shoot strong energy blasts from her hands, so she doesn't need a gun. She can also fly for a short time. She has a mutant jaguar friend named Cat. Ida Red met Jing when they worked together to save Santa. He had been kidnapped by a family of criminals called the Kiyotes during his Christmas Eve trip.

Eddie

Eddie is one of the older elves at the North Pole. You can spot him by his sunglasses, cheap suit, and porkpie hat. He is famous for his huge collection of holiday music. Eddie was inspired by Paul Dini's friend, screenwriter Eddie Gorodetsky.

Gretchen Sweetsong and Rosetta Rosedew

These two elf girls are among Jing's best friends at the North Pole. They often get pulled into her adventures and end up in trouble. Another close friend, Clifford, was introduced in a later story.

Thrasher

Thrasher is Jingle Belle's giant musk ox "steed." Thrasher can fly using jet power from his impressive flatulence. Like all North Pole animals, Thrasher is smart like a human and can talk, but he doesn't do it very often.

The Blizzard Wizard

The Blizzard Wizard used to be Santa's main enemy. He can control the weather to create blizzards and ice storms. His helpers are the Soft Servants, who are creatures made of old ice cream. Long ago, the Wizard enslaved the Northern Elves and their Queen, Mirabelle. Santa Claus attacked and freed them. The Wizard's power was then kept in check by a magic snowball Santa had. But the Wizard later tricked his way free. He was mad that Santa had become more popular than him as the symbol of winter. However, in the graphic novel Dash Away All, they made a truce.

Heidi Hoarfrost

Heidi Hoarfrost is the Blizzard Wizard's niece and assistant. She can also control the weather. She tried to stop Jingle Belle from finishing her father's Christmas Eve deliveries when Santa was sick. Like her uncle, she now has an uneasy truce with the North Pole crew.

Krampus

Peter Krampus looks like a demon. In the past, he went with Santa to scare naughty children. In modern times, people don't ask for his services much. This has made him feel left out and a bit bitter.

Collected Comic Books

See Also

• Jingle Belle (2018), a Lifetime (TV network) Christmas romance movie starring Tatyana Ali.