Each year during the holidays, a hot, new toy becomes the sought-after item kids want under the tree. Be it an action figure, doll, video game system, or other trending toy, parents clamor to buy the item by any means necessary. Most people would have had to experience visiting or calling multiple stores to find that one toy or might have worked retail during the holiday season, which means most people will also understand what Jingle All the Way is about. The movie involves Howard Langston and postman Myron Larabee competing to find the hard-to-get action figure Turbo Man for their respective sons. It’s Christmas Eve, and all the stores are sold out, but they follow hollow clues and rumors to obtain this toy. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Howard, and Sinbad as Myron.
While not the most popular of Schwarzenegger movies, or holiday films, Jingle All the Way has a cult following thanks to its treatment of the shopping frenzy that still holds up over twenty years later. Jingle All the Way currently stands at 16% at Rotten Tomatoes; the audience score is somewhat better at 38%. The film combines slapstick comedy and satire about the holiday shopping season with scenes that everyone can relate to. Even after all these years, some wild details about the production of Jingle All the Way make the film even more interesting. Although they may never raise the ratings to a significant degree, the movie is very likable and enjoyable now because of the actors, theme, and nostalgia.
Updated Dec. 20, 2021 by George Chrysostomou: Jingle All the Way might not be the classic it was intended to be, yet it's an enjoyable holiday film that continues to be talked about today. Perhaps because of its hilarious performances or questionable writing, ultimately there's still a lot of fun to be had with the mid-'90s production. There's so much more for fans to know about the behind-the-scenes making of Turbo Man's costume, the Wintertainment Parade, and other elements of the movie.
Sinbad Almost Quit Acting Over The Role
Schwarzenegger’s agent recommended Sinbad for the role of Myron, but many of the producers felt the villain role would upset the balance of Sinbad’s clean-cut, family comedy roles. Sinbad felt otherwise: he thought the audience would empathize with rather than loathe the character. He had to miss the audition because Sinbad already had a commitment to on a USO tour in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Producer Chris Columbus waited for Sinbad’s return for the audition. In an interview on the bring out some of Arnold's best quotes.
Turbo Man's Watery Costume
The actual actor who played Turbo Man was Daniel Riordan. He’s best known for voicing characters in over twenty-five video games and several animated movies. Except at the end when Schwarzenegger was in a Turbo Man suit, Riordan voiced the character and donned the costume.
Many of the scenes with Turbo Man were in non-winter locations, so it became hot inside the suit. Because of that, a special vest was worn by Riordan. This type of vest is also used by race car drivers to stay cool. It had special tubing that ran cold water in and around the vest so the wouldn’t overheat. Unfortunately, that system was only on the torso; the inside of the helmet succumbed to the heat of the Vasquez desert, where they filmed many of the flying scenes.
Legal Troubles
The producers and the parent company, 20th Century Fox, were sued for plagiarism. The lawsuit claimed the script was similar to another written by Brian Alan Webster, a high school teacher whose screenplay’s rights were owned by a publishing firm. The script was titled Could This Be Christmas? according to legal paperwork. Webster’s story was about two mothers of different races competing to get the same Christmas gift for their sons. Perhaps it would have been an underrated Christmas movie in its own right.
20th Century Fox lost the lawsuit: they were ordered to pay $19 million dollars to the publishing firm. However, in 2004, this ruling was overturned because the court found Jingle All the Way was based on a treatment years before Webster’s story.
Officer Hummell Was Originally A Woman
Robert Conrad is well-known for his 1960s TV series The Wild Wild West. He also was a pop and rock musician and the host of a radio show called The PM Show with Robert Conrad. In Jingle All the Way, Conrad was cast in the role of Officer Hummell, the cop who happens to be near Howard Langston when the father does something inappropriate or with questionable legality. Hummell consistently foils Langston’s plans.
When the script was first written, Officer Hummell was a woman. According to the Associated Press, Conrad said producers gave him the part because “they wanted someone who could pull up next to Arnold and tell him to pull over and he pulls over.”
The Wintertainment Parade Was Filmed In 100-Degree Weather
Because the area around Minneapolis and St. Paul have notoriously long winters, the Twin Cities were a great location to film Jingle All the Way, since the movie took place during the Christmas season. However, the major Jingle All The Way Wintertainment Parade scene was done at Universal Studios located in Los Angeles (per Mental Floss), when spring was transitioning into summer. This made for 100-degree days around that time when they did the Wintertainment Parade in a three-week period.
As luck would have it, these hot days were also the days Sinbad needed to wear his Dementor costume. This was probably uncomfortable for Sinbad. It got so hot that the water in the helmet would start to boil.
Schwarzenegger Almost Didn't Take The Role
There was a moment in the film’s casting where Arnold Schwarzenegger almost didn't star as Howard Langston. In early 1994, Schwarzenegger signed with 20th Century Fox (per Giant Freakin Robot) to star in a Planet of the Apes remake. The production company didn’t like any of the scripts-- even the one that Chris Columbus wrote. Columbus decided to leave the Apes project, so Schwarzenegger left at the same time.
This made him available to be cast in Jingle All the Way in February 1996, almost two years after Planet of the Apes began production. The Apes remake eventually did get made, finally making it to theaters in 2001. That version starred Mark Wahlberg and was directed by Tim Burton.
Turbo Man Was Really Sold In Stores
From the get-go, filmmakers had planned real-life, physical action figures based on the movie. The first figure to hit the market was Turbo Man. The production designer for the movie worked with Tim Flattery, who was a character designer and had worked on Batman and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
They conceived various designs for each of the characters that would be sold in stores. Flattery was also involved in the life-size suit used by Schwarzenegger at the end of the movie. Of course, only the main character, Turbo Man was released in stores (per The Digital Fix). The villain, Dementor, never found a home in the retail market.
So Close, Dementor Dolls
Besides the Turbo Man real-life doll, Dementor almost had a life on retail shelves. The creepy Dementor is the arch-enemy of Turbo Man who uses a teleportation unit and commands minions called the Demon Team.
A prototype Dementor doll was designed and manufactured. It was tested in research and had high marks from the s. Because of that, Sinbad figured his doll would go to market (per TheArnoldFans). The actor said, “I had a prototype but they said ‘give it back, we’ll get you the real one when it comes out.” He added, “And dude, it NEVER came out!” The actor had a little theory on why: “I think that they didn’t want the competition between Turbo Man and my doll.”
Turbo Man Was Afraid Of Heights
Daniel Riordan is mainly a voice actor for animated TV shows and movies and video games. He does have some roles that required more than just his voice. For Jingle All the Way, he donned the Turbo Man suit and was the inspiration for millions of kids with his in-movie TV show, Turbo Man.
The action hero had a suit that allowed him to fly with rocket packs. Riordan was required to do some stunts with wires and harnesses. Movie crews make stunts like that safe for the most part, but Riordan had one phobia directly related to Turbo Man: Daniel was afraid of heights. For the movie, he fought through it.
Phil Hartman's Backstory For Ted
Ted Maltin is the neighborly single dad who gets the attention of many moms in the neighborhood. He does it all: cooks, fixes things and is an all-around great dad, but he has his eyes only on one woman: Liz, Howard Langston’s wife. That’s all there really is to know about Ted. The movie doesn’t dive into his past, but actor Phil Hartman sort of did. It’s not an official backstory as approved by Chris Columbus or 20th Century Fox, but it’s entertaining.
Hartman said, “Ted is a guy who sued his employer for headaches caused by toner fumes and now hangs around the neighborhood and helps all the housewives.” At the time, Hartman was being “pigeon-holed” in Hollywood, but said that “Ted’s another weasel to add to my list of weasels.”
