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An empty red-and-gold toy carton sits on bare star-trimmed shelves beside a green shopping bag, with a frosted blue shop window on the left.

Essential Christmas · 1996

Jingle All the Way

74/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 74 ↓
UK certificate Parental Guidance89 min
Comedy · Family

A film about the specific horror of Christmas Eve shopping, which is a better subject than it usually gets…

On Disney+ · UK subscription →
Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 12 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas all the way through.

Two paper elves organise green shopping bags beside an empty red-and-gold carton, with bare star-trimmed shelves and discarded boxes around them.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas drives it, firmly.25/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for effectively all of it.20/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details7 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.11/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: partly.10/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionA big December film (80,000+).8/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

67/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

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The story

About Jingle All the Way

An overworked salesman misses his son's karate grading and tries to make amends by promising him the year's must-have action figure. On Christmas Eve he discovers every shop has sold out, and joins a scrum of desperate parents chasing the last one. A rival postal worker on the same hunt turns the day into a running feud.

The CineClaus verdict

A film about the specific horror of Christmas Eve shopping, which is a better subject than it usually gets credit for.

Broad, shouty and entirely uninterested in subtlety, but the satire of manufactured scarcity has aged into something close to documentary. Schwarzenegger is not a comic actor and the film sensibly works around it.

Ninety minutes, no sag, and a surprising amount of real anger about parenting under pressure.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

PG

Our take: fine for most seven-year-olds. Cartoon violence throughout, a great deal of shouting, and one sequence of proper peril near the end.

BBFC advice: Mild comic violence.

Content advice & accessibility
Where the advice comes from
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official PG certificate, and never looser than it.

The series

The films in this series

2 films, in release order

  • 1996

    You’re here

    Jingle All the Way

    1996

    You’re on this film’s page
  • 2014

    The film after

    Jingle All the Way 2

    2014

    A straight-to-video follow-up with a new cast, released in December 2014.

    Not in our catalogue yet
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Head and shoulders portrait photograph of Arnold Schwarzenegger in a suit.Arnold Schwarzeneggeras Howard Langston
The comedian and actor Sinbad speaking while on a military entertainment visit.Sinbadas Myron Larabee
Phil Hartmanas Ted Maltin
Rita Wilson smiling, photographed at a public event.Rita Wilsonas Liz Langston
Black and white head and shoulders photograph of Robert Conrad in a rain-spotted jacket and polo neck, looking off to one side with a slight smile.Robert Conradas Officer Hummell
Martin Mull, a bearded older man in round glasses, a dark flat cap and a green checked shirt, smiling at the camera.Martin Mullas D.J.
Jake Lloydas Jamie Langston
The actor Jim Belushi photographed in 2014.Jim Belushias Mall Santa

Behind the camera

Directed by
Brian Levant
Original score
David Newman
Writing & production credits
Producers
Chris Columbus
Mark Radcliffe
Michael Barnathan
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Arnold Schwarzenegger · State of California · Source image (opens in a new tab) · Public domain.

Sinbad · Jerry Crawford (jcrawford3505) · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Rita Wilson · Gage Skidmore · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Robert Conrad · ABC Television · Source image (opens in a new tab) · Public domain.

Martin Mull · Life, Love, and Pop-Culture/ Danielle Delgado · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Jim Belushi · COD Newsroom · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Keep the Christmas feeling

Music & soundtrack

That tune you recognised. That score you loved. Take a little of the film into the rest of your Christmas.

Every track on the soundtrack album, in album order.

Behind the music. David Newman composed the score.

About this music list

These are the songs and soundtrack we hold for the film, not a complete cue sheet, and they give no scene timings. Album track lists and durations come from MusicBrainz. Spotify and Apple Music links open the matched recordings; links marked Search open a search on that service. Album covers are each release's own, from the Cover Art Archive, credited under the cover.

Wikidata (composer) ↗ (opens in a new tab) MusicBrainz ↗ (opens in a new tab) MusicBrainz ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind Jingle All the Way. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapMall of America, Bloomington

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

Open larger map ↗ (OpenStreetMap, opens in a new tab)

Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Choose your next scene

Photographs of the real places

There’s more behind the film.
Explore the next place.

Photo credits & location sources

These are photographs of the places, not film stills. Dates vary; photographs do not show current conditions or guarantee access.

Mall of America, Bloomington · Tyler Vigen · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab) · Racket (opens in a new tab)

Mickey's Diner, St Paul · User:Mulad · Source image (opens in a new tab) · Public domain · Racket (opens in a new tab)

Hennepin Avenue Bridge, Minneapolis · Michael Hicks · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · Racket (opens in a new tab)

Linden Hills, Minneapolis · Racket (opens in a new tab)

Edina, Minnesota · edkohler · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · Racket (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more Jingle All the Way

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

On set

Minneapolis was picked for the mall

Arnold Schwarzenegger reportedly favoured the Twin Cities over Chicago and Milwaukee because of the Mall of America, so the crew spent about five weeks there instead of a few days, at higher cost.

Read the story

Source: Racket ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

The parade was shot in July in Los Angeles

The city would not close a street for five weeks, so the parade was staged on a Universal backlot in July with about 1,400 extras in winter clothes. Some fainted in the heat.

Read the story

Source: Racket ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Bloopers & near misses

A bite gag became a stun gun joke

Danny Woodburn, who played the elf, objected to a scripted moment in which his character bites Arnold Schwarzenegger's backside. The crew swapped it for a stun gun gag.

Read the story

Source: Racket ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

The Christmas in it
Snow on screen. Set on 24 December. Carols and songs heard: Jingle Bells. The whole hunt happens on Christmas Eve and ends at the town's Christmas Eve parade. The snow was made on set from potato flakes, as the shoot ran into spring.
Releases and certificates
: In cinemas (US). Original US cinema release.
: In cinemas, rated PG. Original UK cinema release, a fortnight after the American opening. This print lost a few seconds to BBFC cuts.
: Back in cinemas, rated PG. Twentieth anniversary run in UK cinemas, the first UK cinema print with nothing cut.
Awards
Nominated: Golden Raspberry Awards 1997, Worst Director (Brian Levant).
Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

Gifts for film lovers · Jingle All the Way

Something for the Jingle All the Way fan

Little gifts for someone whose Christmas always includes Jingle All the Way.

As an Amazon Associate, Cine Claus earns from qualifying purchases. Buying through a link helps pay for the site - it never changes a score.

For the fan who watches it every Christmas.Sold by the linked retailer
Good to know

Questions about Jingle All the Way

Is Jingle All the Way a Christmas film?

Yes. We class it as an essential Christmas film: the whole story is a single Christmas Eve spent hunting a sold-out toy.

What age rating is Jingle All the Way?

It is a PG in the UK, for mild comic violence.

When did Jingle All the Way come out in the UK?

It opened in UK cinemas on 6 December 1996, and came back to UK cinemas uncut for its twentieth anniversary in December 2016.

Where was Jingle All the Way filmed?

Mostly in Minnesota: the Mall of America in Bloomington, Mickey's Diner in St Paul, the Hennepin Avenue Bridge and Linden Hills in Minneapolis, and homes in Edina.

How long is Jingle All the Way?

It runs for 89 minutes.

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