Benji's Very Own Christmas Story! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 16, 2018

Home is wherever someone loves you.

One of the great mysteries is not whether Santa Claus exists -- in the here and now, anyway, not in legend or history -- but rather how he would theoretically spread Christmas cheer to boys and girls all over the world in a single night. With Benji fever all the rage back in the 1970s, the adorable pup was chosen to be the mascot behind unmasking Santa's true identity (or identities, as the case may be) and revealing his operation to all. 1978's short film Benji's Very Own Christmas Story is a charming, if not dated, tale in which the pup does little but look cute amidst a snowy Swiss backdrop and inside the facility where Christmas magic begins and takes shape.

The worldwide movie star Benji has been selected to be the Grand Marshall in small Swiss town's Christmas parade. It’s a very snowy, colorful, festive place and everyone is eager to see, and pet, the world’s most famous four-legged star. Almost as soon as they arrive, Benji, Mary (Patsy Garrett), and Cindy (Cynthia Smith) meet “Kris Kringle” (Ron Moody). Kringle asks if they could make a quick detour from the parade to visit workers who would like to see Benji but cannot attend due to prior, and time-sensitive, obligations. They travel through a decrepit wooden door marked “verboten” and find themselves in another snowy, colorful village, but this one is occupied by diminutive elves bustling about with purpose and toys in tow. It turns out that Kringle is injured -- he has broken his foot -- and the annual Christmas night journey around the world is out of the question. As preparations are made to compensate for his absence, he reveals the secrets behind the massive operation that makes his Christmas deliveries possible.

The film explores Kringle’s worldwide appeal and the necessary adjustments he must make depending on where he is, wearing different costumes and making use of different modes of transportation on his whirlwind, worldwide Christmas Eve gift-giving bonanza. The film reveals various secrets behind the operation, offering audiences (and Benji, Mary and Cindy) an inside look “Christmas Eve Planning and Communication”, or CEPAC, the high-tech command center that helps Kringle make his journey in the modern age. It stops to examine the physics of the trip and glimpses into the mail center where elves from different countries (who are dressed, of course in stereotypical regional costumes) sort mail addressed to Santa (or whomever he may be in that part of the world). It all plays out during a rapid-fire runtime of only 25 minutes and the audience doesn’t get to absorb all of the fun details that Joe Camp, creator of Benji, and the production team have put together, but it’s an interesting little aside sort of film, even if Benji is often pushed to the side and appears more out of necessity and name recognition than serving as a truly integral part of the plotting.

The brief runtime allows for precious little time for characterization, but the way the film is structured it doesn't really need much. Benji, Mary, and Cindy are the established characters from Camp's previous films and Kris Kringle is, well, Kris Kringle. The film can largely bypass character pleasantries and get right down to the business of exploring the ins-and-outs of the Christmas operation and, for a few minutes, Kringle's various guises and identities. The film is terribly simple but it's also charming in its simplicity, straightforwardness, and sincerity.

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of Benji's Very Own Christmas Story delivers a very healthy and organic 1080p presentation. The short film, which was obviously shot on film back in the late 1970s, looks quite beautiful. The transfer retains a fine layer of natural, filmic grain, giving the picture a handsome cinematic quality about it. A few spots and speckles interfere, but never to a debilitating extent. Texturally, the image is stout. Crispness and clarity are highlights. Facial textures are effortlessly complex, including the obviously fake, but effective, Kringle eyebrows and beard. Environmental details around the Swiss town and the Christmas village look wonderful, too, boasting firm, tactile detailing and clarity in most every shot. Richly presented colors abound. Festive holiday reds and greens dominate with an amazing sense of vitality, saturation, and pleasing accuracy while any number of support hues, particularly in the scene featuring the Elves dressed in costumes from around the world, are very impressive. Beyond the here-and-there speckle no source or significant encode anomalies are present. Viewers are going to be very surprised by and pleased with the quality of this release.

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The two-channel DTS-HD Master Audio presentation lacks the precision of the accompanying 1080p picture quality but does deliver a perfectly serviceable listen for a film with little in terms of dynamic sonic needs. Narration is a little muddy, but in-film dialogue delivery is more stabilized and clear. Both image nicely to the center location. Music enjoys adequate clarity and spacing out to the sides. Light effects like trampling snow and ringing bells are present, playing with identifiable clarity but not exactly lifelike reproduction.

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story contains most of its extras on the DVD disc; the Blu-ray is only home to several trailers. A Mill Creek digital copy code is also included with purchase.

Blu-ray disc:

• Trailers: Benji (5:57), For the Love of Benji (2:10), Benji: Off the Leash (2:00), and Benji's Very Own Christmas Story (2:38).

DVD disc:

• Benji at Work (480i, 26:37): This 1980 short looks into the movie making world that revolves around Benji. It's hosted by Adam Rich and features Joe Camp alongside special guest stars Chevy Chase, Omar Sharif, and Jane Seymour.
• The Phenomenon of Benji (480i, 26:37): This 1978 TV special looks at Benji's life from shelter rescue to TV and movie star.
• Benji Movie Memories (480i, 2:16): A highlight reel featuring film clips and behind-the-scenes footage, set to music.
• Trailers: The same trailers as found on the Blu-ray disc.
• Photo Gallery (480i): Ten stills which advance with the chapter skip button on the remote.

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story is a short, sub-30 minute Christmas tale that is now four decades old. It's breezy and basic, exploring some of the complexities of Santa's (Kris Kringle's) Christmas operation through quirky and quickly revolving set pieces. Benji does little more than appear and be cute. There's really little purpose here beyond warming the heart, which it still does after forty years in Christmastime service. Mill Creek's Blu-ray is actually quite nice looking. Audio is fine and a few supplements are spread across the Blu-ray and DVD discs. Recommended.