Ernest Saves Christmas (1988)
A Holiday Comedy Unlike Any Other!
When Santa Claus decides to retire and pass on his magic bag of Christmas surprises to a new Saint Nick, he enlists the aid of a hilarious assortment of characters. A perky teen runaway and hapless taxi driver Ernest P. Worrell must convince a skeptical kiddie-show host to take over the post of Father Christmas.
- Date of release
- 1988-11-11
- TMDB
- 5.4 / 10 (224)
- Runtime
- 1h 31m
- Genres
- Comedy, Family
- Director
- John Cherry
- Collection
- Ernest Collection
Casting
- Jim Varney — Ernest P. Worrell
- Oliver Clark — Joe Carruthers
- Noelle Parker — Harmony
- Gailard Sartain — Chuck
- Billie Bird — Mary Morrissey
- Bill Byrge — Bobby
- Douglas Seale — Santa
- Robert Lesser — Marty
- Key Howard — Immigration Agent
- Jack Swanson — Businessman
- Buddy Douglas — Pyramus
- Patty Maloney — Thisbe
Interesting facts
- Filmed in: Orlando, Orlando International Airport, Nashville, and Disney's Hollywood Studios
Ernest Saves Christmas is a 1988 American Christmas comedy film directed by John Cherry from a screenplay by B. Kline and Ed Turner. It stars Jim Varney, Oliver Clark, Noelle Parker and Douglas Seale. It is the third film to feature the character Ernest P. Worrell and the second film in the Ernest series, after Ernest Goes to Camp (1987). The film chronicles Ernest's attempt to help find a replacement for an aging Santa Claus.
Production
This was the first major feature production filmed almost entirely in Orlando, Florida, at the then-unfinished Disney-MGM Studios. Exterior scenes set at the house of Ernest's friend Vern were filmed at a house located on Residential Street at the park, and which was part of the Studio Backlot Tour until it was demolished in 2002.
The remainder of the scenes were filmed in various locations in the greater Orlando area, including Orlando International Airport, Epcot Center Drive, Lake Eola, Church Street Station and Orange Avenue in Downtown Orlando, a toll booth on the Bee Line Expressway (now known as the "Beachline Expressway"), the original Orlando Science Center which is now the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (used as the "Orlando Children's Museum" in the fi…
The Lake Mary studios of then-Fox affiliate WOFL-TV (channel 35, which is now owned by Fox itself) were used for the Christmas Slay film scenes, as the station already had a promotional relationship with Jim Varney and the Ernest character. Other smaller scenes were filmed in Nashville.
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