Old School Americana & Nostalgia

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‘Jingle All the Way’ Premiered On This Day in 1996

‘Jingle All the Way’ Premiered On This Day in 1996

Jingle All the Way, the beloved Christmas movie, was released on this day in 1996. The film, which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, and Phil Hartman, is officially 27 years old.

Directed by Brian Levant, the film was a modest success at the box office. It brought in over $129 million on a $75 million budget. There was a sequel, a straight-to-video film released in 2014, starring Larry the Cable Guy. It was not as well received as the original.

The film follows Howard Langston, played by Schwarzenegger, a workaholic mattress salesman who neglects his family. His son Jamie, played by Jake Lloyd, is his biggest victim. As Christmas approaches, Howard makes a promise to Jamie that he will get him the most popular toy of the season: a Turbo Man action figure.

Howard waits too long to make his purchase, and since Turbo Man is in high demand, it’s sold out everywhere. This leads to all sorts of hilarious shenanigans as Howard hunts all over town to find the toy for Jamie.

Along the way, he encounters a mailman named Myron, played by Sinbad. Sinbad, along with Phil Hartman, might be the two brightest stars of the show. Although many of the film’s most quotable lines come from Schwarzenegger, including the classic “Put that cookie down… NOW!

‘Turbo Man’ Toy From ‘Jingle All the Way’ Now Available in Real Life

Now that Jingle All the Way is officially old enough to be nostalgic, retailers are casing back in. For the past few years, select stores, including Walmart, have been putting real-life Turbo Man toys on their shelves.

The box art for these toys is similar to what you see in the film. There are Turbo Man Funko Pop toys available now, too.

Don’t worry, these Turbo Man toys aren’t as hard to find as the ones in the film. But they make a great gift idea for someone who grew up in the 90s — or for anyone who loves this film.