MovieChat Forums > Prancer (1989) Discussion > Good until the end.... SPOILERS

Good until the end.... SPOILERS

posted 18 years ago by feisty_cadaver
16 replies | jump to latest

I liked this movie until the end. The shot of Prancer rejoining Santa Claus and the rest of the reindeer was just too corny. I felt they should have left the ending more ambiguous, maybe ended it with the light shining on Jessica's face, a jingle bell, and a HO HO HO. But that's just me. As it is, the ending probably helps parents of little kids by answering the question, "Did Prancer make it back to Santa, Mommy?"

"May all of your days take place within your lifetime." - C.S. Harris

[–] Geoffsj 18 years ago

My proposal for the ending:

Jessica and her father release Prancer and he bolts into the woods where she loses sight of him. They can still hear his bells, though.

They follow his tracks into a huge open field, and as they continue to follow the tracks, the distance between the hoofprints becomes longer and longer until finally, they end completely . . . in the middle of an open field, with untouched snow in every direction.

Prancer's bells fade into the distance. John Riggs is dumbstruck, baffled by what he sees. But Jessica smiles, because she knows where Prancer is.

[–] dodo_bird_in_a_box 18 years ago

wow........ not gonna lie that ending would have been 10x better

[–] kari-xo 17 years ago

I liked the ending just the way it is.

[–] blitzkrieg3828 17 years ago

I liked how they showed Santa and his reindeer, too!

[–] bradman-neelabh 17 years ago

I loved the entire movie. One of those movies that should be remembered for a long long time.

[–] yeoffthecat 13 years ago

It was primarily made for kids.

I live in a glass house, ergo, I throw no stones.

[–] gloomyrival 16 years ago

Hi there. My own view of the ending of Prancer is that if you notice the reindeer and Santa are transparent against the full moon. In my own interpretation, this means that it's not really happening visually, but it's a metaphor for Jessie Riggs and her belief in Christmas being restored at the end of the movie. I don't take it for literal, but more as an artistic expression of some Christmas magic being restored to a little girl. In that sense, I think the ending is just wonderful as it is. Either way, Prancer is just a heartwarming Xmas movie. Merry Christmas!

[–] Superman_Is_Not_Depressed 15 years ago

I don't think seeing Santa in the end is a metaphor. The reindeer were transperent was because Santa can't be all out in full view of the town. What if someone tries to shoot him or something. He has to hide himself to protect himself, however he made himself just transparent enough to let Jessica see him as a way of saying thank you for taking care of Prancer. I think he was really Prancer and that was really Santa in the end because if you remember, the tracks ended at the edge of the cliff...now unless Prancer jumped to his death, which would make no sense since he wasnt rabid, the only logical explanation would be to conclude that he indeed flew. And after that scene you see an arial view of the town that ended in Jessicas bedroom, almost as if Prancer was flying to see her for one last time. And you never see the dads face once they show Santa, so that kinda leaves you wondering what he saw. I would have liked to seen his face to see if he saw what Jessica saw. I mean damn so many other Christmas movies have the real Santa in them so why is it so preposterous that this one have a real Santa too??? So to bring my ramblings to an end, I believe that it was indeed Santa in the end, and not just her silly little imagination. And he was indeed the one and only Prancer.

[–] rosiekinns 13 years ago

I figured that her dad orchestrated the whole thing. Maybe he asked someone to "make" those hoof prints, and lure Prancer in the opposite direction, just to give the appearance that he disappeared. The way he says, "Maybe he flew," sounded too nonchalant to me.

LOL I don't know. The reason why I have trouble believing that Santa is meant to exist in this movie is because it is so heavily rooted in reality. Most of those other Santa movies are very firmly committed to the fantasy. Prancer was more about family, hope, and faith. Jessie needed something to make her feel like "everything would be okay." So I think Santa at the end was a product of her imagination.

But...on the other hand! She did tell Carol that her mother would "never lie" about the existence of Santa, and Prancer did appear just after his wooden counterpart fell down. We don't see her dad's face after Santa's appearance, so we can't know what he did or didn't see. The answers are definitely kept ambiguous on purpose. It's actually very clever, because it keeps children happy, and gives adults some opportunities for logical explanations.

I personally believe that the ending is conveying this message: If you believe in Santa, he's real. If you don't believe, then he's not real. It's all about faith. Either you're a Virginia, or you're not.

[–] Benihanahasnofunflare 12 years ago

RIGHT. If 'ya don't get the ending you either are a clueless bonzo or just a dummy bonzo.

[–] maybe730 15 years ago

Yeah agreed. I don't know why they were so careful to be ambiguous the whole movie, to the extent that when the cage roof is open Prancer doesn't fly out, but then tack on a santa flying silhouette at the end.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] gloomyrival 15 years ago

Tell me, when did Americans become such a race of mean, heartless, worthless SOB's? I read so many posts about Christmas sucks, someone oughta to kill this, ban this, etc. We are all given only so many years, so many Christmases, and to hear all that vile crap spew out of your post, well, after you've shot Prancer, you may as well turn that gun on yourself and give it a good squeeze. Christmas and America are as dead as your soul.

[–] ShadowsGathered 15 years ago

Hehehehe... very well said, gloomyrival. Merry Christmas!

...Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he doesn't become a monster...

[–] Superman_Is_Not_Depressed 15 years ago

Im watching Prancer as we speak for the hundreth time this year and it never gets old. I absolutely hate dec 26th...and I already cant wait till next Christmas season

[–] eeyore6771 15 years ago

It's not about preserving the magic of Christmas for Jessica. Her beliefs are never in doubt. It's about bringing the magic of a child's love back to the discouraged father, who doubts the future. He rediscovers hope through the eyes of his daughter, all set against the story of Christmas.

This isn't a movie I watch every year, but I always enjoy it.