Christmas Special Review #2: "Richie Rich's Christmas Wish"

For this second review, I have to admit that I was a bit taken aback that this one even exists. I mean, Richie Rich has never exactly been that popular of a character, has he? Whose idea was it to make a Christmas special revolving around him? Oh well, I digress.

The first thing that struck me about this special (and I know that I'm biased here in my observation, so pardon me) is that it almost feels like a cross-bred hybrid of Arthur and Eloise. The over-indulged, spoiled rich kid thing seems to run in the veins of both those films, so it's no wonder I made such a comparison. Add into the fact that Richie has an old English butler, and it definitely throws even more Arthur into the mix. Anyway...

I was expecting to take major issue with this one in assuming that there would be far too much emphasis placed on money (and its importance) to where the true reason for Christmas gets lost in the mix. This was not the case. But, the main plot in this film is that Richie has his own personal mad scientist who's invented a wish-granting machine. Feeling a bit despondant and depressed that given day, Richie wishes that he'd never been born. The world without Richie is a far different place.... and one thing I took issue with is that evidently, Richie is the only reason his parents stayed together in the regular world, as in this alternate universe, all his parents do is bicker like cats and dogs about every little thing and don't even seem to like each other and are constantly on the verge of a break up, so it seems. Which begs the question - did they only marry because of a surprise baby, perhaps? Who knows.

But unlike in many of these Christmas specials that do the whole It's A Wonderful Life thing, Richie's not dead, nor is he ghost-like. He can interact with people and things just fine. Just...nobody knows who the hell he is. This struck me as a bit weird, since if he'd never been born, then how is he existing? But then again, I suppose if they'd just poofed him entirely out of existence, there'd be no film, so there ya go. There's a lot of odd twists and turns, like if Richie hadn't been born, apparently his butler would've been in a hair metal band called Root Canal... (yeah, I don't know either.)

The film is another one that ends on a Gift of the Magi note. (Seems to be a common theme that runs throughout these, doesn't it?) Overall, it's not a horrible film, but it's a very easily forgettable one. 3 out of 5 stars for this one.