Jingle All the Way

Jingle All the Way is a comedic spoof on the lengths parents will go to in order to obtain the latest fad toys for Christmas. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Howard Langston, whose only Christmas task is to pick up the action figure of Turbo-Man his son wants. Like many busy parents, Howard often forgets to attend many activities his son participates in so he makes it his goal to redeem himself in his son's eyes by giving him this action figure. The problem is that the toy is in so much demand it is rarely available in stores. Another complication in Howard's quest to obtain Turbo-Man is in a competing father with the same goal.

The story revolves around the bizarre methods parents often stoop to in order to obtain that high demand toy for their child. They stand in line for hours to get in on the latest shipment delivered to a store, only to be disappointed when they are sold out. Many scenes are action sequences involving chases on foot and in cars. Battles break out in an effort to obtain the elusive action figure. At one point Howard even tries to win a Turbo-Man through a local radio contest. There is also a side story involving Howard's neighbor Ted and his wife. Ted tries to appeal to Howard's wife's vulnerable side in the hopes of drawing her away from Howard.

The climax of the story has the family attending the local Winter Holiday Parade where Howard is pursued by a policeman and ends up donning the Turbo-Man costume and joining in the parade. The act of actually acquiring the action figure for his son is not the real focus of the movie. Inspired by the real life craze to obtain Cabbage Patch Dolls, the writer really wanted to capture the bizarre behavior parents were exhibiting in order to get their hands on one of these dolls.