Ernest Saves Christmas
A bumbling taxi driver and a runaway teen team up to find a new Santa Claus before Christmas is ruined, enlisting the help of a skeptical children's show host in this chaotic holiday comedy.
“A Holiday Comedy Unlike Any Other!”
Synopsis
Santa Claus decides to retire and pass on his magic bag of Christmas surprises to a new Saint Nick. To help with the transition, he enlists a cast of eccentric characters. A cheerful teen runaway and the bumbling taxi driver Ernest P. Worrell attempt to persuade a skeptical children's show host to take over the role of Father Christmas.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 56+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Sharyn L RossShot by Peter SteinScored by Mark SnowDesigned by Ian D Thomas
Box Office
1988 · Box office
💰 Box-office hit — grossed 4.7× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$28.2M
Opening weekend: $5.7M — 20% of its US run.
Opening week (7-day): $7.0M — 25% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 1,634 theaters
Also known as
- Chaotische Weihnachtende
- Hay que salvar a Papá Noeles
- Le Père Noël est en prisonfr
- Ernesto salva il Nataleit
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Cast & Crew
56 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Jim Varney
as Ernest P. Worrell
Douglas Seale
as Santa
Oliver Clark
as Joe Carruthers
Noelle Parker
as Harmony
Gailard Sartain
as Chuck
Billie Bird
as Mary Morrissey
Bill Byrge
as Bobby
Robert Lesser
as Marty Brock
Key Howard
as Immigration Agent
Jack Swanson
as Businessman
Buddy Douglas
as Pyramus
Patty Maloney
as Thisbe
Supporting cast
34Beecher Martin
as Agent Skippy
Barry Brazell
as Cab Passenger
George Kaplan
as Mr. Dillis
Bill Welter
as Waiter
Joe Candelora
as Arresting Officer
Danny Dillon
as Booking Officer
Lindsey Alley
as Patsy
Phran Gauci
as Lacy
Bill Cordell
as Carl
Larry Francer
as Brad
Jackie Welch
as Animal Officer
Daniel Butler
as Animal Officer
Antonio Fabrizio
as Mean-Looking Man
Tony Shepherd
as Stunt Shopper
Bob Norris
as Police Chief Spenks
Carmen J Alexander
as Police Officer
Miriam P Saunders
as Receptionist
Cyndi Vicino
as Make-up Artist
Tom Nowicki
as Crew Member
Michael O Smith
as Studio Guard
Jesse Stone
as Elderly Man
Angelique Walker
as Girl
Zachary Bowden
as Boy
Donna Phillip Miller
as Mom
Paul Darby
as Ticket Agent
Cynthia Ergenbright
as Museum Person
Bob Barnes
as Controller #1
Mike Hutchinson
as Monster
Douglas Brush
as Commander
D Christian Gottshall
as Controller #2
Ray Russell
as Stage-Hand
Rosa Nevin
as Businesswoman (uncredited)
Jennifer Pena
as Granddaughter (uncredited)
Jon Freda
as Tourist (uncredited)
Directors
1Writers
2Producers
2Other crew
5Parents Guide
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