I'm sure everyone will come up with a different opinion on t
sunshinedrop | Williamsburg, OH USA | 11/29/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is quite the story, if you are not familiar with it. A quick summary of the plot: A little 4 year old boy suddenly has to leave earth and become an angel. He doesn't like heaven because he misses earth and all the other angels are annoyed with him because he acts like a little boy. He then goes to the "understanding angel" who asks him what would make him happy in heaven and he says his box of special things that was under his bed on earth. He is happy and loves his box and things get better. Then the birth of Jesus is announced and all the angels have to come up with a gift to give. Everyone else is making fancy gifts, but because he is little, he can't think of anything to give. He decides to give his box of special things to the baby Jesus. Everyone makes fun of him because it just looks like a tattered wood box. He gets embarrassed, but God picks his gift and says it is the most special of all and then everyone is nice to the littlest angel because he has a good heart.
It is not theologically correct, but it has a lot of good messages in it. As far as this version of the film, it is the typical f.h.e. cheap animation, but it isn't too badly done. My toddlers like it, because it is a cute story and honestly, I think my son likes that the littlest angel flies best.
The problem is that I watch this movie with my adult ability to understand that this is a little boy who has died and he misses his dog and skipping rocks with his sister and instead of heaven being this wonderful place, he is sad and wishes he could come back. It is a guaranteed cry-fest for mommy. My kids don't understand why every time they watch this or mommy reads them the book, she is crying at the end. I can't help but think that the little boy could be my little boy and how sad that would be.
It was really hard to give this a star rating because I respect the fact that a children's story can drum up such emotion in me and my kids enjoy it, but it tears my heart out every time I see it, so I hate and love this story at the same time. It's your call."