It’s not obvious
Yes, you read the headline right, Patrick Stewart has a secret cameo in Nightmare Before Christmas, and none of you are likely to have heard it.
Now, don’t worry, this isn’t some absolute blunder on the part of moviegoers everywhere, as it’s not in an obvious place.
First though let’s rewind and take a look at the film itself.
The Henry Selick masterpiece written by Tim Burton is a contemporary classic Christmas film and is universally beloved.
Nightmare Before Christmas is a Chrsitmassy classic (Disney)
All signs point to this, whether it be the 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, the Oscar nomination (before there was even a dedicated award for animated film), or even the selection to be preserved in the United States Film Registry by the Library of Congress as a film of significance.
Fans though will be scratching their head to hear that the legendary Patrick Stewart appears, as the cast does not actually include him.
The main cast includes Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, and even Spider-Man composer Danny Elfman as the singing voice of Jack Skellington, but nowhere in the cast list is Stewart mentioned.
The film and TV legend technically appeared (Rich Fury via Getty Images)
That’s because the iconic opening to the film was originally voiced in a cameo by Stewart and was cut from the film.
Despite this though the version he did still exists.
It isn’t in deleted scenes for the film, it isn’t hidden in some library somewhere in Tim Burton’s basement, in actual fact it was included in a release of the film, its soundtrack album.
The narration in the end was done by Ed Ivory, who also played Santa Claus in the film.
However, at one time producers wanted Stewart to do it. He picked up the role after Vincent Price, who was originally supposed to play Santa Claus and voice the opening, dropped out.
Price did so due to the death of his wife.
Henry Selick has even stated, per Screenrant, that he met with the late great James Earl Jones to take on the role, but it didn’t work out.
Stewart’s version of the opening monologue is even longer, but fans are split as to which version they’d prefer.
One comment on YouTube read: “As much as I love Patrick Stewart, I love the original better simply because it’s shorter and builds up better to the song ,‘This Is Halloween’, that comes later.
“Patrick’s works better as soundtrack poem on its own than a film soundtrack. either this is a great piece of narration.”
Another said: “Patrick Stewart’s diction and vocal control is amazing – the original narration is better, sure, but it’s still great to hear a master at work.”
Some preferred Stewart’s version however, with one fan commenting: “As someone who only saw this movie once or twice in his childhood, I infinitely like this narration better than the one used in the actual movie.
“Though I certainly understand why people who grew up with the movie version would like it better.”
Either way, we’ll never know how much would’ve changed if Stewart’s version had been used, but the film would be sure to still be a Christmas classic if you ask me.Featured Image Credit: Disney / Rich Fury via Getty Images
Topics: Christmas, Film, TV and Film
Michael Slavin
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Updated 17:55 22 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 17:33 22 Dec 2024 GMT
The first Christmas film ever made that’s 126 years old is free to watch on YouTube
Here’s an alternative to re-watching Home Alone over and over
An 126-year-old feature which is believed to be the world’s oldest Christmas film is currently available to watch for free online.
Is it really the festive season unless you’ve spent countless hours lounging in-front of the TV watching back-to-back Christmas films to wait out the food coma?
We’ve all been there and there’s no doubt that you’re more than familiar with the inevitable row which occurs when deciding on which festive movie to watch.
Do you try your luck with a newer release of play it safe and stick to the classics such as Home Alone, Love Actually or How the Grinch Stole Christmas?
Have you ever wondered what the oldest known Christmas film is? (Getty Stock Images)
Or maybe you’re a fan of vintage Christmas cinema and prefer to relax by watching It’s A Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street.
But have you ever thought about watching the oldest Christmas film ever?
What is the oldest Christmas film?
Most of us would be forgiven for thinking that features released in the 1940s and 50s were as old as it gets when it comes to festive movies, which means you’ll be surprised to learn the tradition can be traced all the way back to the Victorian Era.
Just a decade after the first moving footage was ever recorded, British filmmaker George Albert Smith was able to create a clip which is believed to be the oldest film of its kind, titled Santa Claus in 1898.
Take a look at the film below, which is currently available to watch on YouTube:Play
Now for modern audiences who are used to watching two-and-a-half hour mega blockbusters filled with CGI, Santa Claus appears to be extremely basic.
Clocking in at just one minute and 17 seconds, the film sees two children being put to bed by their nanny on Christmas Eve before St. Nicholas appears and makes his way down the chimney.
Once inside the children’s room, Santa places various gifts in their stockings before leaving the children to wake up and discover their presents the following morning.
The clip is silent and in black-and-white – again, it’s 1898, what are you expecting – and is referred to by the British Film Institute’s Michael Brooke as ‘one of the most visually and conceptually sophisticated British films made up to then’.
Santa Claus also displays features which were considered extremely sophisticated for their time, such as a parallel shot of the children sleeping while Santa climbs down the chimney, something which hadn’t yet been seen before in cinema.
An example of filming techniques which were considered pioneering at the time (BFI National Archive/YouTube)
Now Santa Claus may not compare to the Christmas films we’re all familiar with, but it’s certainly fascinating to see a window into how generations long gone enjoyed the same traditions we still love today.Featured Image Credit: (BFI National Archive/YouTube)
Topics: Christmas, Film, YouTube, History
Brenna Cooper
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Published 19:35 11 Dec 2024 GMT
How much you should spend on your partner at Christmas as UK average is revealed
Christmas is coming, so how much should you spend on your partner?
Christmas Day is only two weeks away, which means you’d better get cracking if you haven’t even thought of what to get that special someone in your life for a gift.
You need to bear in mind the time it’ll take you to think of something, as well as how long it might be until it’s delivered as you don’t want to get to the big day and have to say ‘sorry darling, it won’t be here until the 27th’.
But how much should you be spending on that special person in your life?
Spend too much and you might embarrass them with your level of financial gifting, or show them up when they didn’t get you nearly as much as you bought for them.
“These are from us. I say us, I bought all of them except the one in stripey wrapping paper” (Getty Stock Photo)
Spend too little and I’m sure you can guess what sort of backlash you might face for that, you’ll have to do better at Christmas than getting your partner a few bits and bobs.
To give you an idea of the kind of spend you might want to be aiming for, a study from website CouponBirds found that the average Brit spends £144.37 on gifts for their partner.
That’s more than the average amount of £128.49 someone would spend on a close family member.
According to the survey men outspent women by about £50 on average and the most generous gifting cohort were the 35 to 44-year-olds, as their average spend on their partner rose to £165.71.
However, while you now know how much you maybe need to be spending on your partner it’s worth remembering that three quarters of Brits think ‘it’s the thought that counts’ when it comes to gift giving.
Gifts that have some kind of meaning behind them are looked upon far better than ones which cost a veritable fortune.
“Oh babe, I feel like you’ve spent just the right amount of money on me!” (Getty Stock Photo)
As for what to get someone, you might be interested in the ‘want, need, share, read’ method suggested by a gift giving expert at Personalised Bee.
Basically, if you know your partner wants something then buying them a present ought to be pretty easy as you just get them that, as long as you remember to listen to them telling you what they want.
If you don’t know what they want, and perhaps they don’t know what they want, then try getting them something they need, think about things they’ve had to do without, or if there’s something they use regularly that could do with a bit of a refresh.
Should you still be stumped for gift ideas this Christmas then the next option ‘share’ might help, as you could get them something they can share over the festive season.
Meanwhile, if all else fails just get them a book from an author they like or sign them up to a magazine they’re interested in. Best hop to it.Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Christmas, Sex and Relationships, Money, UK News
Joe Harker
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Published 10:43 24 Dec 2024 GMT
What happened to the Outnumbered children after the show as Christmas special airs
The Brockman family are back after eight years off the air
The Brockmans will be returning to our screens very soon with an Outnumbered special this Christmas Day. But as fans will know all too well, we haven’t seen the chaotic family for eight years – and a lot has changed.
Show creators Guy Jenkin and Andy Hamilton have reunited to provide us with a new-look into the lives of Pete (Hugh Dennis) and Sue Brockman (Claire Skinner) in West London.
Their kids – Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey), Ben (Daniel Roche), and Karen (Ramona Marquez) – are all grown up now and obviously look very different.
Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey)
Tyger Drew-Honey dropped a spoiler ahead of the special (BBC/Instagram/@tygerdrewhoney)
The eldest Brockman child was played by Tyger Drew-Honey, who is now 28-years-old. And he’s done a fair amount since the show, having appeared in the likes of Midsomer Murders and Citizen Khan, to various reality shows like Celebs Go Dating and Celebrity Masterchef.
He dropped a big spoiler ahead of the reunion, stating that there will be a new addition to the family.
“Jake absolutely adores his child and is very much in love with the mother of his child but he has been having struggles with fatherhood as any parents of small children can relate,” he told the BBC.
“Especially the lack of sleep and his daughter’s tendency to impersonate animals. If I had to compare her personality to either Karen or Ben when they were younger, I’d say she’s got more of a Ben personality.
“She’s got some of the genes that Ben and I got from Dad.”
Ben (Daniel Roche)
Daniel Roche played middle child Ben (BBC)
Middle child Ben was played by Daniel Roche, who is focused more on his semi-pro rugby career these days.
The 25-year-old admitted to the Radio Times that it’s ‘hard to juggle the two’.
On what it was like growing up on screen, he told the BBC: “For me and Ramona we were young and didn’t really have anything to compare it to.
“Filming this special really made me appreciate the opportunity that Outnumbered gave us and how inextricably connected it is with our lives and I’m very grateful.”
Karen (Ramona Marquez)
Ramona Marquez was the youngest of the three Brockman children (BBC/Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Ramona Marquez was just six-years-old when she starred in Outnumbered and her acting career has gone from strength-to-strength.
The 23-year-old – who has featured in The King’s Speech and in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – added: “I always love when people say I used to watch it with my mum or my mum loves that show. That’s always my favourite thing to hear and they would then ask for a selfie to show their mum and I always say yes.
“I love to hear that, it’s always heartwarming, fans sharing those moments with their families.”
Outnumbered is set to air on BBC One at 9:40pm on 26 December, 2024.Featured Image Credit: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for the NTA’s Dave M. Benett/Getty Images
Anish Vij
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Published 11:50 18 Dec 2024 GMT
Martin Lewis has revealed the secret way to win every game of Monopoly this Christmas
Your go-to-guide to family dominance
According to Martin Lewis, there are actual strategies to winning at Monopoly this Christmas – and he’s revealed them on his brand-new show.
Monopoly at Christmas feels like an aggressively British pastime, because what better tradition is there to have over the festive period than one that will make you and your entire family hate each other with a white-hot fury?
Personally, my strategy for winning had always simply been to be so annoying in how I played that others gave up and I declared myself the winner by default.
That is not, however, Martin Lewis’ preferred strategy.
Don’t worry, Martin Lewis hasn’t been trapped Tron style in a game of Monopoly (ITV)
Unsurprisingly, the money boffin instead goes about Monopoly with a methodical approach that would have Sean Dyche crying out ‘woke nonsense’.
Jokes aside, the strategy he recommends to win every time is in actual fact based on sound financial principles when you break down the objective of the game: end up with the most money while taking everyone else’s.
Appearing on his newest ITV documentary, Martin Lewis: How to Win at Board Games, he has a whole section dedicated to how to win at Monopoly.
Within this, he introduces the financial principles of ‘return on investment’ to the game.
Lewis at first states the obvious. When you first start out, the most expensive properties are the ones that will make you the most money.
Don’t worry, that’s not the secret strategy.
He plays and wins a game of Monopoly in the show (ITV)
He also states, however, that early on, you should be trying to buy as many properties as possible in a relatively gung-ho approach.
He added though that, by thinking about properties return on investment, i.e. how much they get you vs how much they’re worth, that’s how you win.
Indeed, rather than the dark blue and green properties from the end of the board, the second-cheapest are actually the ones that will fuel you to victory.
Lewis claims that, based on ROI and factoring in hotels and houses being added, the light blue properties of Pentonville Road, Euston Road, and The Angel Islington are the three best properties for ROI.
This is followed by the brown Whitechapel Road, the dark blue of Mayfair, and the three orange properties.
Another strategy that he believes is vital is to pick up properties of various different colours.
This is due to the fact that, in Monopoly, you can only start building houses and hotels in sets.
The best monopoly properties based on ROI (ITV)
By keeping one of various sets, you have leverage over other players and prevent them from building.
The financial journalist also went on to state that, when buying houses, three is the ‘sweetspot’.
He said: “When you buy one house, the return on investment is 26 per cent.
“With two houses, it’s 56 per cent.
“With three, it’s 110 per cent – that’s a massive jump between two and three.”
There you go, if you want to become the ultimate capitalist and see the light leave your family’s eyes after they realise that six hours of their life spent playing monopoly with you was a waste, here’s your go-to guide to domination.