Benji's Very Own Christmas Story

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story is a 1978 American Christmas television special featuring Benji and is one of two such Benji specials to have been nominated for an Emmy Award.^[1] Patsy Garrett and Cynthia Smith reprise their respective roles as Mary and Cindy. The special was broadcast on ABC on December 7, 1978.

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story
DVD cover
Written by	Joe Camp Dan Witt
Directed by	Joe Camp
Starring	Benjean Ron Moody Patsy Garrett Cynthia Smith
Music by	Euel Box
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producer	Joe Camp
Cinematography	Don Reddy
Editor	Leon Seith
Running time	25 minutes
Production company	Mulberry Square Productions
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	December 7, 1978 (1978-12-07)

Plot

Mary and Cindy from the Benji films are on a promotional tour in Switzerland and are asked to be grand marshalls of a Christmas parade in Zermatt. Due to a broken leg, Kris Kringle is sending his elves out to deliver presents, and, as this will force them to miss the parade, he wants them to meet Benji first. With help from Mary and Cindy, Kringle realizes the true meaning of Christmas and performs a musical number showing how Saint Nicholas appears all over the world.

Cast

• Benjean as Benji (daughter of original Benji, Higgins)
• Patsy Garrett as Mary
• Cynthia Smith as Cindy Chapman
• Ron Moody as Kris Kringle

Crew

The show was directed by Joe Camp.

Nominations and awards

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1979 for Outstanding Children's Program along with A Special Sesame Street Christmas and Once Upon A Classic with Christmas Eve on Sesame Street being the eventual winner.^[2]

Actress Cynthia Smith was nominated for a Youth in Film Award (now known as the Young Artist Award) in 1979 for her performance. The other nominations in her category were Patsy Kensit for Hanover Street, Brooke Shields for Just You and Me, Kid, Mariel Hemingway for Manhattan and Trini Alvarado for Rich Kids. The winner was Diane Lane for A Little Romance. The film was also nominated in the category of Best TV Series or Special Featuring Youth. Also nominated in the same category were The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, Diff'rent Strokes with the eventual winner being Eight is Enough.^[3]

See also

• List of Christmas films
• Santa Claus in film