BACKGROUND
In 2011, Disney Channel was still creating new original movies for its viewers, still riding high from the highly successful High School Musical trilogy. It wouldn’t be for much longer that DCOMs continued to engage with audiences, with most of the movies coming after 2011 failing to hit that same mark, with few exceptions.
But that doesn’t affect anything here. It’s 2011, and Disney Channel released six DCOMs that year, with half of them being movies based around their most popular original programming at the time. Two of these were The Suite Life Movie and Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension. The one I’m talking about right now though is Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! the first and only feature-length movie to feature the wacky Duncan family from the popular Disney sitcom.
To be perfectly honest, Good Luck Charlie (2010-14) was not a programme that I particularly enjoyed. I watched most of the first season, but it came out towards the end of my teenage years, shortly before I went off to university when I would be watching Disney Channel much less frequently than I used to.
I’m not part of a big family. I have one sister and that’s it, so watching a huge, crazy family on Disney Channel did not feel relatable to me. I’m also fairly close in age to my sister, so we didn’t even have the age gap that most of the kids in Good Luck Charlie had with their baby sister, Charlie. It wasn’t something that I felt connected to, although I’m sure other kids did and no doubt liked the show, feeling that instead of representing the typical nuclear family of a mother, a father, and two children, Good Luck Charlie decided to showcase a more modern, and, arguably, more normal, family than those of the past.
Because my interest in the series had waned quite early on, I had not seen Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! before this week, though I had at least heard of it, unlike some other DCOMs, both older and newer. It’s a movie that is featured within the Disney+ Christmas Collection so I believe that’s how I first came to know about it.
Sadly, I didn’t like Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! In the show, I had always preferred to see the antics of PJ and Gabe, the two brothers, and was less interested in what Teddy, the sister, was doing. However, here, the plot of the movie mostly followed Teddy and the mother, Amy, so that is one reason it didn’t work for me. The other is that it has a very similar storyline to Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), i.e., family members racing to get across the country to get where they need to be, in this case at Christmas and not Thanksgiving, but that minor distinction does not make the story original.
But hey, if you like Good Luck Charlie, don’t let me ruin your childhood. It is definitely a DCOM that fans of the show will like. It’s not their fault I wasn’t a fan already.
PLOT
Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! centres around the antics of the Duncan family, as per the series. The Duncans consist of parents Amy and Bob; eldest son PJ; eldest daughter Teddy; youngest son Gabe; and youngest daughter Charlie. The movie starts with the Duncans at home in Denver. Although most of the family is excited to spend Christmas in Palm Springs with Amy’s parents, where they can have a Christmas in warm weather, Amy is stressing about it all. She is concerned about her parents not child-proofing their condo properly, and is worried about their usual family traditions being forgotten. Having the youngest Duncan child put the star on top of the Christmas tree seems to be the one that is bothering Amy the most, but nobody else thinks it’s that important, believing they can do that in Palm Springs still anyway. Just before leaving, Teddy finds that her best friend Ivy wants her to spend their upcoming Spring Break in Florida. Amy tells Teddy she won’t be going, which annoys Teddy, with Bob later saying Teddy can go to Florida if she buys her own plane ticket there.
But there’s no time to discuss that because they’ve got to get to the airport to catch their flight, 48 hours before Christmas morning. The trouble is Bob is struggling with a 3-in-1 child seat for Charlie, which won’t fully collapse properly, and both Gabe and PJ have been caught by security, attempting to smuggle a games console through the scanners. Well, it was Gabe’s idea; PJ was an unwilling participant. Because they had to be checked thoroughly by security after that, the Duncans are now late to board their plane so rush through the airport. Don’t worry, this isn’t a Home Alone 2 situation; they all get on the correct flight. Soon after boarding though, an announcement comes across saying that the flight is overbooked by one seat, asking if a passenger will kindly fly on a later flight, with a free round-trip ticket being given to that person for a destination of their choice. Teddy excitedly gets up from her seat, planning to use her free ticket for Spring Break in Florida. But Amy can’t leave Teddy alone in the airport, so she goes too, leaving PJ, Gabe, Charlie, and Bob flying to Palm Springs without them.
Teddy and Amy learn that the next available flight to Palm Springs isn’t until 26th December, after Christmas, as all the other ones are fully booked. Hmm, they probably should’ve checked that before getting off the plane, don’t you think? Amy tries to convince the desk agent to get them on an earlier flight – but they are then both kicked out of the airport. Turns out Amy gets quite aggressive when she doesn’t get her way! This leaves the two of them getting an 18-hour bus to Palm Springs instead.
In Palm Springs, the rest of the Duncans arrive with no trouble. They get to Amy’s parents’ complex and see it has a pool, and the weather is nice and warm – yet their condo has not been child-proofed, with precious ornaments easily accessible to toddler Charlie. Bob says to Amy’s mother, Petunia, that Charlie is likely to break these, to which Petunia tells Bob if he were a better parent, she wouldn’t do that. Casual parent shaming there.
On the bus, Teddy and Amy are also not having a great time as Amy is travel sick. At their first stop, they are both barred from boarding the bus again as the driver won’t continue with Amy in that state. Once again, Amy gets into a confrontation and the police are called. The police officer tells the two that there isn’t a train here but they might be able to get a car – if they can walk 8 miles in the snow to the nearest car dealer! They don’t have much choice, so, grabbing their luggage, they set off on foot. By the time they get to the dealer, called Lenny’s, but it’s not run by Lenny; it’s run by a guy called Daryl, who bought out Lenny but kept his same jumpsuit with the name Lenny stitched on to it – this is a recurring joke; just go with it – there is only 38 hours to Christmas morning, and the only car available to them is an old busted up Yugo – whatever that is. They buy it for $50 and start driving. Teddy has decided she’ll drive to prove she is a responsible adult, capable of going to Florida without her parents. The car drives slowly uphill, before descending quickly downhill, with its breaks not working correcting. To make it worse, it starts snowing and the windscreen wipers don’t work properly. They hope when the road flattens out, they can coast to a stop…
Back in Palm Springs, Bob is having a hard time keeping Charlie away from anything fragile; Gabe has managed to get his grandpa, Hank, addicted to his favourite video game, Galaxy of Death, to the point that he won’t let Gabe play it with him; and PJ has got terrible sunburn from using tanning oil instead of sunscreen. This leads to Petunia once more accusing Bob of bad parenting, and then Charlie knocks over the Christmas tree, causing Bob to be locked in a bedroom as some sort of weird and twisted “timeout”.
Back with Teddy and Amy on Christmas Eve morning, they are still alive and have just woken up from a night sleeping in the car. Teddy attempts to return her driver’s seat back to its upright position after reclining it to sleep, but as she tries to do this, various parts fall off the car, including the doors, completely destroying it. A car repairman comes out, who Teddy and Amy believe is Walter, as per the name stitched on his jumpsuit, but no, this is Lenny, the one who used to own the car dealer – told you it was a recurring joke… At this point, Teddy and Amy are at a loss what to do next, standing outside a diner in Utah. They overhear a couple saying they are on their way to Las Vegas, which is on the way to Palm Springs for them. They go in and buy breakfast for the couple, Stan and Sue, who are heading to a convention. Stan and Sue kindly allow Teddy and Amy to ride with them.
In Palm Springs on Christmas Eve, Gabe wakes up to find his grandpa has been up all night on the game console and he won’t listen to Gabe and stop playing, getting annoyed at the suggestion he’s addicted to it. Gabe decides to hide from his grandpa in the same room that Bob has been locked in. PJ joins them soon after, as he has been banned from sitting on the furniture in the living room due to the amount of lotion he’s put on to soothe his sunburn. So now all three Duncan boys are having a terrible Christmas – yay!
In the car to Vegas, Teddy and Amy learn that Sue and Stan are believers in alien abductions and seeing that Amy is feeling unwell again, they tell Amy that she has probably been abducting by aliens as she has all the symptoms of it. Either that, or Amy’s pregnant. Teddy turns to her mother and the secret is revealed – Amy is pregnant, having kept it a secret to surprise the whole family on Christmas Day. As the two are dropped off in Vegas, with 15 hours to go until Christmas morning, Teddy complains she wasn’t told about this new baby and as the two argue, their luggage is stolen, as they were too preoccupied with their fight to pay attention to their bags. Amy calls Bob to say they are stuck in Vegas with no bags, and he and the boys – who managed to get a break from their timeout and were in the pool – decide to drive to Vegas to get them.
In Vegas, Teddy still doesn’t want to talk to her mother, and starts busking on the street, singing Christmas songs to the public, to earn money to get some food. Amy then joins in when she sees Teddy isn’t getting anywhere, and their double act gets more attention. With enough money for food, Teddy and Amy go to an all-you-can-eat buffet, where they see their stolen luggage – and the young girl who stole it. They go to confront her but the girl breaks down in tears, saying she had no money, she’s all alone in Vegas after a friend ditched her, and she doesn’t think her mother will let her come home. Amy offers to call the girl’s mother and get this all sorted out. She does, and the mother tells her she can most definitely come home for Christmas. The only trouble is, she has no money to get her home. Teddy then has an idea; she gives the girl her free plane ticket, so she can get home for Christmas. Let’s hope the plane had free seats on Christmas Eve or that was a waste!
Meanwhile, with 8 hours to go until Christmas morning, the boys go down a quiet road that PJ thinks is a shortcut; however, they are pulled over by men with guns and taken captive in a bunker. The men holding them hostage babble something about wanting a stone. Bob and PJ have no idea what they’re talking about, but luckily, Gabe does. It turns out the creator of Galaxy of Death holds a giant in-person paintball tournament on Christmas Eve each year in the desert. They just need to escape the bunker and find their car, and then they can continue their journey. As they free themselves from being tied to chairs, Gabe says he has a plan to get them over to their car. However, Gabe actually uses his plan to win the game himself. He retrieves the stone and wins the game, pretending to be a member of the yellow team, but these three intruders are rumbled, and the game creator comes over to figure out who has messed with his game. Luckily, as the creator is on the yellow team, he doesn’t mind as Gabe won it for him! He offers them a favour – a helicopter ride.
Teddy and Amy manage to rent a tandem bicycle in Vegas to continue their journey – from a guy called Walter who sold his car repair company to Lenny, who sold his dealer to Daryl, completing this strange, ongoing joke. They ride through the night and stop at a local diner. Soon after, a helicopter arrives by the diner – it’s PJ, Bob, and Gabe; the five are finally reunited, and on Christmas morning, no less. Then, two cars arrive – it’s Petunia and Hank, with little Charlie in tow. They really are altogether for Christmas! It is then revealed that the 3-in-1 child seat has never been able to collapse because their tree star was stuck in it. Moulding it back into shape, they can complete Amy’s favourite Christmas tradition, with Charlie being lifted up to put this star on top of the diner’s Christmas tree. Amy then announces her pregnancy to the whole family, which is a surprise for everyone.
After Christmas, the Duncans are back on a plane heading home. The same announcement about the flight being overbooked is heard once again, and Teddy volunteers herself to get another free ticket. Amy tells Bob it’s his turn to go after her. Bob begrudgingly packs up his stuff to follow Teddy, saying they should be home by New Year’s Day. Well, at least there’s less of a time constraint this time!
CHARACTERS & CAST
Teddy Duncan is the most responsible of the Duncan children. She is upbeat and positive, intelligent, and supportive of her large family. For those unfamiliar with the show, in every episode, big sister Teddy records video diaries for Charlie to watch later on, detailing their family life and life lessons to remember in the future. This continues within Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! Even as Teddy and Amy struggle to figure out what to do next, Teddy still manages to find time to record a message for Charlie. In this movie, Teddy wants her parents to allow her to go to Florida without parental supervision, so she goes out of her way to prove she is a responsible adult – you know, after the whole running off the plane without a plan part, because that doesn’t sound very responsible to me! Teddy actually has to look after her mother quite a lot on their journey, as Amy is both not feeling well and lashing out with her mood swings quite frequently. Luckily, Teddy has the patience of a saint and only gets upset with her mother when they get to Vegas – and it’s quickly resolved anyway.
Bridgit Mendler portrays Teddy. She first appeared on Disney Channel as Juliet van Heusen on Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-12), prior to her starring role in Good Luck Charlie (2010-14). She also starred as Olivia White in the DCOM Lemonade Mouth (2011). After a recurring role in the series Nashville (2012-18), as Ashley Willerman, and main roles in the series Undateable (2014-16) as Candace, and Merry Happy Whatever (2019) as Emmy Quinn, Mendler has since moved away from acting and pursued other business interests.
Amy has always been a busy mother, balancing her four children as well as her work, seemingly loving the spotlight, as we see when her and Teddy are busking, wanting to get more attention than her daughter, which isn’t exactly a healthy attitude to have but at least it got them some money! I don’t remember Amy being the way she is in Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! in the main series, but to be fair, I only watched Season 1. I was surprised to find Amy was acting like a moody teenager through much of this movie, but I guess we’re supposed to blame her hormones for that. It was like Teddy was the parent and Amy was the child in much of this film, which I didn’t like. Amy can be funny at times, especially when she’s being sarcastic, but I didn’t like the character in this movie at all. She was unhinged.
Amy was played by Leigh-Allyn Baker. Prior to Good Luck Charlie, Baker appeared in the recurring roles of Hannah Webster in Charmed (1998-2006) and Ellen in Will & Grace (1998-2020). Baker went on to star as Liz Morgan in the DCOM Bad Hair Day (2015) and voiced characters in Disney animated series like The 7D (2014-16) and Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures (2017-21).
For the boys, we have PJ and Gabe. PJ is struggling in this movie with severe sunburn, whilst Gabe finds his plan to play on his games console all Christmas has backfired because Grandpa Hank becomes obsessed with it. They both are seemingly have a difficult Christmas, and they both don’t get nearly enough screentime for me. I always found their antics funnier than Teddy’s life, who is the main focus of the series. The only part in the movie where they really get to shine is during the paintball tournament, where they work together with their dad to help Gabe win the game. This whole tournament seemed to purely have been added to give the boys more of a storyline, but it was so random and out-of-the-blue that I struggled to really understand why it was there, which was a shame.
Bradley Steven Perry was cast as Gabe, who had quite a long history with Disney. After getting his starring role on Good Luck Charlie, Perry went on to be cast as Roger Elliston in Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011), and then went on to have lead roles in two further Disney Channel series. These were Mighty Med (2013-15) and Lab Rats: Elite Force (2016) where he played Kaz. Perry also voiced the character of Zevon, son of Yzma, in Season 2 of Descendants: Wicked World (2015-17). Outside of Disney, he was cast in the recurring role of Alec Raday in Schooled (2019-20) and now has a successful YouTube Channel featuring cooking videos, which some of his previous Good Luck Charlie cast members have appeared on, and a podcast called The Sit and Chat Podcast which Perry hosts alongside fellow former Disney Channel star, Jake Short.
Jason Dolley was cast as PJ Duncan, and he too had a long career with Disney Channel, beginning with the DCOM Read It and Weep (2006), where he played Connor. Dolley went on to star as Newt in the series Cory in the House (2007-08), and then was cast in two further DCOMs: as Virgil in Minutemen (2008), and Pete in Hatching Pete (2009). Dolley later appeared as Kevin in the ABC series American Housewife (2016-21). Recently, he wrote and starred in the short film The Unicorn That Never Lies (2024).
Rounding out the Duncan family, there is Bob and Charlie. Bob has to look after Charlie at Amy’s parents’ house as Amy is not there to be with her, and he finds it a struggle having to watch a toddler on the time, making sure she doesn’t break anything or hurt herself, because for some reason, Amy’s parents couldn’t be bothered to make their condo safe for their youngest grandchild! Bob is the more stable of the two parents, so he is holding the family together in Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! Although Gabe technically wins the helicopter ride that reunites the family, you can bet it was Bob who kept the focus on finding Amy and Teddy. Gabe would have probably chosen to have a tour of the Vegas sights!
Eric Allan Kramer was cast as Bob Duncan. One of Kramer’s earliest roles was as Little John in the parody film Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), alongside Cary Elwes as the title character. He then went on to be cast as Dave Rogers in the series The Hughleys (1998-2002). Prior to his casting on Good Luck Charlie, Kramer had had guest roles in other Disney Channel series, such as Phil of the Future (2004-06) and Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-12). Kramer went on to be cast as Scott Miller in the series Lodge 49 (2018-19). Charlie was played by Mia Talerico.
So, that’s the main Duncan family, but we also meet Amy’s parents, Petunia and Hank, here. Petunia is quite disapproving of Bob and his parenting skills, constantly belittling him, even going so far as to put him in “timeout”. She clearly adores her grandchildren, especially Charlie, and wants to do all the typical family activities, like baking cookies, with her, but I do think Petunia was quite harsh in her dealings with Bob. He’s a grown man who’s been with your daughter for 20 years; get over it! Hank initially seems to be the calm, friendly grandpa, who has a mild obsession with mints, offering them to everyone whenever he can. Thanks to Gabe introducing him to the wide world of gaming, outside of Hank’s typical golf games, he then becomes obsessed with it, to the point he gets a tad aggressive at being told he should probably take a break…Perseverance pays off as he completes the game though!
Petunia was played by Debra Monk. On screen, Monk appeared as Denise Parsons in the legal series Damages (2007-12) and as Betty Cragdale in Mozart in the Jungle (2014-18). More recently, Monk played the recurring role of Karen Brantley in New Amsterdam (2018-23) and was cast as Miss. Armstrong in The Gilded Age (2022-present). On Broadway, Monk also played Mama Morton in a 2000s revival of the musical Chicago and Big Mama in the 2013 revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Michael Kagan was cast as Hank. For Disney Channel, he had previously appeared in the recurring role of talk show host Colin Lassiter on Hannah Montana (2006-11).
MUSIC
Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! only has one original song credited to it. This is the opening credits song “I’m Gonna Run to You”, written by Jamie Houston and performed by Bridgit Mendler. This song was released as a single in November 2011 prior to the premiere of Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas!
Later on in the movie, there are some traditional Christmas songs performed by Bridgit Mendler as Teddy and Leigh-Allyn Baker as Amy. This is the busking scene on the Las Vegas Strip that Teddy starts doing to raise some money, before Amy comes in to make it more of a spectacle with in-song fighting, which draws the crowd in. Firstly, Teddy sings “Deck the Halls” alone, before moving on to “Jingle Bells”. Amy cuts in partway through that song, and then they both perform “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” together.
There is also a mysterious uncredited song that has led to some discussion online, as, although it is only briefly heard in the scene just after Amy and Teddy have had their fight in Vegas, many have been looking for a full version of this song because they loved it so much from the movie. It is believed the song is called “Christmas with You” and there is speculation that it is an original song written specifically for Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! The singer has never been identified and a full version has never been found. It is said to have been written by Andy Dodd and Brian Dean. Another song that is unidentifiable in this DCOM is the song playing by the pool when the boys arrive at Amy’s parents’ condo, though it is barely audible so I doubt many people are looking for it!
Other songs that were uncredited but have been confirmed include “Run Run Rudolph”, a popular song that has appeared in other Christmas movies. Chuck Berry’s original version, for example, can be heard in Home Alone (1990) as the family run through the airport to catch their flight. Funnily enough, in Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! the Lynyrd Skynyrd version of this same song is heard as the Duncans run through the airport. I do like this song and I like the reference to Home Alone here.
A couple of other songs in this movie are “Christmas in Vegas” by Terry Fator, which plays when Amy and Teddy are dropped off in Las Vegas after hitch-hiking with the couple who believe they were abducted by aliens. It’s a big band-style of song, which matches the Las Vegas setting well. Later, “Ya Better Believe” by Max Morgan is heard as Gabe, PJ, and Bob compete in the paintball tournament. This wasn’t the best song in the movie for me, and to be honest, I barely even noticed it; I think I wasn’t particularly bothered by the paintball stuff so I lost focus at this point.
Finally, the End Credits song is “Gotta Get Back by Christmas”, which was a decent song for the movie to end on, although not much of it can be heard over the bloopers that are shown during the credits. This song was performed by British singer Steve Rushton, who, after leaving the band Son of Dork, began a solo career and this led to many opportunities with Disney Channel. Rushton sang the theme song “Livin’ the Suite Life” for The Suite Life on Deck (2008-11). Rushton then performed and wrote two songs for Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009): “Everything I Want” and “Game Over”; as well as featured on the Wizards of Waverly Place soundtrack, performing “Strange Magic”.
David Lawrence was the composer on Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! Lawrence has been the composer on many other DCOMs including StarStruck (2010), Teen Beach Movie (2013) and its 2015 sequel, as well as the original Descendants trilogy.
PRODUCTION
Good Luck Charlie was a new original programme for Disney Channel, debuting its first episode on 4th April 2010. This first episode saw Teddy making her first video diary for nine-month-old Charlie in which she introduced the whole family.
During development, the series had been titled Love, Teddy, and then Oops, before Good Luck Charlie was settled on. This three-word phrase is said by at least one character, normally Teddy, at the end of every episode. It is unclear if the overall premise of the show changed over the course of production given the different potential title names, although all three titles would still make sense to the show that was made.
Season 1 of Good Luck Charlie ran from its premiere episode in April 2010 to 30th January 2011. A second season began airing shortly after, on 20th February 2011, running to 27th November 2011. The show was popular from the outset, as it depicted a different type of family, but one that was becoming more normal. For example, Amy Duncan is a working mother, balancing her kids and her career. Bob is a dad that helps around the house and with the kids, and the series shows parents having children later in life. An adaptation was created for Disney Channel India, with this series being called Best of Luck Nikki. It ran from April 2011 to April 2016[1].
Good Luck Charlie was nominated for various awards during its time on Disney Channel. These included Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Children’s Program and Kids’ Choice nominations for Favorite TV Show. Bridgit Mendler was also nominated for Favorite TV actress at the Kids’ Choice and Teen Choice Awards. Bradley Steven Perry received a nomination for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV – Supporting Young Actor in 2011. The series itself did win two British Academy Children’s Awards, for BAFTA Kids’ Vote: TV in 2011 and 2012.
Furthermore, the Good Luck Charlie series premiered to 4.7 million viewers, with this being the highest-rated series premiere for a Disney Channel series since the premiere of The Suite Life on Deck (2008-11). Good Luck Charlie’s success was only further confirmed with the creation of Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas!, a feature-length movie to showcase the characters in a new setting.
This new setting happened to be Utah where the majority of filming took place. This means that Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! follows in the footsteps of other DCOMs, such as Read It and Weep (2006), Halloweentown High (2004), Return to Halloweentown (2006), and the High School Musical trilogy by being filmed in Utah. However, Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! is not primarily set in Utah, with only one scene having Teddy mention that she thinks her and her mother are now in Utah, so the production team had to get a bit creative. For example, Salt Lake Convention Center became Denver Airport; the Pirate Island Pizza place in Orem, Utah, was the setting of the Las Vegas all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant[2]; and The Gateway in Salt Lake City was made to look like the Las Vegas Strip[3]. It would have no doubt been hugely costly, as well as a logistical nightmare, to actually have the cast and crew do a full-on road trip themselves to film Teddy and Amy’s cross-country trip so I can see why this was necessary, though it is quite clear, even to me who has not been to many areas of America, that the real-life locations were not being used here, but it didn’t bother me.
Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! does not involve many stunts, or large action scenes, as it is mostly just about Amy and Teddy getting on and off various forms of transport and sitting somewhere to discuss what to do next. However, there is one moment in the movie that did require some effects work, and that is the paintball tournament that PJ, Gabe, and Bob find themselves mixed up in. The crew reportedly had to build their own paintball guns in order to lower the pressure of the bullets – since regular paintball guns are known for bruising even the hardiest of people – to keep the cast as safe as possible. They also had to make their own paintballs to add more paint so the paint splatter would be more visible on camera[4].
The movie was directed by Arlene Sanford who had directed some episodes of the long-running teen drama series Pretty Little Liars (2010-17), as well as a few within its spin-off, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists (2019). Sanford also directed the live-action Disney movie I’ll Be Home for Christmas (1998). This makes a lot of sense, because Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! not only took inspiration from Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), but also from I’ll Be Home for Christmas, which sees a college student race across the country with limited means to get home in time for Christmas Eve. My family love this movie. Geoff Rodkey was the screenwriter for Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas!, having previously written Daddy Day Care (2003) and its 2007 sequel, Daddy Day Camp, as well as the Robin Williams comedy RV (2006). For Disney, Rodkey also co-wrote The Shaggy Dog (2006).
RECEPTION
As is typical with Disney Channel Original Movies, Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! was promoted with small behind-the-scenes videos about the making of the movie, as well as sneak peeks and trailers closer to the movie’s premiere date. It seems that the first trailer for this DCOM was shown in October 2011.
But there was another advertisement which was perfect cross-promotion, and that was having Bridgit Mendler, Jason Dolley, and Bradley Steven Perry front a Disney 365 video about Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, a Disney Vacation Club Resort, which opened on 29th August 2011. This Disney 365 saw the three actors showcase the resort and its activities, prior to a few clips of Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! being shown[5].
Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! premiered on Disney Channel on 2nd December 2011. It was then broadcast to other countries later on that month, including the UK, Ireland, and Australia – because it would have just been silly to air a Christmas movie months later in other countries, like Disney Channel did with so many of their other DCOMs.
Fans of Good Luck Charlie did like Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas!, with many retrospectively stating that this was one of the last good DCOMs that came from the channel for many years. It is no secret that from 2012 onwards, Disney Channel’s movies did not seem to reach the height of success that others had since 2006, when High School Musical premiered. I’d say that it wouldn’t be until Descendants in 2015 that Disney Channel recaptured some of that old magic they once had, and even since then, DCOMs have not really been the same. But that’s beside the point. Viewers liked Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! because it was a wholesome movie that could be enjoyed by the whole family, and many consider it to be a childhood favourite DCOM.
On the other hand, not everyone liked it, myself included. Some felt that it dragged in places, which I agree with, and this is probably because the movie wasn’t all that funny. If you’re following the generic road trip storyline, it has to have big moments of hilarity, or else people start to get bored. It wasn’t even that the movie wasn’t funny that bothered people; it’s because the show itself was much funnier than the DCOM ended up being. Others said it was unrealistic at times, and didn’t really celebrate Christmas as you might have expected. The only Christmassy scene comes right at the end of the movie at the diner where the family reunite, but even then, it’s only a couple of minutes. Amy’s pregnancy reveal also received a mixed reaction, with some saying that having another baby would take away from Charlie who is meant to be the focus of the whole show. Amy herself was criticised too, as audiences felt she was incredibly over-the-top, more so than in the show. This is a point that I wholeheartedly agree with; Amy did seem different here to early episodes of the series.
Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! pulled in 6.9 million viewers on its premiere night, becoming the top live-action cable film of the year. In comparison to other DCOMs of that year, Lemonade Mouth, released in April 2011, premiered to 5.7 million viewers, and Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension, from August 2011, got 7.6 million, so this was a respectable amount for Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! to have[6].
LEGACY
Following on from the movie, because that whole baby thing had to be resolved, Season 3 of Good Luck Charlie began airing on 6th May 2012, running until 20th January 2013. The new Duncan was revealed to the world in episode 7 of that season, titled “Special Delivery”, in an hour-long special episode. This baby was a boy named Toby, whose name had been decided via a worldwide public vote, with Toby receiving almost 26 million votes. And just to take even more attention away from little Charlie, Toby was born on her birthday. It was also revealed in the episode that Toby’s full name was actually Toby Wan Kenobi Duncan. Haha, I see what they did there – but it really should’ve been Toby The Birthday Stealer Duncan. And then they should’ve renamed the show to simply Poor Charlie…
The public vote to name the new baby opened shortly after the premiere of Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! running from 2nd December to 16th December 2011 on the show’s official website. For the boys, Noah, Jonah, Toby, Bobby Jr., and Bo were available to vote on, whilst the girls names were Sydney, Erika, Mallory, Talia, and Jenny[7].
After that, Season 4 aired on 28th April 2013 and ended on 16th February 2014. There were two special episodes within this season, with one being Episode 17, titled “Good Luck Jessie: NYC Christmas”, to create a cross-over episode with the cast of Jessie (2011-15), where Teddy and PJ are stranded in New York City due to a blizzard, after going to the city for a college tour, and meet up with the characters of Jessie.
The final episode of Good Luck Charlie was an hour-long special titled “Good Bye Charlie”. It sees Teddy going off to college, and her family throwing her a going-away party. The last scene sees the whole family – except Toby – saying goodbye to Teddy, with Teddy making her final video diary entry for Charlie. The family gather round the camera and say “Good Luck Charlie” together for the last time.
The decision to fully end Good Luck Charlie had been decided prior to Season 4 airing so the cast and crew were able to completely finish the series, with no chance of a cliffhanger not being able to be resolved. It is said that the series did not end because its popularity was declined, but it was simply that Disney Channel like to end their shows around the 100-episode mark, so it was just time for Good Luck Charlie to end. I can see the sense in this. Too many shows push their storylines to the limit and become boring and samey, airing for much too many years[8].
Due to the era we are currently living through in terms of the entertainment industry, with reboots and spin-offs everywhere you look, it is only natural that fans of Good Luck Charlie are wondering if there is a future for this show once more. It also does not help that Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-12), a show that was on Disney Channel around the same time as Good Luck Charlie, has just recently launched a reboot, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place (2024-present). At the premiere of this reboot, Jason Dolley even spoke about the potential for a Good Luck Charlie reunion. Dolley stated that it could be interesting to see where the characters ended up a decade later, with Dolley’s character, PJ, taking steps towards becoming a chef by the time of the show’s finale[9]. However, Bridgit Mendler is said to have fully stepped away from acting, so this may be a stumbling block towards a reunion. But who knows; never say never, right?
FINAL THOUGHTS
When I first started watching Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas!, I didn’t really know what to expect, since I hadn’t seen the show in years. I was hoping for some fun antics, with the addition of the magic of Christmas. It didn’t turn out that way.
Though I’m sure fans of the show did love this DCOM, I sadly didn’t, no matter how much I was hoping I would. I didn’t watch much past Season 1 of Good Luck Charlie, but what I did watch, I liked, so I was surprised this didn’t work out for me.
At the beginning, when the Duncan family were at the airport, I thought someone was going to end up on the wrong flight, like in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) – but that didn’t happen. And I was glad about that, because airports have so many checks now, it isn’t very likely you’d get on the wrong plane. Then, with Amy and Teddy trying to get over to Palm Springs from Denver without flying, it seemed like Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987). It later turned into I’ll Be Home for Christmas (1998), which not everyone has seen, but it’s basically the same idea.
These three Christmas films – or two Christmas films, and one Thanksgiving film, if you want to be picky about it – are amazing. I watch all three every year and I never tire of them. That was not the case with Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas!
Everyone wants different things from a Christmas movie, and everyone has their own favourites. I’m well aware that some movies I love to watch at this time of year have been panned by critics and audiences alike, but I don’t care.
If you love Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! for its crazy antics, its family dynamics, and its warm message about the importance of being with loved ones, then feel free to say you don’t care about my opinion too.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Stacey Grant, ’18 Good Luck Charlie Secrets That’ll Make You Demand a Reboot STAT’, Seventeen.com, 25th April 2019.
[2] Credit: Brooke Brown, ‘Disney’s ‘Good Luck Charlie’ cast gets movie treatment in Utah’, Deseret.com, 21st April 2011.
[3] Credit: Scott Pierce, ‘Utah stars in Disney Channel movie “Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas!”’, SLTRIB.com, 1st December 2011.
[4] Credit: Disney, ‘DCOM Extra – Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! – Disney Channel Official’, Disney Channel YouTube Channel, 21st November 2011.
[5] Credit: Disney, ‘Good Luck Charlie in Aulani Disney 365’, Bradleyfansite YouTube Channel, 15th March 2015.
[6] Credit: Philiana Ng, ‘Disney Channel’s ‘Good Luck Charlie’ Holiday Movie Strikes Ratings Gold’, HollywoodReporter.com, 3rd December 2011.
[7] Credit: Robyn Ross, ‘Exclusive: Good Luck Charlie Fans Decide Season 3’s [SPOILER!]’, TVGuide.com, 2nd December 2011.
[8] Credit: Nellie Andreeva, ‘Disney Channel’s ‘Good Luck Charlie’ To End Its Run’, Deadline.com, 11th June 2013.
[9] Credit: Hanna Wickes, ‘OMG: Everything We Know About a ‘Good Luck Charlie’ Reboot: Cast Quotes, Plot, More’, J-14.com, 29th October 2024.
The Disney Purist 