“Jingle All the Way” gets a great review from the New York Times and Bent Image Lab is mentioned.

Here are just the Jingle parts of the article:

The new cartoons offer a buffet of visual styles, from 2-D to 3-D to the stop-motion of Hallmark Channel’s “Jingle All the Way,” by far the best of the bunch. In addition to its charming art and pleasantly low-key storytelling, “Jingle” (Friday at 7 p.m.) stands apart from the other holiday programs by not focusing on the manufacturing or delivery of toys — those mandatory gifts that Santa offers at no cost only in animated Christmas specials.

No one is completely free from the taint of merchandising, however. “Jingle All the Way” stars a trademarked Hallmark character, Jingle the Husky Pup. Other programs promote children’s books or movie series.

 
For some honest emotion, and a combination of retro holiday spirit with adventurous animation, tune in for “Jingle All the Way,” a presentation that lists many of the same producers as the “hoops&yoyo” program. The two cartoons couldn’t be more different, however. The work of Bent Image Lab, a studio in Portland, Ore., “Jingle All the Way” looks like something you’d see at a European animation festival or late at night on Adult Swim, but it is also gentle and completely Hallmark-appropriate.

The simple but engaging story about a boy who wants a puppy for Christmas, and the puppy’s tireless efforts to make it happen, navigates a sure path between mawkish and sarcastic; it invokes holiday classics like the Frosty and Rudolph cartoons while feeling completely up to date. On this weekend’s couch-potato menu, it’s the blue-plate special.

Read the whole article here:

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