Jingle Jangle director hopes Netflix film helps audiences "find joy again" after difficult year

Forest Whitaker stars in the original musical, which follows a once-brilliant inventor named Jeronicus Jangle, whose enthusiasm for life has been stamped out by tragedy.

His inquisitive granddaughter Journey (played by newcomer Madalen Mills) brings happiness to his life once more, with director David Talbert hoping audiences will be inspired by the uplifting tale.

He told RadioTimes.com: "You can find a path to joy again and with everything that we’ve been through this year and are going through, it seems like you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"But the film reminds us, one of the lyrics of the song: 'Forget about yesterday, it’s dead and gone away, the only thing that matters is right now'.

"And so, we want to find joy again and show people that there is a pathway to that, and I hope it will connect the world through the universal language of song."

Jingle Jangle is Talbert's third festive film following Danny Glover comedy Almost Christmas and 2017's Netflix original El Camino Christmas, but the director isn't blind to how difficult the season can be for some.

"People sing all the happy songs, but the holidays have some of the most pain," he continued. "It’s a tough time too so I like dealing with pushing through the pain of the holiday season to find the joy that it represents.

"And I think that’s what Forest’s character Jeronicus Jangle was all about, pushing through that pain, pushing through that past to rediscover the joy again."

Jingle Jangle is part of a slate of festive programming from Netflix that includes romcoms Holidate and Operation Christmas Drop, as well as The Christmas Chronicles 2 starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn.

Jingle Jangle is available to stream on Netflix from Friday 13th November. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best TV series on Netflix and best movies on Netflix, visit our TV Guide, or find out about upcoming new TV shows 2020.