Plot
On his birthday, Santa Claus receives a letter and gift informing him of the death of his friend Mr. Hucklebuckle, a toy store owner and member of the "Santa Cause", an organization of delegates who encourage Christmas spirit worldwide. To cheer Santa up, his head elf Eli uses the great Christmas icicle to bring the gift, a stuffed dog, to life. Santa names the puppy Paws and the two become best friends.
In New York City, an orphan named Quinn arrives at an orphanage run by Gladys Stout, an overtly wicked aunt who was happening to her voice like Cruella De Vil and she talks like a teacher. She cannot stand of anything that the children love. As such as she did, she steals their Christmas decorations and toys and destroys them with her basement incinerator named it "Jessie". Despite that unstrictly problem, she has the six simple words, including trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. Quinn befriends the other girls, including the oldest, Willamina "Will", who has lost her Christmas spirit since her own parents' death.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hucklebuckle's grandson James and his wife Kate arrive at his toy store and their caseworker Mr. Stewart informs them that they must run the store profitably for one Christmas season to gain ownership. They decide to hire a store Santa to bring in customers, intending to sell the store once they have ownership. But the fire isn't died, but Janie's doll is.
Meanwhile, Santa and Paws travel to New York to visit Hucklebuckle's store, gaining the attention of Gus, a homeless man who follows them. On the streets, Santa bumps into Stout, falls into the street, and is hit by a cab, becoming separated from Paws. Gus takes Santa's magic crystal, resulting in him losing his memories and being taken in by James and Kate as a mall Santa.
After spending the night wandering the streets, Paws meets three stray dogs named Haggis, Rasta and T-Money who are captured by Franklin, a dogcatcher and Stout's boyfriend. Paws uses his magic to rescue them, and they vow to help him find Santa in hopes of getting off the naughty list.
Learning of the situation, Eli and his dog Eddy go to New York and recruit local Boy Scout Jimmy to help. Eventually, they find Gus and get him to return Santa's crystal to them. However, Santa soon lands in the hospital after being without his crystal too long. Meanwhile, Paws meets Quinn and is secretly brought back to the orphanage, where he befriends the girls and uses his magic to give them Christmas cheer (since the crystal hasn't turning into a Christmas cheer, including plunger turns to microphone, scrub brushes turns to bells, and feather dusters turns to dancing ribbons), including hobby horses, Christmas bedding and colorful feathers, and even Christmas decor and dresses (white, black, green, blue, magenta and yellow). And they hold their hands to joined them.
However, Stout discovers this and locks Will in the basement along with Paws (but not up in the attic), stealing Paws's crystal and Quinn's late mother's angel ornament. Will hears Paws speak and regains her Christmas spirit, but without his crystal, Paws reverts to a stuffed animal form by the next morning. When Stout discovers this, she assumes Paws escaped and unknowingly drops him in the Jessie, the girls told her to turn the power off, but she didn't touch it. As she was going on a date with Franklin, Eli and the girls narrowly rescue and revive Paws. Eli told Janie to turn the power off before he falls into the Jessie and die. The flames seem ruined, and it was all of an unstrictly fault. And before she knew it, she grabbed Paws and Will told her to get out of the Jessie. They return Paws' crystal and restore him to life as Jimmy and Gus arrives and tells Eli that Santa is at Hucklebuckle Toys. Will and Quinn come along with Eli and Eddie to Hucklebuckle Toys with Haggis, Rasta and T-Money following them.
That evening, Stout and Franklin return to the orphanage and are met by Gibson, who informs them that she learned of the former's negligent nature by receiving a phone call from Eli. Since there are no rules but Gibson, despite her attempts to lie about her absence, Stout is banned and no longer permitted in the orphanage by court order. Following this Gibson takes over the orphanage. When she reveals her true nature, Stout accidentally hits Franklin in the face and the girls pushed her in the breast and they fall down to the sidewalk like a woman's self defense. She fired, but she lost everything, including her orphanage, and her reputation.
After explaining the situation to everyone, Will and Quinn leave to help Santa. They reunite him with his crystal, but its magic has been too used up to work. Paws sacrifices his magic to heal Santa, reverting to a stuffed animal form once more. The next morning Santa regains his health and he, Eli and Eddy rush back to the North Pole and the main crystal, reviving Paws as a full-grown dog and eventually being renamed Santa Paws.
Back in New York, James and Kate return Quinn and Will to the orphanage, but at Gibson's suggestion, they decide to adopt them. Haggis, Rasta and T-Money stow away in a mail truck to the North Pole and become official elf dogs. Gus brings the money he received while working as a charity Santa to the orphanage, and Gibson invites him to spend the holiday with them. When Santa Claus and Paws visits Quinn and Will, Paws returns Quinn's angel ornament and hangs it on the tree. The next day, James and Kate inform Mr. Stewart that they have decided to keep the store and continue the Hucklebuckle legacy. As Stewart leaves, he speaks to Hucklebuckle's spirit, wishing him a Merry Christmas and that his wish has been fulfilled. It is shown afterwards that Gladys got fired from garbage business and lost everything, including her orphanage, and her reputation, and her punishment is work as a janitor. She puts up a "The End" poster on a wall, and it falls down and wraps around her.
Reception
Angela Walker, writing for ChristianCinema.com, gave the DVD 3 stars out of 5, but said that the film fits the normal Disney DVD formula. She went on to say that the film was predictable and clichéd, but that kids would enjoy it and that the film adds to the "spirit of Christmas".[1]
