A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish Blu-ray Review

Hallmark Meets The Disney Channel

Released on the 15^th anniversary of the original A Cinderella Story starring Hilary Duff, the franchise sees a fresh entry for this Christmas season. Loosely based on Leigh Dunlap’s book, A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish delivers a warm-hearted tale of teen-driven romance and engaging musical numbers with its straight-from-the-Disney-factory stars.

Made for a younger teen audience, the wholesome movie re-imagines the cherished fairy tale for the present with a twist for the holidays. Think the traditional Christmas movies of Hallmark meeting the Disney Channel.

Laura Marano (Disney’s Austin & Ally), Gregg Sulkin (Marvel’s Runaways) and Isabella Gomez (One Day at a Time) star in the up-beat Christmas tale that riffs on the basic Cinderella template. Kat (Laura Marano) is an aspiring singer, forced to live with her selfish stepmother Deirdra (Johannah Newmarch) until she turns 18. Deirdra and her two dopey daughters love making Kat’s life miserable.

… A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish is a cute movie made for the teenage market with no real flaws

Life starts looking up for Kat working as an elf at Santa Land. The guy of her dreams, Dominic (Gregg Sulkin), starts working as Santa. The two share budding chemistry even as Kat hides her true identity behind a set of elf ears. Kat’s BFF Isla (Isabella Gomez) has no problem encouraging her friend’s hopes and dreams. A lavish Christmas Gala being held by Dominic’s father sets the stage for the final clash between Kat and her wicked stepmother.

The romantic comedy provides lively song-and-dance numbers, some laughs and appealing stars for its target market. Laura Marano and Gregg Sulkin have nice chemistry together, absolutely essential in the teen-driven musical vehicle. Marano is a talented singer and performer perfect for this kind of light-hearted holiday music.

A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish is a cute movie made for the teenage market with no real flaws. The references to selfies and vlogs may fly over the heads of older adults but it has an all-ages appeal. Delivering a satisfying romantic story filled with all the trappings of the Christmas season, the rom com will sing and dance its way into your heart if you aren’t a complete Grinch.

Video

Cinematographer Robert Brinkman has shot the Christmas movie with traditionally fresh video quality, laden with bright red and green colors for the season. The 1.78:1 presentation at 1080P resolution offers consistent clarity and pristine imagery.

The razor-sharp video isn’t particularly concerned with showcasing the utmost detail, preferring a slightly softer focus around its teen stars. The clean, perky Hi-Def aesthetic will be familiar to anyone that has caught Christmas movies on Lifetime or Hallmark.

Warner provides a perfect AVC encode free of artifacts, derived from the immaculate digital intermediate. The 85-minute main feature arrives on a BD-25 with solid compression parameters. The untouched digital transfer lets the movie’s pleasing video quality shine on Blu-ray.

Audio

The musical numbers sound great in the pleasant 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio. A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish doesn’t have the most active or discrete mix. This is a front-anchored audio presentation with clear dialogue and well-balanced music.

Extension and top-end clarity are perfectly adequate for the lively Christmas song-and-dance numbers. The songs are crisply recorded and have been sweetened in the studio for robust sound quality.

Optional English SDH, French and Spanish (Latino) subtitles play in a white font. French and Spanish dubs are available in 5.1 Dolby Digital.

Extras

WB includes an MA digital copy with this Blu-ray and DVD combo package. It redeems in HDX quality at MA providers. A glossy slipcover is available.

WB sees fit to include a couple behind-the-scenes featurettes on the Blu-ray. They go more than surface deep exploring the movie’s choreography, costumes and singing.

The Looks and Costumes of Christmas Wish (05:33 in HD) – Cast and crew, including the director and production designer, discuss their aims choosing outfits for each character and setting.

The Mic and the Stage (11:04 in HD) – A fairly in-depth featurette with stars Laura Marano and Gregg Sulkin that includes behind-the-scenes footage of their dance rehearsals.

Blinded By The Light Trailer (02:32 in HD) – Plays before the main menu.

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase Trailer (02:18 in HD) – Plays before the main menu.

Trailers (05:05 in HD) – Two trailers can be chosen from the menu: The Sun Is Also A Star & Pokemon: Detective Pikachu.

Full disclosure: This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

The fifteen unaltered images below have been directly taken from the Blu-ray. For an additional 22 Cinderella Story screenshots, early access to all screens (plus the 100,000+ already in our library), 100 exclusive 4K UHD reviews, and more goodies, support us on Patreon.