Noelle (2019)
Grade:
Transfiguring Adoption awarded this movie 2 Hoots out of 5 based on how useful it will be for a foster/adoptive family. [Learn more about our Hoot grading system here]
Movie Info:
From the Cover of Noelle by Disney:
“Santa’s daughter finds herself having to take over the family business.”
[Buy the FULL Comprehensive Review & Discussion Guide]
Noelle is a whimsical holiday movie that follows the story of Noelle and her brother Nick Kringle, who are Santa’s children. The movie opens with Nick preparing to take over the role of Santa. The siblings end up embarking on a journey of figuring out who they are and how they fit into the world, and discover the true meaning of Christmas along the way. On the surface, it’s a ‘feel-good’ holiday movie that strikes the balance between serious and humorous moments well, as Disney movies tend to. And with it’s G rating, the movie is extremely tame in matters of violence, language, etc. making it appropriate for all ages. However, for foster and adoptive families, there are definitely some potentially problematic themes, so caregivers may want to use caution or watch the film first before allowing children to view.
** Spoilers Could Be Ahead **
How Is This Relevant To Adoption & Foster Care?
The Kringle family is dealing with the loss of a parent who was also the head of the family in many ways. Because of this, everyone else is struggling to figure out how they fit in. While not exactly the same, this journey of self-discovery and figuring out a role within a family is a struggle most children in foster or adoptive families can relate to. They may feel like they don’t fit in or aren’t a ‘real’ family member and struggle with figuring out what role they play in their new family, just as Noelle must discover who she is and ultimately embrace her role as the new Santa.
While taking this inner journey of discovering herself, Noelle also takes a physical journey in looking for her brother which takes her to a world that is vastly different from The North Pole, where she has spent her entire life. She feels like a fish out of water and struggles to understand the customs and way of life here, and to fit in. This, again, is something that many children in foster and adoptive families will relate to. The foster or adoptive family they are in now may have vastly different cultural or socioeconomic norms than they are used to. There are new rules and routines of daily life to get used to and it can make them feel a bit lost and different, the way Noelle does when she first arrives in Phoenix.
Discussion Points:
- Individuality Vs. Fitting In
Figuring out who we are in the world is one of the biggest challenges of growing up, and for children with a background of foster care and adoption this is even more complicated. When Noelle first arrives in Phoenix and is heading off on her own, her nanny gives her the advice, “don’t tell anyone who you are or where you came from and always be ready to run away.” This is a warning for Noelle to try and blend in and not draw attention to the fact that she’d different, and may resonate with children from traumatic backgrounds who want nothing more than to be ‘normal’ and not let on where they come from. Ultimately, Noelle doesn’t follow the advice and instead continues to be the somewhat quirky person that she is and people accept her for this. This can be a good opportunity to discuss what makes your children unique or different and why these are things that should be celebrated.
- Adjusting to New/Different Living Situations
When Noelle sets off to look for her brother, she ends up leaving the North Pole for the first time and going to Arizona. Here, she is forced to adjust to a very different world and has to figure out how to fit in with their cultural norms and behavior. Everything from the way she dresses to some of the words she uses get her funny looks. This can mirror how children feel when they come into a new foster or adoptive home. They have to learn a new set of behaviors and norms as they adapt to the environment and new living situation they find themselves in.This may be an especially relevant point of discussion if children are in a new placement.
- Trust
Because of her innate ‘Santa powers’ Noelle is able to tell easily who is a nice person. In one scene her friend Jake needs to borrow a phone and Noelle picks out a stranger to ask for help saying, “He’s nice, ask him”. And when Jake questions this, she states that she ‘just knows’. Children who have experienced abuse and trauma may have difficulty in determining who they should trust in different situations and may be so guarded that they don’t trust anyone, even you as their caregiver. Or they could be so desperate for affection that they trust anyone who offers it. This could be a good opportunity to talk about trust, boundaries and ‘stranger danger’ in knowing who is safe and when to trust ‘strangers’ (a word which often applies to every person in a foster child’s life).
Cautionary Points:
- Sibling Separation
For a portion of the movie, Noelle’s brother Nick is missing. He leaves the North Pole for a weekend trip and never comes back, so Noelle goes off in search of him, even hiring a private investigator to assist at one point. For siblings who are separated, this may be upsetting to them, especially if they don’t know what happened to their sibling. Noelle makes several statements about being scared that something bad happened to him and how much she needs to find him. She does eventually find him, but he tells her to go away and that he doesn’t want to come home with her. Both the turmoil of not knowing where her brother is and then the later rejection may be difficult for children who have experience similar issues, or worry how biological family members will react to them should they ever be reunited.
- Death of a Parent
Very early on in the movie it is brought to our attention that Noelle’s father (who is also Santa) has died recently and they are getting ready to celebrate Christmas for the first time without him. The movie doesn’t show this event, or even dwell on this fact other than to mention in the context of Nick taking over as the ‘new Santa’. However, for children who have experienced the death of a parent this may be difficult for them. Even if they haven’t lost a parent, if this is their first holiday in foster care or their adoptive home, they likely have feelings about celebrating a holiday for the first time without their biological families.
- Labeling Children as Naughty or Nice
A major plot point, especially in the latter half of the movie, revolves around Santa’s ‘Naughty or Nice’ list and how kids end up on it. While Nick and Noelle are missing, their cousin Gabe takes over as Santa and decides that most children don’t deserve to be on the nice list. He then uses an algorithm to send e-mails to all of them explaining why they are on the naughty list and what they need to do better to be considered ‘nice’ next year. This character isn’t seeing the true child, and is instead seeing only a list of their behavior and judging them based on that. Children from traumatic backgrounds often feel this way- that they are only a file full of diagnoses and lists of problem behaviors, when that isn’t a true representation of who they are. Children who aren’t with their birth families might feel that this is due to their behavior. During the holidays younger children especially may have anxiety surrounding which ‘list’ they are on and if Santa is going to bring them anything because of it. - Depictions of Poverty/Homelessness/Broken Families
While Noelle is in Arizona, she comes across children with various difficult home situations such as homelessness and newly divorced parents and has a hard time processing that things aren’t all ‘sunshine and daisies’ in the world. She asks her friend, “what kind of world is this? People without homes and food…” because she’s never known that was something that existed. For children who have experienced these things seeing them on screen may be triggering or uncomfortable to them, especially scenes of families spending Christmas in a homeless shelter and sleeping on the floor. - Unrealistic Wish Fulfillment
When Noelle takes over as ‘Santa’ she grants wishes to some of the children we saw earlier in the movie in difficult situations. Her friend’s son, Alex, wanted his family to spend Christmas morning together, even though his parents had gotten divorced and his mom was married to someone new. Noelle tells him, ‘You’re gonna get your wish to spend Christmas with your whole family. Because you’re NICE.” And on Christmas morning, she helps make this happen. Later, she meets little girl who is deaf and living in a homeless shelter with her mother. She tells Noelle that she wants a job for her mom for Christmas. So, Santa finds her mom a job working at a school for deaf children. While on the surface this is a nice idea of ‘the magic of Christmas’ solving all problems, for children who are experiencing situations like this it could lead to them thinking that maybe ‘Santa’ is able to give them an intangible gift, such as being back with their birth family. They may also feel like if they don’t get those ‘wishes’ granted it’s due to their not being good enough or nice enough to make it happen.
Discussion Questions:
- Which character was your favorite? Who did you relate to the most? Why?
[Caregiver Note: Since Noelle is the main character and is fun and whimsical a lot of children will likely choose her as their favorite. However, there may be other characters that they relate to, such as Alex who’s dealing with his parent’s divorce, or Nick who just wants to be left alone. This is primarily just a fun question to facilitate bonding and start a discussion. However, having the child explain why the relate to the character they chose may encourage them to talk about things that happened to them in their past, that they see reflected in that character.] - ACTIVITY: When Noelle is young her dad always brings her travel magazines and she and her brother like to look through them.Together, look through some magazines and make collages of places you might like to visit.
[Caregiver Note: This activity is primarily just a fun movie-tie in for bonding. However, children who have traumatic pasts may not have had a lot of opportunity to travel so this activity may provide a safe and fun way for them to expand their world view by thinking and talking about all the different places in the world there are, and what it is about different places that makes it interesting to them. For example, Nick chose Arizona for the yoga. A child may chose a beach or mountain if they want to see snow or the ocean. Or they may chose somewhere that feels safer because of their anxiety.] - Noelle thinks getting to have the job of Santa is the best job someone could have. Do you think being Santa would be a fun job?
[Caregiver Note: This question may work best for younger children who still believe in Santa, though could still be relevant to older kids in a ‘pretend’ context. Reasons being Santa would be fun could be things like making other people happy, giving presents, getting to fly in a sleigh, etc. Reasons it might not be seen as a fun job could be things like having to live at the North Pole or not getting to be with your family on Christmas.] - What kind of job would you most like to have if you could pick anything?
[Caregiver Note: Again, this question is included mainly for a fun conversation and bonding purposes. But can be a good opportunity to get kids to start thinking about what they might like to do for a career, especially older children. When children are in traumatic situations they usually have to be incredibly focused on the present and just surviving that they don’t always give a lot of thought to the future and what that looks like. They may have trouble thinking of careers- this is a good opportunity to help them look at their strengths and interests and talk about the different options they might not even know are out there.] - How would you feel if someone told you what job you had to have and you didn’t get a choice, like Nick?
[Caregiver Note: Nick is ‘chosen’ to continue the family business and become Santa, and no one ever asks him if this is what he actually wants to do. This question is a follow-up to the previous- now that they’ve thought about what they would like to do thinking about being forced to do something they didn’t choose. This may lend itself to discussion that goes beyond just a job, but maybe there have been other times that the child felt like they were forced to do something they didn’t want to do or felt trapped. Children in foster care or adoption often feel like they have no say in their lives or control over what happens to them. This can be a good place to open up a conversation about those feelings and maybe ways to help the child feel like they have more agency, as appropriate to their age and development.] - ACTIVITY: Holiday Card Making. Before Noelle is chosen to be Santa, one of her jobs is to make Christmas cards each year. Help your child(ren) make cards that can be given or sent to friends and family members.
[Caregiver Note: This is a fun bonding activity for you to do with your child(ren) and it’s a good lead in to the festive holiday season. Even exchanging cards with other family members in the household can be a fun surprise. Sending cards may also be a good opportunity for them to stay in touch with those people who they care for who may not be present, such as a biological parent or sibling. If the situation allows, these cards could be mailed to those people, with the assistance of caseworkers if needed. If there is no contact with those whom they wish to send a card to, the act of making and writing a card that they don’t actually send may still be a cathartic activity to help them deal with some of their feelings. - Christmas traditions are discussed a lot in the movie. Is there a tradition or something you’ve done at a holiday in the past that you would like to keep doing?
[Caregiver Note: This can be an opportunity for children to talk about how they spent holidays in the past and share some of the things that holidays might mean to them. If there is a tradition that is special to them, including it with your holiday routine may help a child feel more included. It is possible that they don’t have happy holiday memories, or can’t think of anything. If this is the case, maybe come up with something together that can become a new holiday tradition. This can achieve the same feeling of inclusion in the family and holiday celebration. Traditions could be anything from watching a particular movie, going to look at Christmas lights, or making a special food.] - When Noelle first arrives in Phoenix, she had to get used to a lot of new things that are different form how she does things in the North Pole. Have you ever felt like that?
[Caregiver Note: Coming into foster care/adoption or even just a new placement can be an unsettling and confusing time for children. Every home and family is different and had different rules and routines. They may also have changed schools, or even cities. Chances are, they will relate to Noelle trying to figure out how to get by in the new world she enters. Talking about her journey and how she adjusts may help children process their own similar experiences.] - Alex’s dad, Jake, is surprised when he finds out that Alex really likes to bake. Do you have a hobby or activity you really like?
[Caregiver Note: This question can be a great opportunity to learn something new about your child and a chance for them to share something that is special to them with you. If they can’t think of anything, then talk about different hobbies or activities they might like to try. Maybe there is a sport that they have always wanted to play or another skill they would like to learn.] - ACTIVITY: After Alex tells his dad about his cooking interest, his dad asks if Alex will teach him. If child’s hobby is something they can teach you, or you can do together, plan a time to do that activity.
[Caregiver Note: Giving a child the opportunity to teach someone else, especially an adult, something can be a huge confidence builder. This exercise works best if you really let them take the lead (as much as is age appropriate). If their interest is baking, for example, let them pick out the ingredients, and tell you the steps to follow. Children are so often being told what to do that it can be a fun experience for them to ‘make the rules’ even just for a short period of time.It can be hard as an adult to let go of that control, and to accept that the end product might not turn out the way it’s ‘supposed to’. But it can lead to some great bonding moments by just focusing on the experience and not the result.]
About the Author: Jenn Ehlers
Jenn is a central Virginia native who received her BA in Psychology from the University of Virginia in 2012. Since then she has worked for a local mental health agency and the Department of Social Services in various capacities and has been involved in her community’s efforts to create a Trauma Informed Network. Currently Jenn works in vocational rehab and mentors youth in foster care. When she isn’t working, Jenn enjoys writing stories, anything and everything Harry Potter, and spending time with her niece and nephew.
**Transfiguring Adoption is a nonprofit organization seeking to nurture growth in foster and adoptive families by giving a HOOT about their families. Transfiguring Adoption does not intend for its reviewers nor its review to be professional, medical or legal advice. These reviews and discussion guides are intended to help parents to better be able to connect and understand their children who come from traumatic backgrounds.**
