This holiday movie tells the tale of a developmentally challenged young man, with a penchant for caring for animals in need, who sets out to convince his family - and their whole rural community - to participate in a local shelter's inaugural Adopt a Dog for Christmas Program.
Todd McCray (Fisher), a responsible and developmentally challenged 20-year-old, lives on a farm in Kansas with his loving parents, George (Greenwood) and Mary Ann (Emond). Both Mary Ann and George are forever inspired and impressed by the upbeat Todd, who assists with numerous chores on the farm and is known for regularly rescuing and nursing wounded wild animals back to health. George often describes Todd as having "his own way of thinking about things." However, Todd's way of thinking ends up clashing with George's when a radio promotion for the local animal shelter's first-ever "Adopt a Dog for Christmas Program" - which entails caring for a dog during Christmas week, with the option of keeping the dog for good - creates a keen desire in Todd to adopt a lonely pup for the holiday.
Though George stubbornly opposes the idea, Todd's special gifts of persuasion result in their bringing home a yellow Labrador, whom Todd names "Christmas" and bonds with immediately. Todd soon makes it his mission to ensure that all of the shelter's numerous caged dogs are brought into friendly homes for the holiday, and he uses creative and persistent means of inspiring the families in his community to do their part.
A DOG NAMED CHRISTMAS is a Hallmark Hall of Fame production. Brent Shields ("The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler") is executive producer; Peter Werner ("Front of the Class") is the director; Jenny Wingfield ("The Man in the Moon") wrote the script based on the novel by Greg Kincaid.
