Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
YouTube sensation translates into bad-taste holiday movie.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 5+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Gummibar: The Yummy Gummy Search for Santa
What's the Story?
Gummibar and his quirky friends are looking forward to getting presents on Christmas morning. But when they learn on TV that Santa Claus is missing, they decide to fly to the North Pole to find out what happened. They discover that Santa was abducted by an alien who loves to dance. In order to save Santa and Christmas, Gummibar and his friends must go to the island where the alien has taken Santa, and defeat the alien in a dance contest.
Is It Any Good?
Turning the viral YouTube dance song sensation into a 50-minute holiday feature was a mistake. Even with Gummibar presenting new holiday-themed Auto-tuned songs with disco beats backing him up, there isn't much to work with. The story somehow manages to drag, even at its short length. The characters (a ragtag bunch of snarky misfits) are cliched and the writing tries too hard to be witty.
The irritating music mixed with some inappropriate humor -- Santa bending over to expose his butt crack; sarcastic reindeer drinking beer and making fat jokes --should be reason enough to avoid this. Viral YouTube videos do not always translate well into longer features, and this is a case in point.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about holiday movies. How does this compare to other movies about Santa Claus and Christmas?
Why do you think this movie was created? Can you think of any successful movies that started on YouTube? Where are some good sources for movie ideas?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : November 6, 2012
- Cast : Bruce Dinsmore , Holly Gauthier-Frankel , Sonja Ball
- Director : Bernie Denk
- Studio : Lionsgate
- Genre : Family and Kids
- Topics : Friendship , Holidays
- Run time : 50 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate