50 Fun Facts About Hanukkah Movie

Who directed Adam Sandler's animated Hanukkah film Eight Crazy Nights (2002)?

Seth Kearsley directed Eight Crazy Nights, his feature debut; Sandler's usual live-action directors Dennis Dugan and Frank Coraci sat this one out.

What is the name of the troubled alcoholic Adam Sandler voices in Eight Crazy Nights?

Davey Stone, a bitter drunk, is sentenced to community service as a youth-basketball referee-in-training after dining-and-dashing and a destructive chase on the first night of Hanukkah.

Where does the title Eight Crazy Nights come from?

The title is A line in Sandler's 'The Chanukah Song': 'Instead of one day of presents, we have eight crazy nights!' A new version of the song plays over the closing credits.

Besides Davey and Whitey Duvall, which third character does Adam Sandler voice in Eight Crazy Nights?

Sandler's third role is Eleanore, the twin sister of Whitey; Rob Schneider narrates and voices Mr. Chang, Kevin Nealon the mayor and Norm Crosby the judge.

In which state is Dukesberry, the fictional town where Eight Crazy Nights takes place?

Eight Crazy Nights is set in the fictional town of Dukesberry, New Hampshire, a snowy New England setting for Davey's community service as a youth-basketball referee.

Who voiced Davey's love interest, Jennifer Friedman, in Eight Crazy Nights?

Jackie Titone, Sandler's future wife, voiced Jennifer Friedman; the couple married in 2003, and she has appeared in most of his films since.

Which bluegrass singer provided the singing voice for Jennifer in Eight Crazy Nights?

Alison Krauss, the Grammy-laden bluegrass singer and fiddler who fronts Union Station, supplied Jennifer's singing voice on the film's ballads.

How did Eight Crazy Nights fare at the box office against its $34M budget?

It grossed about $23.8 million and flopped, far short of its $34 million budget, and critics panned its crude humour and thin story.

According to the director, why was the infamous feces-eating deer scene kept in Eight Crazy Nights?

Focus groups liked it, the director said: he had intended to cut the deer eating feces, but test screenings laughed, so the scene stayed.

Who confronts Davey in his drunken mall hallucination in Eight Crazy Nights?

Real store mascots like the Foot Locker referee and Panda Express panda sing to Davey in the mall; Tyra Banks voices a Victoria's Secret gown and Carl Weathers a GNC bottle.

Who wrote and directed The Hebrew Hammer (2003)?

Jonathan Kesselman wrote and directed The Hebrew Hammer, a blaxploitation parody that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2003.

Who plays the title character, Mordechai Jefferson Carver, in The Hebrew Hammer?

Adam Goldberg plays the Hammer, introduced as a 'certified, circumcised dick' whose wardrobe crosses a pimp's with a Hasid's; Goldberg had earlier appeared in Saving Private Ryan and Dazed and Confused.

Who is the villain of The Hebrew Hammer?

The villain is Damian Claus, Santa's evil son, who murders his tolerant father and sets out to wipe out Hanukkah and Kwanzaa so December belongs to Christmas alone.

Which actor plays Damian Claus in The Hebrew Hammer?

Andy Dick plays Damian Claus; Judy Greer is love interest Esther Bloomenbergensteinenthal and Peter Coyote her father, chief of the Jewish Justice League.

What is the name of the Kwanzaa Liberation Front leader who allies with the Hebrew Hammer?

Mohammed Ali Paula Abdul Rahim, head of the Kwanzaa Liberation Front, joins the Hammer to save Hanukkah and Kwanzaa; the joke name stitches a heavyweight champion's to a pop star's.

Which cable channel gave The Hebrew Hammer its television premiere in December 2003?

Comedy Central aired The Hebrew Hammer in December 2003, eleven months after its Sundance premiere, pitching it as a Hanukkah comedy for the holiday season.

Which former New York City mayor appears as himself in The Hebrew Hammer?

Rachel Dratch and Nora Dunn also appear; the final battle takes place at the North Pole after stops in Israel and a K-Mart.

In the flashback that opens The Hebrew Hammer, what does Santa Claus do to young Mordechai?

Crushes his dreidel and flips him off: that is the mall Santa's greeting to young Mordechai in the opening flashback, planting the grudge that drives the grown-up Hammer.

Full-Court Miracle (2003) premiered on which network?

It premiered on Disney Channel on November 21, 2003 as a Disney Channel Original Movie, one of the channel's few holiday films built around Hanukkah rather than Christmas.

Full-Court Miracle was inspired by which former University of Virginia basketball player?

Lamont Carr, a former Virginia player, is portrayed by Richard T. Jones; in the film a Jewish day-school team recruits the struggling ex-player as its 'Judah Maccabee'.

In Full-Court Miracle, the Philadelphia Hebrew Academy team is nicknamed what?

The Lions is the nickname of the Philadelphia Hebrew Academy squad, a struggling yeshiva team whose players recruit a washed-up former college star to coach them.

How does Full-Court Miracle echo the miracle of the oil in its climactic showdown?

A generator with an hour of fuel keeps the lights on for the whole contest after a blizzard knocks out the gym's power, mirroring the Temple oil that burned for eight days.

In Full-Court Miracle, why does Lamont leave the team right before the big tournament?

The Lions win every tournament game without him before the generator-lit final.

On which network did A Rugrats Chanukah first air, on December 4, 1996?

Nickelodeon had pitched a Chanukah special back in 1992, but that idea morphed into 1995's 'A Rugrats Passover' first.

In A Rugrats Chanukah, Grandpa Boris feuds with which old rival over the synagogue's Chanukah play?

Shlomo, Boris's old rival, plays the Greek king opposite Boris's Judah in the synagogue play, so the babies decide Shlomo is the real villain of the holiday.

What do the babies name the villain they set out to defeat in the Rugrats special?

The Meanie of Chanukah is the babies' name for Grandpa Boris's rival, whom they confuse with the Greek king from the Chanukah story; Tommy's imagination renders that king as 'King Antonica.'

Why does Angelica break the babies out of the synagogue nursery in A Rugrats Chanukah?

To watch a Christmas special on TV is Angelica's goal: she leads the babies out of the nursery hunting for a television, which is how they wander onto the stage mid-play.

In A Rugrats Chanukah, what is the name of Tommy's grandmother, Boris's wife?

Minka is Boris's wife and Didi Pickles's mother, making the Kropotkins Tommy's maternal grandparents; Melanie Chartoff voices both Didi and Minka.

Which 1986 animated film opens with a mouse family celebrating Hanukkah in Ukraine?

An American Tail begins in Shostka, in the Russian Empire's Ukraine, in 1885: Papa Mousekewitz gives Fievel his hat as a Hanukkah gift and describes America, where there are no cats.

Who directed the 1986 Fievel film whose opening scene is set at Hanukkah?

Don Bluth directed the Fievel film for executive producer Steven Spielberg, their first collaboration; James Horner wrote the score, including 'Somewhere Out There'.

The 1995 Hanukkah animated film The Real Shlemiel is based on stories by which Nobel laureate?

Isaac Bashevis Singer, the 1978 Nobel laureate, wrote the Chelm tales behind the film, also released as Aaron's Magic Village; Chelm is Jewish folklore's legendary village of fools.

Which horror icon starred as serial killer Judah Lazarus in the 2019 slasher Hanukkah?

Sid Haig, the House of 1000 Corpses star, plays killer Judah Lazarus in Eben McGarr's slasher; Haig died in September 2019, shortly before the film's release.

In the 2019 horror film Hanukkah, what does the killer do after each murder?

He also carves a Star of David into his victims in what the film's marketing called a 'Festival of Frights.'

Which 2020 Hallmark film was hailed by Insider as the channel's first genuine Chanukah movie?

Love, Lights, Hanukkah! centers on a woman discovering her Jewish heritage, where earlier Hallmark and Lifetime entries had paired a Jewish lead with a Christmas plot.

In Hallmark's 2020 film, how does Christina Rossi learn about her heritage?

A DNA test shows she is 50% Jewish, sending restaurateur Christina (Mia Kirshner) to find her birth mother Ruth, played by Marilu Henner, in time for Hanukkah.

Which Boy Meets World star plays David Singer, the love interest in Hallmark's 2020 Hanukkah romance?

Ben Savage, Cory Matthews on Boy Meets World, plays David Singer opposite Mia Kirshner's Christina; Marilu Henner plays Ruth, the birth mother who introduces Christina to latkes and kugel.

Which acclaimed 2017 romance ends with its heartbroken hero staring into a fire during Hanukkah?

Call Me by Your Name closes on Elio staring into the fire after Oliver's Hanukkah phone call announcing his engagement; the two had bonded partly over their shared Jewish identity.

On which TV segment did Adam Sandler first perform 'The Chanukah Song,' on December 3, 1994?

SNL's Weekend Update hosted the song's debut on December 3, 1994, with Sandler strumming a guitar at the desk; he wrote it with SNL writers Lewis Morton and Ian Maxtone-Graham.

Which SNL castmate co-wrote 'The Chanukah Song' with Adam Sandler?

Sandler kept updating the celebrity roll call for years, and one Fonz-related name-check led to a long collaboration.

Which sitcom star was 'deeply flattered' to be named in 'The Chanukah Song'?

Henry Winkler, who is Jewish, said he was deeply flattered by the lyric pairing 'Arthur Fonzarelli' with Bowser from Sha Na Na at the Carnegie Deli; he later co-starred in Sandler's The Waterboy.

The hybrid holiday 'Chrismukkah' was named and popularized on which TV series?

The O.C.'s Seth Cohen, son of a Jewish father and Protestant mother, claims he invented 'the greatest superholiday known to mankind'; the 2003 episode 'The Best Chrismukkah Ever' spread the term.

How did Seth Cohen describe Chrismukkah's gift schedule on The O.C.?

Eight days of presents, then one day of many presents is Seth's pitch for the holiday; the show aired a Chrismukkah episode in every one of its four seasons.

Which actor voiced Fievel Mousekewitz in the 1986 film?

Phillip Glasser voiced Fievel in the 1986 film and again in Fievel Goes West (1991); Dom DeLuise voiced Tiger, the vegetarian cat who befriends him.

Which comedian voices Tom Baltezor in Eight Crazy Nights?

Jon Lovitz voices Tom Baltezor; the former Saturday Night Live star is a frequent Sandler collaborator who also appeared in Little Nicky.

On what date was Eight Crazy Nights released in US theaters?

Columbia Pictures released it on November 27, 2002, the day before Thanksgiving, opening against Treasure Planet and Solaris.

In Eight Crazy Nights, how many years has Whitey coveted the Dukesberry All-Star Patch?

Thirty-five years is how long Whitey has coveted the town's award; after being passed over yet again, he resolves to leave Dukesberry for Florida.

What did Adam Sandler win in 2003 for his voice work in Eight Crazy Nights?

A Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie went to Sandler in 2003 for Eight Crazy Nights, even as the film itself was panned.

The Hebrew Hammer features which filmmaker in a cameo as 'Sweetback', a nod to his 1971 film?

The film parodies blaxploitation, and Melvin Van Peebles appears as Sweetback; his son Mario plays the Kwanzaa Liberation Front leader.

Many scenes of The Hebrew Hammer were shot in which Brooklyn neighbourhood with a large Hasidic community?

Filmmakers feared Hasidic protests in Borough Park like those against A Price Above Rubies, but none materialised.

In which city was the Philadelphia-set Disney Channel movie Full-Court Miracle actually filmed?

Full-Court Miracle premiered on November 21, 2003 and was shot in Toronto.