Synopsis

On Christmas Eve, workaholic father Howard Langston realizes he has failed to buy his son the season's must-have Turbo Man action figure. As stores sell out, Howard races across Minneapolis in search of the toy, competing with another desperate father and encountering increasingly chaotic obstacles. His frantic quest ultimately forces him to reconsider what his son really wants from him.

Factoids & Trivia

• The story was inspired by the shopping frenzy surrounding Cabbage Patch Kids in the 1980s, but its release coincided with the 1996 Tickle Me Elmo craze, giving the premise an especially timely real-world parallel.

• Much of the film was shot in Minnesota, including the Mall of America and locations throughout Minneapolis and Saint Paul. At the time, it was the largest production filmed in the state.

• The film treats Minneapolis and Saint Paul as one fictional city, using the label "Twin Cities Police" rather than maintaining the two municipalities' separate identities.

• The parade sequence was filmed on the New York Street backlot at Universal Studios Hollywood instead of on location. The production used 1,500 extras, three custom floats, helicopter footage, and composite shots to create the scene.

• The film's world premiere took place at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, on November 16, 1996, several days before its nationwide theatrical release.

• The film's fictional Turbo Man merchandise was designed as a parody of the heavily marketed action figures that dominated 1990s holiday shopping.

• Many of the exchanges between the two rival shoppers were improvised, helping give their confrontations a more unpredictable, argumentative rhythm.

• A script-submission lawsuit involving the film was initially decided against 20th Century Fox in 2001, but the verdict was later reversed on appeal.