Designing Christmas with You (2023)

A small New England pond awakens under a pale winter sky as the Mallard family carries out its morning routine. Mack Mallard stands on the bank, taut with worry, and he forbids his two young ones, Dax and Gwen, from paddling beyond the familiar water. His anxiety irritates his wife, Pam, who watches him with a mix of concern and exasperation. The tension between them grows when a migratory flock of ducks appears on the horizon, heading south toward warmer climes. The sight rivets Dax and Gwen; they buzz with curiosity and longing to follow the visitors. Mack, however, refuses to consider leaving the pond. Pam confronts him directly and tells him he must widen his perspective and allow his family to see the world beyond their home.

That night Mack takes the issue to his uncle Dan, an older, solitary duck who lives among the reeds. Dan confesses that he too has clung to the pond his whole life, but his confession contains an ache of loneliness. Listening to Dan's admission unsettles Mack, and, after a long, uneasy pause, he announces that he will permit the family to migrate. At Gwen's gentle insistence, Uncle Dan decides to come along, and the small group prepares to set off with the other ducks.

A sudden rainstorm forces the travelers to seek cover beneath a raised boardwalk where a swamp pools in shadow. The family squeezes into the soggy shelter and meets two ragged herons who live in a shanty tucked into the reeds. The elder heron, Erin, examines the Mallards with a wary expression while her husband Harry sits silently at the shack's threshold. Erin's appearance is startling--bony, creaky--but she proves warm in action rather than in looks when a huge catfish darts up and snatches at Dax and Gwen. Erin moves quickly, thrusting her beak into the water and plucking the youngsters clear of the fish's grasp. After she rescues them, Erin and Harry invite the Mallards to stay the night in their shack, and the family accepts the shelter long enough for the storm to pass.

When the sky brightens the group resumes its journey and arrives in New York City. The urban sprawl astonishes the Mallards: towering structures, relentless traffic, and endless sidewalks. Uncle Dan's unfamiliarity with city ways leads him to blunder into a squabble with a pigeon mob that patrols a crowded plaza. The pigeons, rough and territorial, accost the newcomers under the leadership of a combative pigeon called Chump. Pam intervenes with calm and firmness, defusing the confrontation by negotiating terms; her diplomacy prevents a brawl. Chump grudgingly accepts and, in turn, introduces the Mallards to a striking scarlet macaw named Delroy. Delroy is gaudier than any bird they have seen and speaks with a Caribbean cadence. He is caged and confined to the kitchen of a high-end restaurant where a human chef keeps him as a captive companion.

Mack and Pam resolve to free Delroy. They slip into the restaurant at night, scuttling through the greasy corridors and dodging swinging pots. The kitchen bustles with human hands that would crush them without noticing; Mack and Pam dart under crates and along steam pipes to locate the chef's office where they know the key to Delroy's enclosure is kept. Pam distracts a sleeping sous-chef by mimicking a dropped utensil while Mack inches along a ledge and nabs a ring of keys from a hook. With a key clenched in his beak they slip back to Delroy's cage, insert the metal into the lock, and turn it. The door swings open and Delroy bursts free in a flurry of brilliant red and gold feathers. He thanks them and offers to guide the Mallards to Jamaica, where he comes from and where he hopes to return.

As the group follows the coastline south, Gwen pauses to answer a call of nature at the side of the road, and in that moment Mack finds a narrow opening that leads into a seaside resort. The complex proves inviting at first: manicured ponds, warm lights, and shrugs of tropical plants. Residents there include pekin ducks, a pale, plush variety that live in well-kept enclosures designed for human guests to admire. The Mallards and Delroy enjoy the resort's comforts for a while, tasting the strange cultivated waters and basking under decorative lamps. Then Dax stumbles upon a hidden pier and hears the honed voice of the same chef who had kept Delroy. He discovers that the resort operates as a duck farm to supply restaurants; the pekins are being fattened for sale and slaughter. Alarmed, Dax rushes back to warn his parents, but in his panic he alerts the pekins. The chef, realizing his lucrative supply is threatened, rushes into the enclosure and, attempting to capture the intruder, steps heavily on Dax. The force crushes his wing feathers and snaps some feathers loose, leaving Dax injured and unable to fly.

The Mallards react in disarray. Mack orders Dax to rejoin Pam, furious at his son's recklessness, but Dax cannot ignore what he has learned. The family and Delroy help the pekins escape the adjacent pens, and they create a chaotic, noisy opening as the birds flee across the grounds. During the scramble the chef clambers aboard a nearby helicopter, his profit and reputation at stake, and hovers over the escapees. He throws a large net from the aircraft that plucks most of the fleeing birds out of the air and the grass, lifting several into the sky and into captivity. Only Dax and Gwen avoid the snare: Dax hides under a boardwalk, and Gwen ducks beneath a picnic table. The captured birds cry and flap suspended beneath the spinning chopper.

The chef hauls the netted birds back to a loading area and shoves them into a cargo hold. He is furious and wants revenge, especially on the Mallards, whom he blames for the ruin of his operation. He proclaims that he will make an example of them, speaking of killing Mack and Pam first to punish them for aiding the pekins. He secures the Mallards inside a metal cage that he suspends over the hold and rigs a trapdoor beneath them linked to a release mechanism at the center of the airship's cargo platform. The chef smirks and departs to attend to other business, confident in his control.

Inside their metal confinement Mack and Pam survey the cage and the buttons that operate the trapdoor. While trying to reach the release panel and unfasten themselves, they remember a salsa routine they learned in the restaurant kitchen while watching cooks celebrate a holiday. Using the rhythm to coordinate their movements, they shimmy and spin the cage in a synchronized step intended to shift it toward the central mechanism. The effort moves the cage incrementally, and their hopes rise, but a light above flashes and the chef returns to the hold. He catches them mid-dance and laughs cruelly. The chef moves to punish them for their insolence, and the tension tightens as he raises his foot to strike.

Outside the hold, Delroy, Uncle Dan, and the escaped pekins refuse to surrender. They assemble quickly and begin to pelt the chef with whatever they can find: tossed bread, discarded kitchen scraps, and the occasional clam shell. The pellets rain down with precision and intensity. One of the pekins hurls a bowl of slaw that strikes the chef's head and knocks him backward; another tosses a heavy pot lid that clanks against his shoulder. The barrage disorients him. Delroy, bobbing midair, screeches and swoops, adding to the commotion. The chef staggers, and in his faltering he trips against the cargo net's release button. The net jerks, the mechanism snaps, and the chef himself is caught up in the cargo befalling his victims: the net collapses and sweeps him off his feet as Mack and Pam's cage tumbles toward the trapdoor.

The cargo door gives way; the chef, tangled in netting, dangles as the net carries him down. Mack and Pam's cage drops with them still inside. The fall severs ropes, and the metal slams them outward. As the cage plummets the chef manages a muffled shout, then the net tightens and snares him against the side of the hold; his face goes pale as the stunned, downed human realizes he will not reign victorious. Mack and Pam remain suspended in a hiss of cold wind and approaching ground until--at the last instant--Dax and Gwen reveal themselves. The siblings had taken refuge in the rafters and used pieces of discarded plumage and the pekins' shed down to fashion improvised wings. Dax attaches feather fragments to his injured wing, rigging them with twine and adhesive from an abandoned crate. He leaps, catches the breeze, and manages to brake the cage's fall. Gwen secures a trailing rope and together they pull with all their might, slowing the descent until the cage thuds into a muddy embankment rather than smashing into a broken platform. Mack and Pam tumble free, shaken but alive. Mack embraces Dax; his anger washes away and he thanks his son through a tight, breathless quack. The family exchanges apologies and embraces, a reconciliation realized in the aftermath of peril.

With the chef subdued and his net tangled at the docking bay, the birds regroup. Delroy leads the Mallards and the freed pekins along a coastal route and onto a ship bound across warm seas. They traverse blue-green water and fly over islands studded with palms. Landfall occurs at last in Jamaica, and Delroy greets kin in a rainbow of scarlet and gold. The reunion is loud and effusive--Delroy circles his flock, calling names and ruffling feathers as old friends close the distance. The Mallards scan the shore and, on a bright morning, spot the family of ducks that first visited their pond months earlier. Those visitors greet the Mallards with warmth, and the two duck families overlap and mingle on the sands and in the shallow bays. Mack and Pam stand together while Dax and Gwen dart playfully through tidal pools, and Uncle Dan wanders among the mangroves in quiet contentment. The pekins, having escaped certain fate, settle into a new environment where they can roam freely.

Seasons advance. Spring returns to the northern hemisphere and the Mallards catch a cold northbound wind on the beaches of Jamaica. In a final chapter of journeys, they encounter a group of penguins who have been misdirected to tropical waters and now want to reach the Antarctic. The Mallards and their companions help the penguins by guiding them to a shipping lane and arranging passage aboard a freighter whose crew understands how to care for cold-adapted birds in transit. The Mallards assist in loading the penguins into insulated crates and stand guard during the voyage, ensuring the animals' comfort. The freighter charts a course toward the Southern Ocean; the penguins wave goodbye with flippers pressed to crates as the ship disappears into a ribbon of white sea spray.

The film closes on the Mallards back at their pond in New England the following spring. The ice melts and reeds thrust green shoots skyward. Mack, Pam, Dax, Gwen, and Uncle Dan swim together among newly surfacing lilies. They hear distant honks: migratory flocks pass overhead, and the Mallards look up without fear. The final image holds on the family paddling contentedly across a mirror-smooth pond, reunited and changed by the people and places they have encountered on their long, eventful journey.

Short Narrative Ending: In "Designing Christmas with You," Colbie, an ambitious interior designer, and Ben, the estate manager of the historic Chapman House, work together to prepare the house for a Christmas gala. Initially, their differing visions cause tension, but as they collaborate, they develop feelings for each other. Despite facing personal and professional challenges, they successfully complete the project and decide to become partners both romantically and professionally.

Expanded Narrative Ending:

The movie begins with Colbie, a dedicated and innovative interior designer, receiving a crucial assignment from her boss to decorate the historic Chapman House for its annual Christmas fundraiser. This project is pivotal for her career, as it could lead to a promotion and allow her to host her family for Christmas.

Colbie's first encounter with Ben, the estate manager, occurs in a charming meet-cute at a store, where she accidentally hits him with a snowball. Unbeknownst to her, this chance meeting sets the stage for their professional partnership. Upon arriving at the Chapman House, Colbie discovers that Ben is her unexpected partner for the project.

As they start working together, their differing approaches to design create tension. Colbie is keen on modernizing the house's decor, while Ben prefers to maintain its traditional charm. Despite these creative differences, they begin to develop an attachment to each other.

As the project progresses, Colbie and Ben face several challenges. Colbie's career is on the line, and she must balance her creative vision with the need to please her boss and the gala attendees. Meanwhile, Ben's commitment to tradition is tested by Colbie's innovative ideas.

In a pivotal moment, Colbie faces a double whammy of personal and professional setbacks. However, the specifics of these challenges are not fully resolved in the narrative, leaving some plot threads open.

Despite these obstacles, Colbie and Ben manage to put aside their differences and work together seamlessly. Their collaboration culminates in a spectacular Christmas gala, which showcases both their design skills and their growing relationship.

The climax of the movie features the successful execution of the gala, where Colbie and Ben's hard work pays off. The event is a huge success, and their partnership is celebrated by all who attend.

In the final scenes, Colbie and Ben decide to become partners not just professionally but also romantically. They realize that their differences are what make their partnership strong, both in design and in life. The movie concludes on a hopeful note, with Colbie and Ben looking forward to a future filled with love, creativity, and mutual respect.

The fate of each main character is resolved positively: Colbie achieves her career goals and finds love, while Ben finds a partner who respects his values and traditions. The movie ends with a sense of fulfillment and new beginnings for the protagonists.

The movie Designing Christmas with You (2023) does not have a post-credits scene. None of the available sources or reviews mention any additional scene after the credits, and typical family-friendly Christmas movies like this one rarely include post-credit scenes. The film concludes with the resolution of the romantic and professional partnership between Colbie and Ben, without any extra teaser or continuation after the credits.

The movie Designing Christmas with You (2023) is generally considered family friendly and rated TV-PG, making it suitable for most children and sensitive viewers. It is described as a clean, cozy love story free of foul language, sexual content, nudity, or violence. The film promotes positive themes such as selfless love and kindness without engaging in any controversial or mature topics.

Potentially objectionable or upsetting content is minimal or nonexistent. There are no reports of intense or frightening scenes, and the conflicts in the story are mild and typical of romantic holiday movies, involving misunderstandings and work-related challenges rather than anything graphic or disturbing. The tone is heartwarming and comforting, with no explicit or mature material.

In summary, Designing Christmas with You is suitable for children and sensitive viewers, with no notable objectionable scenes or aspects beyond mild romantic tension and typical relationship conflicts common in holiday romance films.