I'm in a musical based off of the movie It's a Wonderful Life and I am sooo excited!!!! This is one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time!!! It's really old(1946) but if you guys haven't seen it, you really should watch it!!!! It has an AMAZING message.

If any of you watched Veggie Tales you might have seen It's A Meaningful Life, it was based off of the original movie.

*Spoilers Below. Like, this is literally a summary of the whole movie. I'm sorry. At least there's some GIFS. You have been warned.*

It's A Wonderful Life starts off in a town on Christmas Eve. It is snowing and the streets are empty. There are voices, all praying for a man named George Bailey.

Then it goes to the sky where there are a bunch of stars. One of the 'stars', Franklin, says that it is an important night and they need to take action immediately. They need to send someone down.

It is Clarence's turn, but Clarence doesn't have his wings yet. Franklin tells Joseph to get Clarence anyway. When Clarence is told that he needs to help someone he asks if the man is sick.

This, according to Franklin, is worse. George Bailey is discouraged and that might he will 'throw away God's greatest gift'.

If he helps, he will get his wings. Before he can help though, he has to learn what kind of person George Bailey is.

The time switches to 1919 and a bunch of young boys sliding down a hill onto a frozen pond. George, age 12, was there along with his little brother Harry, age 8. George slides down is fine, so Harry goes, but he breaks through the ice.

Without a second thought, George jumps in. He manages to save Harry, but George gets sick from the water and gets in ear infection. He lost all hearing in his left ear.

Then we see that he works at Gower's Drugstore.

Two girls are there, Violet and Mary(both Harry's age). Both girls have huge crushes on George. After Violet leaves, Mary sort of makes her move.

After she leaves, George gets yelled at by a drunk Mr. Gower for talking instead of doing his job. George notices a telegram next to the cash register. The telegram is from a college saying that Mr. Gower's son died that morning of influenza. George goes to the back of the store and worriedly asks if Mr. Gower wants him to do anything back there.

Mr. Gower says no and then drops some pills he was making. George cleans them up and puts them in the box. Then he sees a poison bottle, Mr. Gower had used it when making the pills.

Mr. Gower wants him to deliver the pills doesn't and when Mr. Gower gets a call saying George hadn't delivered them he got mad. He starts hitting George, causing his bad ear to bleed. Then George tells him about the poison. Mr. Gower apologizes and thanks George, who promises not to tell anyone about the poison.

Then it's 1928. George, 21, is about to go on a trip to Europe before college. Mr. Gower even bought him a suitcase for the trip!

His father wants him to stay in Bedford Falls and take over the Bailey Building and Loan, but George wants to get OUT.
George goes to Harry's graduation party and dances with, guess who, Mary!

He walks her home and on the way she mentions wanting to live in the old abandoned Granville house.

Then someone pulls up and says that his father had a stroke. His father died, and George missed his Europe trip but was still going to leave for college, until...Mr. Potter, the old rich jerk, wants to take over/shut down the Bailey family business.

George and his Uncle Billy argue. The city Board agrees to keep it open but George was to stay and run it. He agrees.

George used his college money to send Harry to college, and he comes back married. When he got back, Harry was supposed to take over so George could go to college, but Harry's wife Ruth mentions that her father was giving Harry a job. When George hears that it's a good job, he tells Henry to take it and he gives up college again.

Then Mrs. Bailey talks about how Mary is back from college. George goes to visit her. They argue, then kiss. They're in love!

They get married and are leaving town for their honeymoon when they are stopped. There's been a run on the bank!!!

The bank called for their loan, it needed it to pay back the people because they had no money(hint hint, this is the beginning of the Great Depression). It took all of their money to pay the debt, so the Baileys had no money to give the people back.

Then Potter calls. He says he'll repay money that George's costumers lost, by himself! The costumers want to go to Potter, but if they do George knows that Potter will take advantage of them in the future. George will have to shut down if they leave, but the Building and Loan has no money.

Mary offers up the $2,000 for their honeymoon and they just manage to pay the people what they immediately need.

Their honeymoon is spent in the Granville house, which they fix up to live in.

George, through the Building and Loan, builds nice houses and sells them for a little money. He wants to help the people in Bedford Falls, even if it means his business barely scrapes by. Potter offers him a job making 10 times what he already did. George was going to think about it, but remembers how awful Potter is and refuses.

Then he and Mary have four children; Peter, Janie, Tommy, and Zuzu.

Then came World War II. Harry became a pilot and shot down a lot of planes and saved a transport full of soldiers.

Then it is present day, the morning of Christmas Eve. Harry is coming back on Christmas and everyone is excited.

Uncle Billy, who is very forgetful, is at the bank depositing $8,000. He has a newspaper in his hand and sees Mr. Potter. He brags to him about the paper because Harry is in it for being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Then he gives Mr. Potter the paper and goes to turn in the money, but it's gone! Uncle Billy leaves, frantically looking for it. He had accidentally tucked it into the paper he gave Potter and Potter, being a jerk, doesn't say a word.

He tells George and they search for it all day. In the evening George finally loses it and snaps, yelling at Uncle Billy.

From there it all goes downhill.

He goes home and everyone is decorating for Christmas. He gets annoyed by every little thing. He goes to see Zuzu who is sick. She won a flower at school and didn't wear her coat home because she didn't want to crush it. She gives George some of the petals, which he puts in his pocket. Mary calls the teacher and George takes the phone, calling her and her husband awful names. He snaps again and complains about the drafty house and noisy children, making Janie cry.

George goes to see Potter to ask for a loan. Potter laughs at him and refuses, George has nothing to offer him in return. George tells him that he has a $15,000 life insurance policy. Again, Potter laughs and(foreshadowing) says, "Why, you're worth more dead than alive!"

George leaves and goes to a bar. The tender, a nice man named Nick, asks if he's okay and if he needs anything. The man sitting next to him hears that he is George Bailey and punches him! It's the teacher's husband. The man is thrown out but George leaves too. The people try to stop George who is acting strange, but he leaves.

George goes to a bridge and is about to jump when he hears someone in the water calling for help. He jumps in and saves the man, Clarence, who claims to be his guardian angel.

George tells Clarence that he wishes he'd never been born. Clarence decides to make it happen.

George goes into the bar again, but Nick is mean and doesn't know George. A man comes in for alcohol, George realizes that it's Mr. Gower!

Nick throws a bottle of seltzer in his face and everyone laughs. Gower tries to smile(honestly, his look breaks my heart) and the bouncers throw him out.

George asks why they did that and is told that Gower spent 20 years in jail for poisoning a kid.

George checks his pockets. His wallet isn't there, or his insurance, or Zuzu's petals. His bloody lip from getting punched is gone too.

The town is now called Pottersville and is full of bars and gentlemen's clubs. The Building and Loan has been closed for 20 years. He gets a cab to take him home, but his house is abandoned! No one is there!

George sees a sign for Ma Bailey's Boarding House. He goes there. His mother is all alone and runs a boarding home. She tells him that Uncle Billy is in an insane asylum.

He goes to Bailey Park(where they built houses) but it is a cemetery. He stops when he sees a grave.

Harry died and so did all the men he saved because George never saved Harry.

Clarence reluctantly tells George where Mary is. She never married and is a librarian. She is rightfully terrified when George hugs her and she runs away screaming.

George goes back to the bridge, praying about how he wants to live again!

And he does! He runs back to his home!

It's full of people! Mary had called everyone and told them what happened. They all came over to help and give George all the money they owed him from the past! Harry even flew in early.

They had the money they needed! Then a bell rings and, iconic moment, Zuzu says, "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wing."

Fin!

Sorry about the long summary, I just love this movie WAY too much. It's just so great and uplifting, yet totally under appreciated.

I ask people what their favorite Christmas movie is, and everyone can have their own opinion because we're all different people, but when I get answers like Elf and National Lampoon, I wonder. I think, have they ever seen White Christmas or It's A Wonderful Life?

Those movies are funny and tons of fun to watch, but this one has an AMAZING lesson and really shows the spirit of Christmas.

It has three really great quotes that always stand out to me, all from Clarence.

"You see George, you've really had a wonderful life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to just throw it away?"

"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"

And

"Remember George: No man is a failure who has friends."

Really, it's one of the most meaningful movies I've ever seen and I know it will stick with me forever.