‘Wish,’ ‘Smudge’ Celebrate the Spirit of the Holidays

Two modest but big-hearted new Christmas specials celebrate the spirit of the season on Sunday: “Annabelle’s Wish” on Fox and “Smudge” on TNT.

“Annabelle’s Wish” is a touchingly sweet cartoon about a calf with reindeer dreams and a little boy who can’t speak.

Billy, who lives on a farm with his beloved grandpa (Jerry Van Dyke), lost his voice after surviving the fire that took his parents’ lives. Annabelle the calf, born on Christmas Eve, becomes his closest companion, and Billy needs a pal, what with his selfish aunt (Cloris Leachman) scheming to take custody from Grandpa and a mean neighbor (Jim Varney) and his bullying sons threatening to take Annabelle away.

When Christmas rolls around again, Santa, who grants the animals the gift of speech each Christmas Eve, gives Annabelle a special wish. What she does with it illustrates just what friendship and Christmas are all about.

The show’s gentle message of selfless love, Randy Travis’ warm narration and the tuneful score by Steve Dorff and songs by Dorff, John Bettis and Travis are its strengths. So are the singers, who include Travis, Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss, Nanci Griffith, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Kevin Sharp.

In keeping with the season, the program is closely tied to the Make-A-Wish foundation, which benefits children with life-threatening illnesses. It also has been released on home video by Hallmark Home Entertainment.

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“Smudge,” TNT’s poignant drama about Cindy, a young woman with Down syndrome who rescues an abandoned puppy, is a tribute in more ways than one to hope and possibility.

The gentle, nicely shot film, directed and written by Hilary Jones-Farrow and based on Nan Gregory’s children’s book “How Smudge Came,” is not just about a young woman with Down syndrome, it also stars a young woman with Down syndrome.

Andrea Friedman, who plays Cindy, is no acting novice. She appeared in ABC’s “Life Goes On,” recently had a touching guest spot on NBC’s “ER” and here turns in a moving performance as a resident of a group home who is heartbroken when she’s not allowed to keep the little dog she names Smudge.

Not only are some of Cindy’s fellow residents allergic, but Cindy’s caretakers don’t think she can take care of Smudge, and they turn him over to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. When Cindy tries to claim the pup there on Christmas Eve, she’s devastated to find him gone.

Yet Cindy, who brings something special to the patients and staff at the local hospice where she cleans and to her friends where she lives, is destined to have a happy Christmas, thanks to those she has touched with her own caring spirit.

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* “Annabelle’s Wish” airs at 7 p.m. Sunday on Fox (Channel 11).

* “Smudge” will be broadcast at 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday on TNT cable.