The 1998 Walt Disney Studios film I'll Be Home for Christmas follows 18-year old Jake Wilkinson's journey to get home in time to enjoy Christmas with his family. Throughout the movie, it is evident that Jake's actions are largely motivated by self-interest. However, by the end of his comical trip, he has learned some valuable lessons about caring for others instead of always thinking of himself.

Jake's father is so desperate to see his son for Christmas that he promises if Jake makes it home on time for the holidays he will give him the family's vintage Porsche. The boy thus tries to race home to claim the car for himself, and not because he wants to see his dad.

Due a classmate's prank, before embarking on his journey, Jake gets stranded in the Californian desert wearing a Santa Claus suit and a white beard glued with viscose onto his body and face. Without a penny on him, he then undergoes an arduous but hilarious journey freeloading his way across America from Los Angeles to New York. Instead of going directly home, he finds people along the way who need his assistance because they think he is Santa and that it is his job to help them. Each time he helps someone, he becomes a better person until he begins to make decisions based on other people's wishes instead of his own.

I'll Be Home for Christmas is a genuinely funny movie that is suitable for viewing by the whole family. The film really shows the extent to which human beings will go to try to fulfill their material desires! Even though Jake's motives initially are selfish, God never forsakes a chance to teach him the most precious lesson - to give and share - the true meaning of Christmas, which he learns from various people he meets, and from different episodes on his journey home that give him profound inspiration.