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This Yuletide TV movie was based on the novel Flight of the Reindeer, which also served as the film's British release title. As a child, Jerry McNeal (Richard Thomas) was rescued from certain death by a creature he described as a flying reindeer. Now an adult and a professional zoologist, Jerry is determined to prove that reindeers with the power of flight do indeed exist; a mission which, alas, causes him to neglect his wife, Debbie (Maria Pitillo) and daughter, Grace (Taylor-Anne Reid). Ultimately, Jerry's obsession takes him to the North Pole, where a jovial, elfin chap named Nick (Beau Bridges) may or may not be able -- or willing -- to satisfy our hero's insatiable curiosity. Underwritten by such commercial enterprises as Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, and General Motors, The Christmas Secret first aired over the CBS network on December 17, 2000.