Olive the Other Reindeer is one of the best Christmas movies of all time.

I know, I know. I can see the skepticism on your face. It’s a bold statement to make for a 1999 made-for-TV special, animated in a time before CGI had caught on with the mainstream and people still thought wearing all denim was cool.

How can a film about a talking dog thinking she’s a reindeer compare to the championed classics like It’s a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story? To answer your question, you simple-minded mortal, Olive the Other Reindeer strips down the human condition to its very essence, leaving bare the fragility and brokenness of our souls so that it may build them back up again anew.

Okay, okay, it doesn’t do that. At least, not as artfully as I’ve described. But it’s still a dang good Christmas movie.

As briefly mentioned earlier, Olive the Other Reindeer (based on the book written by Vivian Walsh and illustrated by J. Otto Seibold) is a film about Olive, a happy go-lucky dog (voiced by Drew Barrymore) who goes on a trip to the North Pole to save Christmas for the world and prove her worth to her heartbroken owner.

After coming home from town one evening, Olive is chastised by her owner for not being a normal dog. Olive, you see, is much more sophisticated than most dogs. She doesn’t chase cars and she definitely isn’t the kind to pee on flowerbeds. And, well, she talks. As does her pet flea.

Dejected from disappointing her owner, Olive slumps into her doghouse and decides to turn on the radio. While surfing through radio stations, Olive stumbles upon a news station broadcasting about how one of Santa’s reindeer was injured. The radio broadcast goes on, with Santa concluding he might be able to make due with “all of the other reindeer.”

After hearing the news report, Olive springs into action, thinking that she must be a reindeer since she’s such a poor dog, and heads to the North Pole. On her way, Olive meets a multitude of colorful characters such as a con artist penguin named Martini (voiced by Joe Pantoliano) and a grinch-like postman (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) hellbent on stopping Christmas.

And it’s actually funny. Even if the line about Santa’s cancellation didn’t make you laugh, the script (penned by Steve Young, a longtime staff writer for the Late Show with David Letterman) manages to

throw gags out by the minute and the film consistently maintains a humorous tone throughout. It’s a charming, intelligently written film that will keep you smiling throughout with its mix of lowbrow and highbrow jokes. And, surprisingly, it has one of the most wonderful, meta Deus Ex Machina moments in the history of cinema. (You’ll know it when it happens.)

Par for the course of an animated Christmas film, Olive the Other Reindeer has a few musical numbers that sporadically appear to give exposition on character motivation. Hold your groaning—the musical numbers that sporadically appear are surprisingly memorable and just as well-written as the film itself. Dan Castellaneta and Drew Barrymore give their performances their best and stand up well beside musical guest Micheal Stipe, the lead singer of R.E.M.

All of these things on their own would create a quality film worth watching but nothing truly extraordinary. What makes Olive the Other Reindeer so extraordinary and gives it the ability to stand out from the plethora of Christmas films that get churned out every year is its open-faced genuineness and sincerity. Olive the Other Reindeer is a film of relentless optimism.

Olive is a character that never gives up, even when the world around her conspires against her. The film itself never mocks Olive’s mission, even when various characters in the film do. It celebrates risk-taking and doing your best to make a better world for everyone. It’s a film that says a dog can take the place of a flying reindeer for a night and makes you genuinely believe it.

Olive the Other Reindeer may not actually be one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time*, but it will always remain one of my favorites because of its heart. Olive the Other Reindeer shows us that even the unlikeliest of things can happen if we believe in them and work for them to come true.

It’s a film that cares about people—a film that shows us hope is worth chasing, even in a broken, defeated world. And in a year like 2016, I think that’s something we all could use.

*It is, after all, a 45 minute special. Some may question my usage of the term “film” in reference to this feature. but I don’t know else to call it. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences constitutes a short film as “being under 40 minutes, including credits.” Take your grievances up with them, not me. If you want to take me up on anything, take me out to dinner.