Two of the most lovable things in the world are coming together — Dolly Parton and Hallmark movies. Hooray!
Dolly Parton is teaming up with Hallmark for Christmas at Dollywood, a holiday movie that takes place at Dolly's amusement park in Tennessee. The movie stars Danica McKellar, and Dolly will also make a special appearance in it.
"Christmas at Dollywood features Danica McKellar in a story about finding love and new beginnings in the most familiar place: home," Michelle Vicary, executive VP of programming and publicity at Crown Media Family Networks, told Entertainment Tonight.
In the movie, Danica plays a single mom and Broadway producer whose holiday show goes bankrupt. She winds up producing a show back home in rural Tennessee at the Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival at Dollywood. Romance ensues (obviously), and Dolly swoops in to help Danica.
The movie will premiere in December as part of Hallmark's 10th annual Countdown to Christmas campaign.
Christmas at Dollywood takes place at Dolly Parton's family amusement park in the Great Smoky Mountains area of Tennessee.
Dolly became involved with the amusement park in 1986, at which point she renamed it Dollywood.
She explained her decision to get involved with the park in a 2010 interview with ABC:
“I always thought that if I made it big or got successful at what I had started out to do, that I wanted to come back to my part of the country and do something great, something that would bring a lot of jobs into this area.”
Dollywood is now the largest ticketed attraction in Tennessee. There's a theme park, water park, resort, and spa. There are also regular concerts and events, including performances by Dolly Parton herself.
One of the most beloved events at Dollywood is the annual Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival. The park turns into a winter wonderland with a giant Christmas tree, sparkling light displays, parades, and musical productions.
That festival is the focus of Christmas at Dollywood.
In the movie, Rachel Lewis (played by Danica McKellar) is a single mom and award-winning Broadway producer. She learns that investors have driven her holiday show into bankruptcy.
Rachel is from rural Tennessee, and she ends up with the opportunity to produce a show for the 20th anniversary of the Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival instead. She leaves New York City to return to her roots with her 9-year-old daughter Amy in tow.
Rachel becomes part of the staff at Dollywood, where she must work alongside a handsome entertainment director. The two don't quite see eye-to-eye, and they have conflicting visions of what the holiday show should look like.
That's when Dolly swoops in to help, and well … we'll have to wait to watch the movie to find out the rest!
Christmas at Dollywood starts filming in Tennessee in August, and it will premiere in December on the Hallmark Channel as part of the Countdown to Christmas program.
"Dolly Parton is a bright light who is rich in spirit, kindness and love," Michelle Vicary told ET. "A holiday movie set in a winter wonderland like Dollywood exemplifies the quality of the talent, storytelling and filmmaking that has made Countdown to Christmas the No. 1 program event on television for 10 years."
Danica, a veteran Hallmark Channel actor, says she's "so excited" to have the opportunity to work with Dolly.
"I grew up watching Dolly Parton on TV. I love her. She is everything," she told ET.
The two costars already get along famously.
"I got to meet her — she is charismatic and gorgeous and lovely, and she's the best person ever," Danica gushed. "I'm so excited that I get to work with her."
Danica added that the movie will have "a lot of really fun Dolly surprises."
This isn't the first time that Dolly has collaborated with the Hallmark Channel. In 2010, Hallmark produced a TV special celebrating 25 years of Dollywood.
In other Dollywood news, Dolly just extended her theme park to include a nearby forest. The new area, Wildwood Grove, encourages families to spend time in nature.
"We need to take care of the world’s trees," Dolly explained to the Sunday Post. "Without them we wouldn’t be here. They are friends who help us enjoy life on this planet, so we have opened this new part of Dollywood which means that folks can enjoy rides and games among trees."
As someone who grew up among the trees of the Smoky Mountains, Dolly was involved with the design from the very start to make sure that it was just perfect.
If you can't make it to Tennessee to experience Dollywood yourself, you can at least catch some of the magic on the Hallmark Channel this year.
