Mrs. Paws Bonnie Somerville has just given birth to four adorable puppies named Hope, Jingle, Charity and Noble. Four months later, the Santa Pups each show their own personalities: Hope Tatiana Gudegast is always ready to act, though she sometimes rushes in without thinking; Jingle Marlowe Peyton loves to sing, even if her notes come out off-key; Charity Genevieve Hannelius is still learning how to share; and Noble Aidan Gemme pretends to be the leader, often pulling his sisters into trouble.
In school, Noble asks Eli Danny Woodburn and Eddy Richard Kind if they can have their own magic crystals, but they must understand the True Meaning of Christmas to earn one. The Santa Pups are then taken on a field trip to the cave of the Great Christmas Icicle, where they learn how magic is used and how the Christmas Magic in the icicle powers the crystals. They glimpse on the spirit map that Christmas spirit runs highest in Pineville, USA (in Montana, according to the map), where an ambassador named Michelle Reynolds has recently passed away.
In Pineville, every citizen is bursting with Christmas joy, including Thomas Reynolds [George Newbern], a widowed father, and his children Sarah Reynolds [Kaitlyn Maher] and Carter Reynolds [Josh Feldman], except for Carter, who is 12 and has lost his Christmas spirit after his mother’s death. The town’s mood contrasts with Mrs. Claus [Cheryl Ladd], who gears up to travel to Pineville to find a new Santa ambassador. Noble hatches a plan to take Eddy’s magic crystal collar and fly to Pineville to prove they are ready for their own crystals.
Once in Pineville, Noble begins granting the first Christmas wishes: Taylor wishes to skate really well, then Sally wishes for her two front teeth. Carter, fed up with the cheer, wishes for the Christmas spirit to disappear, which spirals into a terrible wish that starts affecting everyone. The Santa Pups meet Baxter [Trevor Wright], a dog with a shelter-owning owner, Jeb Gibson [Paul Rae], and after Carter’s wish takes hold, Baxter loses his kindness to animals and ends up capturing the pups.
Realizing their crystal is the key to restoring the town, the pups race to recover it and reverse the wish. They enlist help from Hope, but the descent proves risky when Hope accidentally wakes Brutus [Josh Flitter], a dog whose life has been rough because his owner Owen has lost his Christmas Spirit. Brutus explains the broader sadness that’s spread, and the pups agree to help get Santa to lift Brutus off the Naughty List.
Back in Pineville, Mrs. Claus, Carter, Sarah, the pups, and three Bright sisters—Agnes [Ali Hillis], Dorothy [Audrey Wasilewski], and Blue [Jennifer Elise Cox]—team up to bring back the town’s Christmas spirit by broadcasting on the radio and encouraging people to act with kindness and normalcy. Carter wishes for the Christmas spirit to last forever across the world, but the pups work to restore balance and reverse the mass wish. Noble returns Eddy’s crystal collar to him, and the Santa Pups, Eli, and Mrs. Claus head back to the North Pole. The finale finds the group singing about the True Meaning of Christmas, reaffirming that the season’s spirit comes from kindness, generosity, and togetherness.
