Prancer is a 1989 Christmas fantasy drama film directed by John Hancock, written by Greg Taylor, and starring Rebecca Harrell, Sam Elliott, Cloris Leachman, Abe Vigoda, Michael Constantine, Rutanya Alda, John Joseph Duda, and Ariana Richards. It is set in Three Oaks, Michigan, where town exteriors were filmed. Filming also occurred at the Old Republic House in New Carlisle, Indiana, La Porte, Indiana, and at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, Illinois.

The film was followed by a direct-to-video sequel called Prancer Returns, released by USA Home Entertainment in 2001. In 2022, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released a remake called Prancer: A Christmas Tale.

Eight-year-old Jessica Riggs and her older brother, Steve, are being raised by their widowed father, grieving and cantankerous John. Their apple farm has fallen on hard times, with John temporarily being helped by his sister-in-law, Sarah.

While walking home after a school Christmas pageant, Jessica and her best friend, Carol, witness a plastic reindeer fall from a Christmas decoration hung above the main street in town. She concludes it was Prancer from the order given in the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas (a.k.a. The Night Before Christmas).

Afraid he will be unable to provide for Jessica, John discusses a plan for Sarah to take her in to raise temporarily. She overhears this, but initially does not know the full details. She and Carol go sledding and knock down some flowers at a house owned by a reclusive widow named Mrs. McFarland. While walking home, Jessica encounters a live reindeer in the woods. He runs away, disappearing into the darkness. At school, she tells her friend Carol who doesn’t believe it then gets dumped as a friend for being agnostic which she jokes about. Later, while walking home from school, she finds his tracks and follows them into the woods once more. She hears a gunshot, and continues to walk. John eventually finds her and brings her into his truck, but almost hits the reindeer who is now standing in the road. Noticing he's wounded, he grabs his rifle, intending to shoot him. As Jessica pleads for him not to do so, he disappears.

Later while dreaming of Prancer, Jessica is startled awake by the scene of the plastic reindeer falling from earlier. She hears a noise and sees that the door to the barn is open. Investigating, she finds the reindeer is now inside among the other animals. Afraid John will find him, she moves him to a shed. Certain that he is the "real" Prancer, she takes it upon herself to nurse him back to health. She calls a veterinarian named Dr. Orel Benton who initially refuses, but comes over to tend to him.

Jessica later tells a mall Santa that she has Prancer, and gives him a Polaroid picture and letter to give to the real Santa before Christmas Eve. He takes them to the editor of the local newspaper. Jessica shows Prancer to Carol, and Steve walks in the barn as well. Jessica makes them promise not to tell anyone about him. Eventually, she apologizes to Mrs. McFarland for knocking down her flowers, and asks her if she can have a job to help raise money to buy a bag of oats for Prancer. Mrs. McFarland agrees to pay her to clean a room in her house, and they become friends. The newspaper editor, inspired by Jessica's faith, writes an article which is then read by the local pastor in the middle of his sermon. Jessica, who's attending with Steve, finds out she has been outed to the entire town. She becomes mad at Carol, who she thinks squealed. She later finds the article in the newspaper.

Meanwhile, John is reading the newspaper. Before he finds the article, he discovers Prancer has escaped from the barn and let all the other animals out too. While he tries to round them up, Prancer goes inside the house and wreaks havoc. Townspeople begin to converge on the farm, wanting to see him. John grabs his rifle, threatening to shoot him when a local butcher stops him, offering to buy Prancer. The butcher keeps him as a sales tool for his Christmas tree lot. Jessica, afraid he will kill him, runs away in the snowy night determined to rescue him. Steve runs after her, telling her he loves her even though he doesn't understand her sometimes. Hearing how she feels, he decides to help her free Prancer. He tries to break the lock open, while she gets the idea to climb to the top of Prancer's cage and let him fly out. Steve is worried for her safety and yells at her to come down. She attempts to open the cage but falls, injuring her head in the process.