The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

It's better than it looks... I think

Everyone has their favorite Christmas movie. I liked them all well enough though I had a particular soft spot for the Rankin and Bass movies. I liked Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer and all the other related movies in that universe, but there was one particular movie that didn't fit into their particular Santa Clause mythology that Rankin and Bass created and perpetuated with their movies and that one was my personal favorite. It was called The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. It first aired in the United States on December 17, 1985 on CBS... three years before I was born.

The story is based on a book of the same title written by Frank L. Baum... the same man who wrote The Wizard of Oz.

I've never read the book because I didn't want to ruin my childhood by finding a bunch of differences between the book and the movie. I mean, the movie is 55 minutes long and the book is a small children's book, but look at what they did to The Wizard of Oz and you'll see why I didn't want my favorite Christmas movie ruined.

The story is pretty simple. A group of immortals meet to determine whether or not to give the Mantle of Immortality to a man named Santa Claus who is making his last Christmas trip that very night. The tallest of the Immortals and ruler of the Forest of Burzee, the Great Ak, argues for Santa to gain the Mantle by telling Santa's life story by explaining his upbringing by fairies, his move to the Valley of Hohaho (the Laughing Valley), how he came to make toys for children, and his conflict with the evil Agwas who thrive from naughty children somehow.

It's a very simple story and sweet. It give nice explanations for all of the Christmas traditions, even how the giving of gifts came to be on Christmas.

The music... left much to be desired. the effects were... well, it's an old Rankin & Bass film. A lot of the action and character movement left much to be desired for the time.

I've heard there's a 2000 Mike Young version, but I'm not sure how I feel about that one.

What I like about the story is that it begins its own mythology which is consistent behind many traditions. It has fairies and elves and gnomes which I always enjoyed. It's also just a cute story that is very easy to appreciate. It appeals to children while hinting at themes that adults can recognize and appreciates.

The conflict with the Agwas seemed a bit... awkward. The Immortals fight the the Agwas and Santa isn't involved... at all. It's actually a bit funny and lame for viewers though the idea of the fairies turning the weapons of the enemy against the enemy is consistent with the general characterization of fairies. Then the Great Ak goes to Santa and he's like, "We took care of it. Go back to delivering toys."

It's kind of corny in places, but I still enjoy it. It's no Hogfather which has replaced this movie as my favorite Christmas movie, but it's different from most of the other Christmas movies out there. I say it's worth a watch at least once and I bet the book is better.