Santa Claus: The Movie

Time to reintroduce a forgotten Christmas movie. I watched the Christmas fantasy film Santa Claus: The Movie, released on November 27, 1985. Starring David Huddleston, Dudley Moore, and John Lithgow, it is directed by Jeannot Szwarc. Taking place at the North Pole and New York City, it is rated PG.

Many centuries ago, a kindhearted toy deliverer named Claus, his wife, and their reindeer find their way to the North Pole. Meeting up with the elves and other reindeer of the place, he becomes Santa Claus and delivers presents to children every Christmas Eve Night forever. As time goes by, he develops into more and more of the man we know him to be today. In the present day, an elf from the North Pole named Patch finds himself in New York City being manipulated by an evil toymaker named B.Z., who wants to put Santa out of business. Can Santa stop B.Z. and save Patch?

When this movie was released, it did not do well, receiving negative reviews. Still, enough of the concept interested me to watch it. So, is it worth watching? To answer that, I will go over what the film has to offer. The first thing to note is the characters and the actors playing them. David Huddleston plays one of the best portrayals of Santa Claus I have seen. He perfectly represents the jolly goodness that we have come to expect from Santa. There are still unique elements to him, such as having doubts whether continuing Christmas is still a good idea nowadays or being capable enough to try to save the day. Dudley Moore’s performance of Patch is probably the weakest part of the movie. He is rather annoying, as most of his dialogue simply consists of putting the word “elf” into another word as a pun. The combination of poor dialogue and his lack of common sense in trusting an obviously evil bad guy makes it hard to root for him. John Lithgow’s performance as B.Z. might be the best performance of the movie. He is hilarious, with his over-the-top way of screaming memorable lines either in frustration or excitement. The remaining important characters are two kids who are allies of Santa named Joe and Cornelia, played by Christian L. Fitzpatrick and Carrie Kei Heim. They are both orphans, with Joe being homeless and Cornelia being rich, but they both try to help Santa when they discover B.Z.’s plan. They are believable as good kids trying to help save Christmas. Despite the problem with Dudley Moore, I do find the cast to be one of the stronger parts of the movie.

As for the story, it is hit or miss. When you see the origin of Santa, it is cool and among one of the best Santa origins we have gotten in film. However, some of the dialogue from the elves makes them sound like kidnappers, which does make the situation creepier than what was intended. The best scene of the movie is when a character named the Ancient Elf tells Santa of his prophecy. This scene is very memorable, which is helped by the actor who plays the Ancient Elf, Burgess Meredith. As the actor who played entertaining mentor characters in Rocky and Clash of the Titans, only he could pull off this scene as well as he did. When it goes to the modern day, there is plenty that does not make sense. An example is Santa pulling off a stunt in a heroic scene when it would have been more effective just to stay put. There are some well-done aspects of the plot, but they are mixed in with too many confusing moments.

Overall, this is not a Christmas classic, but I am glad I saw it. I feel that the things done right are enough to see it one time. While I can see why it was negatively reviewed and forgotten, I still think it got too much hate. This is not a movie I want to see again, but I recommend people to see it one time.

In this movie, Santa befriended the homeless boy Joe and he did try to help Santa. Seeing as how this is the Christmas season, I think this is the perfect time to help homeless people. They are human beings just like us, who happen to be in a horrible situation. Many of them are unable to get jobs to support themselves and they suffer from many problems influencing that, such as mental illness. Seeing as how many of us are lucky enough to have a home to be safe in, we need to do what we can to help. Donating money to causes that support the homeless, as well as fighting for better treatment of them, will make all the difference. As the weather gets colder, they need your support more than ever. This is the time of year to help those who need it most, so let us show them we care.