By Michael Lyons
“A Thanksgiving Turkey.” This term was used by several film critics when “Santa Claus: The Movie” debuted on November 27, 1985, just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Thirty-five Christmas seasons later, with innumerable holiday movies depicting Santa having followed, it’s easy to see that “Turkey” is a completely unfair assessment of “Santa Claus: The Movie.” The film does a wonderful job of creating its own mythology, establishing a compelling version of the North Pole, providing us with a scenery-chewing villain and using the superhero-origin-story paradigm to tell its story.
This last aspect is no surprise when one realizes that the film was produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind, who had brought us the “Superman” films. In fact, “Santa Claus: The Movie” was somewhat ahead of its time, in that it essentially was a “super hero event film,” the likes of which we are used to seeing today from DC and Marvel.
“Santa Claus: The Movie” opens in the 14th century, telling the tale of a generous woodcarver and his wife, who deliver their handcrafted toys to the local villages. One night, after visiting a village, the woodcarver and his wife are caught in a blizzard (their fate is left purposely vague) and they are saved by a group of elves.
The elves take them to their hidden workshop, where an ancient and wise elf (a cameo by Burgess Meredith, after James Cagney was unable to be part of the production), renames the toy maker Santa Claus.
What follows is a very creative and, yes magical, interpretation of the Reindeer, the Elves, the North Pole and Santa’s workshop. Through this, we are given an inventive look at how Santa grows in notoriety and his increasingly positive impact on the world (it’s especially sweet and humorous to see a scene in which Santa learns that a “new poem” entitled “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” has been written about him).
We then find ourselves in the 20th century, where Santa (character actor David Huddleston, so warm and charming in the role) employs one of his Elves, Patch (Dudley Moore, at the height of his popularity) to assist him in his work. During a trip to New York, Santa also befriends an orphan boy named Joe (Christian Fitzpatrick) and a young girl named Cornelia (Carrie Kei Heim).
If this whole first half of the film is Santa’s “origin story,” this second half is where the villain enters the film...with actor John Lithgow playing the role of greedy toy maker B.Z. giving new meaning to the term “over-the-top.”
B.Z. concocts a plan for a new Christmas (dubbed “Christmas 2,” a jab at both consumerism and movie sequels) and he dupes poor Patch into joining him. So, of course, it’s Santa Claus to the rescue.
While the second half of the film doesn’t work as well as the fantasy-based start of the film, “Santa Claus: The Movie” does a lot to deliver an original, big screen dose of Christmas magic. Director Jeannot Swarc (most famous for helming “Jaws 2”) deftly handles the film, particularly its more fantastical moments.
Also, whether you grew up with the film or not, it also functions as a nice, quant time capsule of the ‘80’s, complete with lovingly blatant product placements for Coca-Cola and McDonald’s (at the time, the latter offered Happy Meals and Christmas Ornaments from the film, another throwback, that only adds to the comforting feeling of the film).
Critics went after these marketing placements in the film, along with the fact that they felt Moore was underutilized and the film’s climax was a little underwhelming.
Those may be valid points, making one wonder why anyone would defend “Santa Claus: The Movie.” The major reason is that one can’t deny all the positives that the film does still provide. It’s not a heavy example of filmmaking that has taken its place alongside other Christmas classics. However, it is an original vision of St. Nick’s mythology and a movie that comments on commercialism and reinforces what the Holiday is all about.
And, as the movie celebrates its 35th anniversary this season, “Santa Claus: The Movie” continues to garner more devotees with each passing year.
Not bad for a “Thanksgiving Turkey.”
No comments:
Post a Comment