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Santa Claus: The Movie

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Santa Claus
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJeannot Szwarc
Written byDavid Newman
Leslie Newman (story)
David Newman (screenplay)
Produced byPierre Spengler
Ilya Salkind
StarringDudley Moore
John Lithgow
David Huddleston
Judy Cornwell
Burgess Meredith
Jeffrey Kramer
CinematographyArthur Ibbetson
Edited byPeter Hollywood
Music byHenry Mancini (Score)
Leslie Bricusse (Lyrics)
Distributed byTriStar Pictures
Release date
November 27, 1985 (1985-11-27)
Running time
108 minutes
CountriesUnited Kingdom
United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30–50 million
Box office$23,717,291 (US)

Santa Claus: The Movie (known on-screen as simply Santa Claus) is a 1985 British/American Christmas film starring Dudley Moore and John Lithgow. It is the last major fantasy film produced by the Paris-based father-and-son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind. The film was directed by Jeannot Szwarc and released in North America on November 27, 1985 by TriStar Pictures. The 2005 DVD release was released by Anchor Bay Entertainment, now known as Starz Home Entertainment, under license from the film's current owner, StudioCanal; however, the current, 25th Anniversary home video release (which also now includes Blu-ray) is by Lionsgate Home Entertainment, again under StudioCanal's license.

Santa Claus: The Movie is a straightforward attempt to explore the mysteries of Santa Claus with the key objective being to answer some of the basic questions many children have about the Santa Claus mythos, such as how Santa's reindeer fly, how he and his wife made it to the North Pole, how Santa ascends chimneys, among other things.

The film chronicles the origins of Santa Claus (David Huddleston), who, along with his wife Anya (Judy Cornwell), goes from being a simple working man to becoming an international icon of Christmas. At the same time, the film also tells a contemporary story in which one of Santa's elves (alternately referred to as the "Vendequm" onscreen), a visionary named Patch (Dudley Moore), sets out to employ Santa's toymaking methods on his own, unaware that he might be ruining the magic of Christmas in the process.

Plot

Somewhere in the 14th century, Claus (David Huddleston) is a peasant woodcutter in his mid-50s who, with his wife Anya (Judy Cornwell), delivers his gifts to the children of a certain village. One night, Claus, Anya and their reindeer, Donner and Blitzen, are rescued from certain death in a blizzard, only to be transported to the vast "ice mountains, way up at the top of the world." Their expected arrival is heralded with the appearance of several elves, or – as Claus's people call them in their legends – the Vendequm, led by the venerable and wise elf named Dooley (John Barrard).

The Clauses also meet Patch (Dudley Moore), an inventive elf who has designs for such future items like plumbing and an alarm clock, and Puffy (Anthony O'Donnell). Introduced to the mass workshop where the elves construct endless amounts of toys for the world's children, Claus learns that it is his destiny to distribute those toys on Christmas Eve. After months of preparation, Christmas Eve arrives and Claus is granted the name "Santa Claus" by the Ancient One (Burgess Meredith), the eldest of the elves. Santa's yearly routine of delivering his gifts begins when he uses his modified sleigh and six additional reindeer to accompany Donner and Blitzen.

When all eight deer are joined together, they can fly by eating an otherworldly reindeer feed. Two separate musical montages follow, each depicting Santa delivering toys across the centuries, and demonstrating how a great deal of the mythos around him is established.

Eventually, the film moves to the late 20th century. Santa is becoming increasingly tired by the workload of toys he must deliver, combined with the ever-growing population of the planet. At that point, Anya suggests that Santa should have an assistant. Patch and Puffy are selected as candidates, and both their ideas are compared in a competition. A third musical montage takes us through the competition, which Patch ultimately wins through his invention of an automated manufacturing machine.

Several nights later, on Christmas Eve, Santa meets up with a homeless boy named Joe (Christian Fitzpatrick), with whom he immediately bonds, ultimately inviting the 10-year-old along for the night ride. During the flight, Santa tempts the reindeer into performing an aerial stunt dubbed the "SuperDuper Looper" in which the reindeer attempt to perform a 360° degree circle in midair, but, as often happens each year, the maneuver fails when Donner's aerial dizziness gets the better of him.

Santa and Joe unintentionally awaken a 9-year-old girl named Cornelia (Carrie Kei Heim), who had secretly spent some days befriending Joe. On Christmas morning, Patch is dismayed when his toys break and are returned to the workshop. Resigning his post as Santa's assistant, the reluctant Patch leaves the North Pole.

Patch goes to New York City where he meets B.Z. (John Lithgow), Cornelia's step-uncle (their specific relationship is never explained) – a greedy and scheming toymaking executive who is on the verge of losing his company due to the shoddy products he has made. Patch offers to help him make toys, believing at first that his toys are successful when he witnesses them being removed quickly from shops, although they are actually being recalled.

Patch uses the ingredient from the reindeer feed to create a lollipop that can make people float in midair, and it soon becomes quite popular among children, making Santa feel unwanted. B.Z. then manufactures candy canes using the ingredient, but is horrified to discover that a batch of the stuff will explode when exposed to extreme heat. On discovering this news, B.Z. resolves to keep this information a secret, lest he be possibly arrested. He captures and imprisons Joe when he finds him eavesdropping on him and his head of Research & Development, Dr. Eric Towzer (Jeffrey Kramer).

Patch later finds and frees a bound and gagged Joe and decides to return to the North Pole with him, when he sees a carved toy resembling himself, an "elf-portrait", given to Joe by Santa. The two friends buckle themselves into the incredible Patchmobile, which they have stuffed with loads and loads of the candy canes. The NYPD then go to arrest B.Z. after Cornelia alerts them of her uncle's crimes, but he eats some of the candy canes and finds himself floating in midair, eventually disappearing far, far up into the sky.

Having summoned him with an incomplete letter, Cornelia and Santa now pursue Patch and Joe until the Patchmobile explodes, the result of the candy canes' exposure to heat. Their only hope of saving them now is to attempt the aforementioned "Super Duper Looper". Finally, with Patch reconciled with his fellow elves, Joe is welcomed into the Clauses' family and Cornelia is invited to stay for a year. Dooley reacts to the addition of Joe and Cornelia by commenting: "As if I don't have enough to do! Now, I'm going to have to be a schoolteacher!" To which both children gasp: "School?!"

The film ends with the inhabitants of the North Pole celebrating the triumph with a joyous dance party. The film's final images are of B.Z. floating away into space, doomed to die of asphyxiation in the upper atmosphere among the floating remains of the Patchmobile.

Cast

Production

Conceived by Ilya Salkind in the wake of the apparently waning critical and U.S. box office success of 1983's Superman III and its immediate follow-up, 1984's Supergirl, Santa Claus: The Movie was directed by Jeannot Szwarc, who had directed Supergirl, from a story by David and Leslie Newman. David Newman, however, took sole screenplay credit. Pierre Spengler, Ilya's longtime partner, and the third key element of Team Salkind, joined Alexander's son as the project's producer. John Carpenter was originally offered the chance to direct, but also wanted a say in the writing, musical score and final cut of the movie. Carpenter's original choice for the role of Santa was Brian Dennehy.

Among the original choices to direct the film other than Carpenter were Lewis Gilbert, who, despite initial interest, could not agree with the Salkinds over certain aspects of the script. Robert Wise was also offered the chance to direct, but Wise had a different approach to the story, and doubtless would have made the project an altogether darker experience. Guy Hamilton, who'd had to withdraw from directing Superman: The Movie in 1976 (because he was a tax exile, and, as such, could only spend 30 days in England, where the movie would be filming), was very interested in directing and lobbied hard for the chance to do so, but only on the condition that the film be shot either in Los Angeles, Vancouver or Rome. Ultimately, the Salkinds chose Szwarc because of their excellent working relationship on Supergirl which many executives at TriStar Pictures believed was a masterpiece and would also become a megahit.

Santa Claus: The Movie was filmed in Buckinghamshire, England at Pinewood Studios, between August and November 1984. The film was photographed by Arthur Ibbetson, whose credits, among others, included the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971). Santa Claus: The Movie was his final feature film. Serving as film editor was Peter Hollywood.

The production was designed by Anthony Pratt, with costume design concepts by Bob Ringwood. The visual effects unit, as well as several of the production staff, were Salkind stalwarts from the Superman films: Derek Meddings, director of visual and miniature effects; Roy Field, optical visual effects supervisor; and David Lane, flying and second unit director.

The documentary, Santa Claus: The Making of The Movie, which chronicles the film's production, is introduced by David Huddleston, speaking straight to the camera in character as Santa, with Dudley Moore serving as on-screen host. The voice over commentary is performed by Ted Maynard, who had also done voice-overs for the film's original UK trailer. The documentary originally aired in the United States on ABC, on Christmas Eve, 1987. Anchor Bay Entertainment's now-out-of-print 20th anniversary DVD of the film included this documentary as a bonus feature; the Lionsgate DVD and Blu-ray versions currently feature the 50-minute feature as well. The Blu-ray version, however, also features a brief chronicle of the filming of the " 'Christmas II' Press Conference" sequence, as well as additional deleted scenes cut from the original theatrical version.

Moore had always been the top choice to play the lead Elf in the movie, Ilya Salkind having remembered a scene in Arthur in which Liza Minnelli's character asks Moore if he is Santa's Little Helper. Moore was attached to the project virtually from the offset, and therefore had a say on both scripting and choice of director. Originally, David Newman's first-draft script called for the character to be named Ollie; but Moore decided instead that the name should be changed to Patch, Patch being the nickname of his own young son, Patrick. Ilya Salkind, from the very beginning, had wanted an American actor to portray Santa Claus because he felt that the movie focused on a primary piece of Americana in much the same way that Superman: The Movie did. Brian Dennehy was the top choice of John Carpenter when he discussed the possibility of directing the film with the Salkinds. Jeannot Szwarc, however, felt that he needed an actor with more warmth than Dennehy, and toward that end, he had screen-tested such actors as David White (who, being in his late 60's, was considered too old for the role), and Moore's Arthur co-star Barney Martin. For a while, Ilya Salkind actively pursued Carroll O'Connor for the role before Szwarc showed him David Huddleston's screen-test, which won Salkind over. For the role of B.Z., the producers wanted a star with a similar stature to Gene Hackman when he had played Lex Luthor in Superman: The Movie. To this end, they offered the role to Harrison Ford who turned them down. They made offers to Dustin Hoffman, Burt Reynolds and Johnny Carson --- all of whom, for one reason or another, turned the part down. Eventually, John Lithgow was settled on after Salkind watched Terms of Endearment and realised that he had a Grinch-type look to him. The role of the Ancient Elf was written with James Cagney in mind; however, with Cagney being very weak in his old age, the legendary actor could not adequately assume the role, despite the fact that he liked the film's overall idea. Nonetheless, Cagney had no other choice but to turn the offer down, so Fred Astaire was considered. When this eventually came to nothing, Dudley Moore suggested his friend Burgess Meredith for the role, which he in the end won. Finally, it is worth noting that at the time of the movie's announcement in Summer 1983, the British Press carried reports that diminutive actors such as David Jason, Patrick Troughton and Norman Wisdom would be cast alongside Dudley as fellow Elves. This ultimately came to nothing.

Santa's elves

The elves in the film are portrayed as legendary beings known as the Vendequm. According to the Santa Claus: The Movie novelization written by science fiction/fantasy novelist Joan D. Vinge, the elves keep watch over all that happens in the world that borders their own magical realm. The Vendequm are described as being extremely fond of children since, after all, only children can see them, due to the innocence of their youth. The elves are fond of making things for children, and so they often journeyed out into the children's world, leaving their newly crafted toys where children would find them. According to the novel, with the passing of each new century, and as civilizations continued to rise and fall, it became more and more difficult and dangerous for the elves to venture too far out into the human world. Thus, the vast majority of the toys the elves made could not be given out, and were left to gather dust in their magnificent storeroom, the Toy Tunnel.

The novel also describes how, on a certain long-winter's night, the oldest and wisest elf of all, the Ancient One, foresaw the arrival of a man whose love for children would be equal to that of the elves. The Ancient One believed that this man would be the one to whom the elves would grant full immortality, along with the ability to deliver the elves' gifts to children all over the world.

In addition to Patch, Dooley, Puffy, Boog, Honka, and Vout, the film's screenplay and cast listing features three additional elves: Groot, the Elves' Senior Chef; Goober, the head of the Elves' tailoring shop, who crafts Santa's full red robes; and Goobler, who trains several of his fellow elves in the art of painting toys with their own beards.

Reception

Reaction to Santa Claus: The Movie has generally been negative, with a rating of 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, from the 17 reviews counted.[1] Box Office Mojo lists the film's total United States box office gross as $23,717,291,[2] less than its $30–50 million production budget.[3]

Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert noted some positive points to the film, writing that the film "does an interesting job of visualizing Santa's workshop" and Santa's elves. He also praised the film's special effects, particularly the New York City fly-over sequence involving Santa. Ebert also had some praise for Lithgow's "nice, hateful performance", but wrote that "the villain is not drawn big enough." He ceded that young children would probably like most of the film, but that older children and adults are "likely to find a lot of it a little thin."[4]

Vincent Canby of The New York Times was less positive than Ebert, calling the production "elaborate and tacky". He described the film as having "the manner of a listless musical without any production numbers". Unlike Ebert, he offered little praise for the film's production design. Canby quipped that "Santa's workshop must be the world's largest purchaser of low-grade plywood" and that the flyover sequences with Santa "aren't great." The only praise he had for the film's acting was for John Lithgow, who Canby wrote "(gave) the film's only remotely stylish performance."[5] A more recent review by William Mager on BBC.co.uk's review section echoed Canby and Ebert's comments.[6]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed and conducted by Henry Mancini, composer of the themes from The Pink Panther and Peter Gunn, with veteran lyricist and screenwriter Leslie Bricusse contributing five original songs. The song It's Christmas (All Over The World) was written by Bill House and John Hobbs with Freddie Mercury in mind. While it is known that Mercury recorded a demo for the House/Hobbs song at Pinewood Studios, he was never to make a full commitment to the project, as he and his Queen bandmates had already committed themselves to the Highlander soundtrack. In the end, Mercury turned down the project, stating that he felt that Queen had become overcrowded with requests to work on film soundtracks; as a result, Sheena Easton was ultimately chosen to record the tune. As mentioned on the DVD commentary of the movie by Jeannot Szwarc, Paul McCartney was asked to compose songs for the film. It is unknown why he did not do so in the end, but his song Once Upon A Long Ago had been indeed originally composed with the movie in mind.[7]

Track listing
  1. "Main Title: Every Christmas Eve 1 and Santa's Theme (Giving)" (Mancini/Bricusse)
  2. "Arrival of the Elves" (Mancini)
  3. "Making Toys" (Mancini/Bricusse)2
  4. "Christmas Rhapsody: Deck the Halls/Joy to the World/Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/12 Days of Christmas/O Tannenbaum/The First Noel/Silent Night"
  5. "It's Christmas Again" (Mancini/Bricusse)2
  6. "March of the Elves" (Mancini)
  7. "Patch, Natch!" (Mancini/Bricusse) 3
  8. "It's Christmas (All Over The World)" (Bill House, John Hobbs)5
  9. "Shouldn't Do That" (Nick Beggs, Stuart Croxford, Neal Askew, Steve Askew) 4
  10. "Sleigh Ride over Manhattan" (Mancini)
  11. "Sad Patch" (Mancini)
  12. "Patch Versus Santa" (Mancini)
  13. "Thank You, Santa" (Mancini/Bricusse) 2

1Sung by Aled Jones
2Performed by the Ambrosian Children's Choir.
3Performed by the Ambrosian Singers
4Produced by Ken Scott and performed by Kaja
5Produced by Keith Olsen for Pogologo Corporation, and performed by Sheena Easton.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Santa Claus: The Movie - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2006-12-14.
  2. ^ "Santa Claus: The Movie total gross". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2006-12-14.
  3. ^ Harmetz, Aljean (November 29, 1985). "At the Movies". The New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2011.
  4. ^ Ebert, Roger (1985-11-27). "Rogerebert.com - Santa Claus: The Movie review". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2006-12-14.
  5. ^ Canby, Vincent (1985-11-27). "FILM: 'SANTA CLAUS,' WITH MOORE AND LITHGOW". The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-12-14.
  6. ^ Mager (2000-12-01). "BBC - Santa Claus: The Movie film review". Retrieved 2006-12-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |firstpublisher= ignored (help)
  7. ^ Soundtrack: Santa Claus: The Movie soundtrack at Amazon.com
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