Yesterday as I was writing about L Frank Baum’s Novel The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, i was surprised to find that the novella had been made into a movie. In the interest of research I found a copy on AMC+ (Free 7-day Trial) and watched all 50 minutes last night.
While I was intrigued by the fact that it was made by Rankin/Bass, using the claymation techniques found in Santa Claus if Coming to Town, and Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer, it only took a few minutes to discern that this is second or third rate R/B. The story and music was as clunky as the original material. It was soon clear why I had never heard of this film, and why it isn’t part of the yearly lineup of Christmas specials
If you don’t believe me, you can watch a clip (without signing up for a free trial here
The film begins near the end of the Baum story as the immortals gather to consider whether to grant Claus the Mantle of Immortality. This provides the structure to tell the story through flashbacks at a critical moment. More of the original story elements were there than I would have thought, though many are told in such shorthand that I wondered whether it would be comprehensible to someone who did not read the novella. But whatever it was, it wasn’t good by any stretch of the imagination.
I intended to report that as the point of the day, when I went on to YouTube this evening in order to find a clip to share, when what did I find, THERE IS ANOTHER ANIMATED VERSION OF THE STORY! The R/B version was made in 1985, and fifteen years later it was deemed necessary to remake it, this time with traditional animation.
I didn’t have the strength to watch the entire story again, so I only watched the trailer. Clearly this is the same story again, told in sequential fashion, in case children were too confused by the flashbacks. While the film was clearly a direct to,video release, it did feature the voices of national treasure, Hal Holbrook, his wife, Dixie Carter, and teen heartthrob-turned-voice-artist Robbie Benson. What I saw of it looked no better, hampered by subpar animation and the subpar story.
You can watch the trailer here
It didn’t stop there, for there were two other clips of the audiobook with sets of illustrations. This unknown story by a writer who is famous primarily for a movie of his book merited an animated retelling, and then more than a decade later, someone thought he could do a better job.
That’s the thing about Christmas, there’s always more than you expect…whether you want it or not.