Countless motion pictures have been made involving Santa Claus --- some of which have been known to exhibit a cynical, sometimes dark demeanor. These 'cynical' pictures have presented Santa, at best, as a victim [i.e., Gremlins (1984)]; or, at worst, as a serial killer [the controversial Silent Night, Deadly Night, also from 1984]. In addition, an innumerable amount of short subjects, both in live-action and animation, have been produced which feature Santa. All of these, wisely, have presented the Jolly Old Elf in a significantly positive vein. What follows is a timeline of some of the major milestones, to date, of Santa Claus' movie resume:
1898 London --- George A. Smith produces the first major feature film entirely about Santa Claus. Entitled Santa Claus or The Visit of Santa Claus, the 75-foot-long feature uses trick photography to depict the traditional elements associated with Santa.
1900 Paris --- Georges (Trip to the Moon) Melies produces a mammoth, 520-foot-long feature, Le Reve de Noel (The Christmas Dream). It contains approximately 20 sequences featuring le Pere Noel.
1905 Edwin S. Porter directs the first American-made feature film about Santa, an adaptation of Clement Clarke Moore's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. The feature is 800 feet long, the longest-rolling such feature of that time, and involves special effects which utilize tabletop trick photography.
1912 London --- Leedham Bantock becomes the first film actor to be identified as having portrayed Santa Claus. The film in which Bantock appears, again titled simply Santa Claus, includes scenes photographed in a limited, two-tone color process.
1914 Menlo Park, NJ --- Thomas Alva Edison supervises a production of The Night Before Christmas under the direction of Ashly Miller. The Moore poem is adapted for the screen by Anne Hamilton Donnell --- the first film adaptation to involve the concept of a 'motion picture screenplay.'
1926 London --- George Cooper directs a stage-on-film play about Santa which uses a primitive sound recording system.
1927 Hollywood --- Warner Bros. breaks the sound-on-film barrier forever with Al Jolson as The Jazz Singer.
1932 Walt Disney's Silly Symphony Santa's Workshop is released; Wilfred Jackson directs this delightful animated short.
1933 Wilfred Jackson directs Disney's animated Santa again, in The Night Before Christmas.
1934 Laurel & Hardy's Babes in Toyland: Ferdinand Munier is featured as Santa, as the boys mistake the Jolly One's request for 600 1"-tall soldiers to be an order for 100 6"-tall soldiers! Later on, of course, these big boys come in mighty handy when Toyland must be defended against the evil Bogeymen; the battle is waged to the strains of Victor Herbert's March of the Toys.
1946 In Paramount Pictures' Road to Utopia, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby tell Santa that they don't believe in him. "You'll be sorry," chuckles Kris Kringle, producing two beautiful girls from his sack. Hubba hubba!
1947 Miracle on 34th Street. John Payne, Maureen O'Hara, Edmund Gwenn (his Oscar-winning Kringle), Natalie Wood. 'Nuff said.
1948 Max Fleischer Studios animates Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, using Robert L. May's original story. During this same period, the cartoon is remade to incorporate Gene Autry's recording of the Johnny Marks song.
1956 Miracle on 34th Street is remade for television as Meet Mr. Kringle! This episode of The 20th Century-Fox Hour is directed by Robert Stevenson; in addition to Thomas Mitchell as Kringle, the cast includes MacDonald Carey, Hans Conried, Teresa Wright, Sandy Descher and Ray Collins.
1959 Mexico City --- Los Estudios Churubusco Azteca, Latin America's largest motion picture facility, is the setting for the Battle of the Ages: Santa Claus vs. Pitch the Demon! Only a last-minute bit of intervention from Merlin the Magician permits Jose Elias Moreno as Santa to return to his domain before dawn.
1963 An hour-long indie feature, The Miracle of Santa's White Reindeer, features Charles Winninger as Santa, with Fritz Feld, Ruth Robinson, Dennis Holmes and Hal Smith.
1964 Joseph E. Levine presents a Jalor Production: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. John Call. Pia Zadora. 'Nuff said. That same year, Santa is abducted again --- this time, in The Magic Christmas Tree. Filmed entirely in Los Angeles, the story involves three young boys, a witch and her cat, and the rescuing of Santa --- all in what is apparently a Halloween/Christmas hybrid fairytale. Also in 1964: Rankin/Bass' One and Only, Original Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer --- television's longest continuously aired animated Christmas special, and cornerstone of Rick Goldschimdt's book (and current website!), The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass.
1965 Cinecitta Studios, Rome --- The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, directed by and starring Rosanno Brazzi, and conceived, written by and co-starring Paul Tripp, who also wrote the score and songs, including Glenn Yarbrough's title track. Brazzi portrays Phineas Prune, whose efforts to 'evict' Santa are thwarted when the children of the world purchase the North Pole. Brazzi's wife Lidia, Mischa Auer, and Alberto Rabagliati as Santa are also featured.
1966 Kansas City, Missouri --- Santa's Christmas Circus. John Bilyeu as Santa is joined by Frank Wiziarde (Whizzo the Clown) and members of the Johnny Miller Dance Studios for a magic carpet Christmas adventure.
1967 J. Edwin Baker supervises another hour-long indie feature, Santa Visits the Magic Land of Mother Goose. The film is briefly released in the Baltimore area in 1974.
1970 The animated hour-long indie feature Santa and the 3 Bears is produced.
1972 Santa and the 3 Bears becomes popular enough to spawn a sequel, Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (don't ask!).
1973 20th Century-Fox does Miracle on 34th Street AGAIN --- this time, as a full-fledged, made-for-TV musical starring Sebastian Cabot as Kris Kringle. Co-starring are Jane Alexander, David Hartman, Roddy McDowall, Tom Bosley and Jim Backus.
1984 New World Pictures acquires U.S. rights to a French-made feature, Here Comes Santa Claus. Armand Meffre as Santa helps 7-year-old Simon (Emeric Chapuis) search for his missing parents who, while out on an African holiday, have been kidnapped by a ferocious, human-eating Ogre (Dominique Hulin)! Also in 1984: ABC premieres one of Robert Halmi, Sr.'s earliest productions: The Night They Saved Christmas, starring Jaclyn Smith, Paul Williams, Art Carney as Santa, June Lockhart as Mrs. C, Mason Adams and Paul Le Mat. Williams also contributes several original songs to this tale of three kids and their mom as they quest to save Santa's workshop from destruction at the hands of her unsuspecting husband's nearby oil drilling station.
1985 Toronto --- Disney's One Magic Christmas: Jan Rubes as Santa, Elisabeth Harnois (pre-Adventures in Wonderland), Mary Steenburgen, Harry Dean Stanton, Arthur Hill. That same year: Well, you know what happened then, of course: Alexander Salkind Presents SANTA CLAUS: THE MOVIE!
1988 Ernest Saves Christmas: Aided and abetted by Jim Varney's Ernest P. Worrell, a retiring Santa (Douglas Seale) has 48 hours to pass his powers to his hand-picked successor (Oliver Clark) before the magic of Christmas is extinguished; it's up to Ernest and a cynical teen (Noelle Parker) to lend a hand.
1989 It Nearly Wasn't Christmas is produced for first-run television syndication. Charles Durning stars as Santa --- and almost calls it quits due to the Mortals' unappreciativeness; but one little girl out to bring her family together for the holidays may just change his mind. Ted Lange, Annette Marin and Bruce Vilanch [as the biggest elf in television history, yet!] co-star in this Osmond-supervised production (Wayne also co-stars; Jimmy co-executive produced; Merrill and Jimmy [with Kurt Bestor] wrote the title song, which Wayne sings!).
1991 NBC premieres Disney Television's In the Nick of Time, with Lloyd Bridges as Santa facing a major crisis: after 300 years as Santa, Our Hero must find a replacement within 4 days or revert to Mortaldom; only Michael Tucker can save the Eve. A Martinez, Cleavon Little, Jenny Parsons and Alison LaPlaca co-star.
1994 "In putting on this suit and entering this sleigh, the bearer waives any and all previous identity, whether actual or implied, and fully accepts the duties and responsibilities of Santa Claus until such time as said bearer is unable to do so either by accident or by design." Thus, The Santa Clause --- and Tim Allen's Scott Calvin soon finds himself unwilling heir to its power in Disney's hilarious holiday epic. Ironically, the Clause allows him to bond with Charlie, his young son (Eric Lloyd). Wendy Crewson, Judge Reinhold, Mary Gross and Peter Boyle co-star, along with David Krumholtz as the tough-talking but tender-hearted elf Bernard, who introduces Scott to the Clause. Also in 1994: 20th Century-Fox remakes Miracle on 34th Street for an unprecedented third time! Valentine Davies' classic Kringle saga is resurrected as the newest John Hughes production; Lord Richard Attenborough becomes the new occupant of Santa's throne. Dylan McDermott, Elizabeth Perkins, J.T. Walsh, Mara Wilson and Robert Prosky also star.
1996 Ah-nuld vs. Sinbad: Jingle All the Way. The Terminator and that happenin' comic star as battling dads on a quest to buy the hottest toy this season: TurboMan! James Belushi co-stars as a corrupt mall Santa who leads Schwarzenegger's Howard Langston to a warehouse flooded with red-suited, fake-bearded evildoers!
1997 CBS premieres Hallmark Entertainment/Corymore Productions' Mrs. Santa Claus, with Angela Lansbury in the title role, and Charles Durning once again donning the red suit of the Jolly One. Featuring the songs of Jerry Herman, this is the first made-for-TV musical in over 30 years; Michael Jeter and Terrence Mann co-star. Most magical moment: the concluding Lansbury/Durning duet, "The Best Christmas of All."
1998 Santa Claus --- grandfather? Believe it! 100 years after George A. Smith makes the first movie completely about Santa Claus, we are brought full circle, with Fox Family Channel/Saban Television's recent Like Father, Like Santa, with Harry Hamlin, Gary Coleman, Stuart Pankin, Roy Dotrice and, as Santa, William Hootkins! That's right, Star Wars fans: Jek Porkins is Santa Claus! And the concept of Santa Claus as grandpa is pretty unusual in and of itself. Anyway, Hamlin stars as Santa's son, Mortal name Tyler Madison, toy executive. The estrangement of senior and junior Claus, which occurred many years ago, finds its parallells in Tyler's own estrangement from his own wife and young son, as Tyler rarely spends time with either of them. Meanwhile, Pankin portrays an ungrateful North Pole mailroom employee who goads Dotrice (who, frankly, really doesn't want to do this) into taking over the Pole; Coleman, never having lost his Diff'rent Strokes image, plays a tough-talking elf who heads up the Kringlemeister's Computer Operations Department. This film you simply must see for yourself. Zowie!
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