Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970)
A postman, S.D. Kluger, decides to answer some of the most common questions about Santa Claus, and tells us about a baby named Kris who is raised by a family of elf toymakers named Kringle. When Kris grows up, he wants to deliver toys to the children of Sombertown. But its Mayor is too mean to let that happen. And to make things worse, the Winter Warlock lives between the Kringles and Sombertown.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Many people unabashedly love, "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" because it and others like, 'Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer', 'Year Without Santa', 'Charlie Brown Christmas', 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas', 'Frosty The Snowman', represent everything that was warm, comforting, and loving about our collective childhoods. The message of love, compassion, charity, and redemption never outgrows us and remains relevant for our entire lives.Still, why continue watching these beautiful Christmas specials your entire life? It's because it's nice to be happy and positive with yourself and towards others if only during the holiday season. No one should be content becoming and remaining a miserable adult. There's a lot to be said about keeping your inner child alive all through your life, as demonstrated at the end of Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town when it shows adults saying, 'humbug'. These people totally missed the message of Christmas.It's impossible not to see Santa Clause Is Comin' To Town with adult sensibility today in 2017. Would there be criticism depicting Germans as mean-spirited bad people as shown here? But remember when this animatronic special was created, the year, 1970.In 1970, World War 2 has been over for only 25 years. The ugly memories of Nazi Germany, and the necessity for destroying the Third Reich at great cost and sorrow remains strong in the minds of the adults who collaborated to produce this classic great, Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town. Hence you see references to German tyranny as a metaphor for evil still in the world. If produced today, it would be a totally different production with different, more neutral villains.
i think it's part the undeveloped infant in me and part a true appreciation for puppetry and animation that makes me so fond of the Television shows from Rankin/Bass.stop motion animation has been defined as a art form by Tim Burton, Henry Selick, and Wes Anderson, and their films are definitely the top of the form. but it is these original stop motion classics by Rankin/Bass that were the first and defined the craft. and when you watch them today in comparison with the new stop motion, they hold up surprisingly well. and it's somehow even more amazing when you realize how low the budgets were compared with the lavish budgets of 'Nightmare Before Christmas' and 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'.to this day Rankin/Bass remains as some of the cutest and most darling stuff the media in America has ever produced. i could hardly imagine the holidays without their festive charm.
Mirok's comments concerning "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" were incredibly insightful. I was surprised no mention was made of the toy burnings, since they would reflect the book burnings in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.Beyond that, this is ABC's best Christmas special, and is one that is edgier than the 1964 Rudolph special. Made during the height of the Vietnam turmoil, this show also has a LOT of heart, and is a deeply affecting production. It offers a lot of lessons concerning good will and compassion, something so sorely lacking in 21st Century American society.And the producers did all of us a favour by bringing on Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney, Paul Frees and Keenan Wynn for this production! The music is world class, and even Jessica's solo number is fantastic! Hers is a case of a 1970 trippy song that has become a classic! Gotta love it!!
This is without a doubt my favourite Christmas movie of all time. Rankin Bass are always fantastic, but this film just shines that bit brighter than the rest. The voices are spectacular - Mickey Rooney and Fred Astaire - they don't really get much better than this. The songs are fantastic, the characters are so perfect and the backgrounds and buildings in the movie are just so lovely. This movie is pure magic, exactly how a Christmas movie should be. I love the story of Santa Claus, and this film really sticks to tradition which is great. I am an adult and watch this movie every time Christmas is approaching just to put me in the festive mood. It is truly magical, and not just my favourite Christmas movie, but one of my top ten films of all time. Love it.