The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus

I've never heard the "raised by faerie folk" story of Santa before. It was refreshing to see fantasy wood elves instead of the usual fat bearded ones. The council around the table looked as if they were drinking Wassail and celebrating the Winter Solstice. If you grew up playing D&D, you'll most likely enjoy this!

Somehow, most Christmas related movies and specials seem to be sendemental, campy or some times even sickening sweet. But "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus" is a big relief from those Holiday special clichés.

Think of putting together a typical Rankin Bass special, Mythology of the British Isles and Jim Henson's "The Dark Crystal" and you get this movie about a mortal named St. Nicholas and how he came to be.

Some people seemed to complain about the film being too dark. But face it, some things may tend to be *gasps* ARTISTIC, and *gasps* original and *gasps* not sappy or an un-artistic film just made to tell you to shell out your bucks on the crappy merchandise.

If you catch this on TV or on any VCR format, or if you love "The Dark Crystal" or Mythological based films, you will love this special. I know I do!

If you prefer fantasy to holiday hokum, you'll want to check this one out. A little dark at times for very little ones, this stylish take on the Santa story will appeal to older children or little ones accustomed to fantasy and fairy tale themes. Alive with Faerie folk of all kinds it offers a colorful journey through Santa's life. Santa is not spared the horrors of the human world, however, and this story illustrates how he developed compassion for the human race. Very moving in parts, this story gets to the heart of the Christmas spirit, without getting preachy or religious.

Apologies for the Billy Joel reference in the title but I couldn't help myself. This is the final stop-motion special from Rankin/Bass. They certainly go out on a creative note here. This is one of their most different and interesting specials. Obviously influenced by the popularity of fantasy material in the '80s. Everywhere you looked you saw stuff with magical creatures or wizards or enchanted realms. Rankin/Bass had dipped their toe in this already with Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas In July several years before, as well as many traditionally animated cartoons based on The Lord of the Rings. Oh and, of course, The Last Unicorn. This special here was based off of a book by L. Frank Baum, the creator of Wizard of Oz.

It's a fairly involved plot for a Christmas special. A council of immortal beings must decide if Santa Claus should be given immortality. From here, we get the origin of Santa, as told by the Great Ak. To say this is different from the origin of Santa previously released by Rankin/Bass would be an understatement. This is pretty trippy stuff but also very fun.

The stop-motion animation is beautiful, as you would expect from Rankin/Bass. It's some of their most creative work and it's just a shame it came at the end. The story is imaginative and interesting. It's dark in places and certainly isn't the toddler-friendly specials of before. The voicework is terrific and the characters are enjoyable. The music is nice, though not their best. As with all Rankin-Bass specials, I of course recommend it. But I would give a special recommendation for this one to people who are fans of fantasy stories but perhaps don't normally watch Rankin-Bass specials.

This was one of my favorite Rankin-Bass productions. This particular telling of the Santa story is based on L. Frank Baum book of the same title: "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus." The immortals are gathered by the Great Ak to decide whether or not the mortal Santa deserves the honor of becoming immortal (something the immortals can only grant once). The story is narrated by Ak and recounts how he found the young babe and watched over him as he was raised by some of the nymphs and animals that fell under Ak's jurisdiction.

As with any Rankin-Bass stop animation production the creature concepts can be wildly imaginative (and scary... the Nooks tend creep me out, but I wouldn't mind a plush version of one) and be sure that there are numerous musical outbursts as the story progresses.

This Baum story has also recently received an animated retelling. I am saddened that this particular version does not receive as much airing time, but I am very grateful that we always recorded Christmas specials when I was younger.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys Rankin-Bass holidays escapism and has an imagination that enjoys being stimulated.