The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus

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.

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!

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!

The only reason I ever even heard of this was by putting in blank VHS tapes out of boredom one day when I was about 10. For me this movie has special meaning because I used to watch it with my buddy when we were little. We could probably recite almost ever word and sing every song.

But about the movie itself, it is a rare gem that almost nobody has ever heard of. This is a side of Christmas that is so refreshingly different, bearing absolutely no resemblance to any other Santa story ever written, capturing the Christmas spirit in its own way.

This gets a full 10 from me for the stunning art-work of its creation and magical creativity that brought it to life.

Go get it! Journey with Clause from the forest of Berzee to the Laughing Valley of "Ho Ha Ho" in this one in a million production. Expect the unexpected with characters such as Peter Nook, the great Ak, and the commander of the wind demons.

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.