When Santa Fell to Earth

My kid and I enjoyed the book so much we incorporated it into our Christmas mythos. Unfortunately, funny details were changed for no apparent reason.

It's fun to think of real Santas being turned in chocolate since kids inevitably are given chocolate Santas. The movie version has them turning into ice instead which just isn't as meaningful.

Changing Ben's family story takes attention away from the kids and the concept of the greedy vs real Santa. The parental sub-plot added by the movie of the unemployed father looking for a job and mother running a bakery is pretty thin, cheesy, and just made the story worse. Particularly the scene with the Mother explaining how coco is magical.

A big part of what I liked about the book is that it puts a unique twist on the culture of Santa. Making him a bit of a rebel. Felt like this movie tried to mish-mash this rebel tale with Hallmark-esque clichés. The end result misses the mark for the audiences that appreciates either one of those genres on its own.

The English voice acting could have been better. Overall the production quality was fine.

In the end my kid got some enjoyment out of it. Though movies are a rare treat in our family. I imagine this punches somewhat below average for many kids. Still It's nice to have a visual representation of a story we love, and we'll probably watch it again next year after re-reading the book.