The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus

when i first saw this movie, i completly loved the songs, but now that i've got it recorded and got another look at it, i found that i loved the storyline. the characters were amazing, i loved how they represented themselves, and the scenery, i just loved this film for........ everything it had.

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.

I thought this was a beautiful and surreal stop motion animated film. It's certainly superior to the cell animation version. I thought it was beautifully done by the Rankin / Bass people- who brought us such classics as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Little Drummer Boy, Frosty the snow man, among many other holiday specials. I don't think this has been released to DVD yet and it's a shame that it hasn't been.

It's a true classic. It's based on the short story by L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz. In fact, though neither movie tells you this, the immortal fairies in this story are the ones who enchanted The Land of Oz to begin with.

If you love beautifully done fantasies and stop motion animation I highly recommend this movie. I read another review that called this film pagan and frightening- I think this person was looking for reasons to hate it and simply didn't understand the fantastical creatures portrayed. It's not scary at all, it's quite beautiful, just not what you'd expect. You should keep an open mind when viewing it, it's quite beautiful.