The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus

This version of The Life and adventures of Santa Claus is a pale, saccharine sweet sham when compared to the supurbly done stop motion animation of the 1985 version of this same story done by Rankin / Bass. This felt cheesy and half-hearted whereas the stop motion animated one has the distinct feel of a classic and was more true to the heart and feel of the old story by L. Frank Baum.

The story is good but it feels dumbed down compared to the stop motion version. A seldom known fact, Baum connected this story to his loved The Wizard of Oz by saying the immortal faeries of this story are the ones who enchanted the land of Oz to begin with.

In today's market where the flashiest commercials are used to optimize profits at Christmas time, this movie takes us back to the early days of Santa Claus, St. Nicholas. It's a relief to see the joy of giving. Although L. Frank Baum is known, justifiably, for his other classic, his style shines through in this movie, inspired by Baum's book. Clearly, Nicholas is the main character. But his mother, his carvings, which became the first toy gifts to children, the lion, the fairies, especially Winky add substantially to the plot. The youngest child will enjoy this movie. However, don't think it's just for young child. Our teenage children also like the playfulness and innocence that shine through in a good versus evil plot within the movie.

I watched this on YTV every year I could since they started airing it. I love it and so does my sister. My mom likes to watch it too. It gives that very Christmas-y feel to our home and when it came on the TV, we knew it was Christmas. I haven't seen the original stop motion one and I'm sure I wouldn't like it as much if I did considering that I think all of those movies are very dark and not filled with as much cheer as the animated ones. I know that this version is excellent for both adults and children and that its a very good movie for the Christmas season.

Watch it! =P

This film has a very great and unique way of takin on Santa Claus.Animation is decent enough.The story is where this movie shines.It has a good mix of fantasy and holiday film.if you are a fan of fantasy you will like this film.

I have written an adaptation of this book and directed it three times for my theater group, and while this is a very nice version, it strays from the original story a little too much. For example, Queen Zurline, who is one of Claus' guardians is completely left out of the story, and there a characters such as Wisk, who are not part of the book. The animation is fine, and they really captured Blinkie, whom I made into a more important and vocal character. The thing I think disappoints me is that Baum's language is so beautiful and it's not part of this version.

By the way, my play is available for production, so please contact me if you would be interested in a production. It can be done as a full production, with a large cast, or with about 7 or 8 actors as a Reader's Theater. Both versions were successful, and it's a pleasant alternative to A Christmas Carol.