''Santa's Workshop'' is a Disney short film directed by Wilfred Jackson, first released on December 10, 1932 in the ''

Silly Symphonies ''Silly Symphony'' is an American animation, animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally inte ...

'' series. The film features

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

and his elves preparing for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

Santa's workshop Santa's Workshop is the legendary workshop where Santa Claus and his Christmas elf, elves are said to live and make the toys and presents given out at Christmas. The exact "location" of Santa's workshop varies depending upon local culture. There ...

. A sequel, ''

The Night Before Christmas ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', more commonly known as ''The Night Before Christmas'' and ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously under the title ''Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas'' i ...

'', partially based on the 1823 poem "

A Visit from St. Nicholas ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', more commonly known as ''The Night Before Christmas'' and ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously under the title ''Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas'' i ...

", was made the year after, portraying Santa leaving the toys in a house with nine children. In Sweden and Norway, ''Santa's Workshop'' is part of the Christmas television special ''

From All of Us to All of You ''From All of Us to All of You'' is an animated television Christmas special, produced by Walt Disney Productions and first presented on December 19, 1958 on ABC as part of the ''Walt Disney Presents'' anthology series. Hosted by Jiminy Cricket al ...

'', traditionally shown on Christmas Eve. At the initiative of Disney, scenes depicting various ethnic stereotypes such as a

pickaninny Pickaninny (also picaninny, piccaninny or pickinninie) is a pidgin word for a small child, possibly derived from the Portuguese ('boy, child, very small, tiny'). In North America, ''pickaninny'' is a racial slur for African American children ...

doll and a Jewish doll have been cut out of the film, which has given rise to a lot of public criticism in Sweden and in Denmark. ''Santa's Workshop'' is the first "Silly Symphonies" titled cartoon to develop with RCA's Photophone synchronization early-in-film sound system. The short features the first of the Marches Militaires by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

Plot summary

As Santa flips through his book containing the names of every boy and girl in the world, he realizes that little Emily has a blank space next to her name. This means he didn't receive a letter from her last year and in turn, Emily didn't receive any toys. It's up to Santa and his elves to make Emily's Christmas twice as nice this year. Some elves are cleaning Santa's Sleigh and reindeer while singing, preparing for the sleigh ride on Christmas Eve. Santa's little helpers hurry to finish the toys, which come to life and march into Santa’s bag, so he can embark on his journey around the globe.

Voice cast

* Santa Claus: Walter Geiger * Deep-voice gnome: Jesse Delos Jewkes * Santa's secretary:

Pinto Colvig Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Co ...

* Santa's second helper:

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

Home media

The short was featured on early VHS releases of ''A Walt Disney Christmas'', which featured the uncut scene with the

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

doll. The short was released on DVD on December 19, 2006, on '' Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies, Volume Two'' in the "From the Vault" section, because of the

doll. The short was remastered in HD and released on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

on November 12, 2019, with the blackface doll scene removed. It was originally claimed by Disney+ that the short was presented as originally released, but this claim has since been removed from the streaming service.

References

External links

* *
Santa's Workshop
' at disneyshorts.org * 1932 short films 1930s color films 1932 animated films 1932 films American Christmas films Animated Christmas films 1930s Disney animated short films Films directed by Wilfred Jackson Films produced by Walt Disney Film controversies Disney controversies Santa Claus in film Silly Symphonies Films about elves Films scored by Frank Churchill American black-and-white films 1930s Christmas films African-American-related controversies in film Race-related controversies in animation Race-related controversies in film Censored films 1930s American films {{Christmas-film-stub

Plot summary

Voice cast

Home media

See also

References

External links