''Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town'' is a 1970

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

Christmas television special Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared in in literature and Christmas music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptatio ...

produced by

Rankin/Bass Productions Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usua ...

in New York, New York. The film is narrated by

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

and stars the voices of

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

Keenan Wynn Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in most ...

Robie Lester Robie Lester (March 23, 1925 – June 14, 2005) was an American actress, singer, voice artist, and author, best known as the voice of "Miss Jessica" in the Rankin/Bass animated special ''Santa Claus is Comin' to Town'', the singing voice of ...

, Joan Gardner, and

Paul Frees Solomon Hersh "Paul" Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986) was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass, and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during ...

, as well as an assistant song performance by the Westminster Children's Choir. The film tells the story of how Santa Claus and several Claus-related Christmas traditions came to be. It is based on the hit Christmas song "

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song featuring Santa Claus written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie. The earliest known recorded version of the song was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934. It was the ...

", which was written by

J. Fred Coots John Frederick Coots (May 2, 1897 – April 8, 1985) was an American songwriter. He composed over 700 popular songs and over a dozen Broadway shows. In 1934, Coots wrote the melody with his then chief collaborator, lyricist Haven Gillespie, for t ...

and

Haven Gillespie James Lamont Gillespie (February 6, 1888 – March 14, 1975) pen name Haven Gillespie, was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of "You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", "That Lucky Old Sun", " Breezi ...

for Leo Feist, Inc. and introduced on radio by Eddie Cantor in 1934, and the story of Saint Nicholas. The special was created using Japanese stop motion animation called "Animagic", in which all the characters are made out of wood and plastic and animated via stop-motion photography. The special was originally telecast on December 13, 1970 by

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, which continues to air the special every year along with its sister network Freeform as of 2020 (commemorating the special's 50th anniversary), though both channels have at times edited the special to make room for commercials.

Plot

After a

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, inform ...

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

stating that children around the world are preparing for the arrival of Santa Claus, a postman named Special Delivery "S.D." Kluger is introduced. When his mail truck breaks down, he tells the story of Santa in response to several letters sent from children. The story begins in the gloomy city of Sombertown, ruled by the ill-tempered

Burgermeister Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

Meisterburger. A baby arrives on his doorstep with a nametag reading "Claus" and a note requesting that the Burgermeister raise the child, but he instead orders his henchman and lawkeeper Grimsley to take the baby to an

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or ab ...

. On the way there, a gust of wind blows both sled and baby to the Mountain of the Whispering Winds, where the animals hide him from the Winter Warlock and take him to the Kringle elf family. Led by their matron, Tanta Kringle, they adopt the baby and name him “Kris”. A few years later, Kris hopes to restore the Kringles' title as the "first toymakers to the king.” When Kris is old enough, he volunteers to deliver the toys to Sombertown. Meanwhile, the Burgermeister, after tripping on a toy wooden duck, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs and suffering a leg injury, bans all toys in the town, declaring that anyone found possessing a toy will be arrested and thrown into the dungeon. On his way to Sombertown, Kris meets a lost penguin whom he names Topper. In the town, he offers toys to two children washing their stockings by a water fountain. As the children are about to play with the toys, Kris is stopped by Miss Jessica, their lovely schoolteacher, but she softens toward Kris when he offers her a china doll as a "peace offering". As Kris gives out more toys, the Burgermeister arrives and orders the children arrested. Kris stops him and gives him a

yo-yo A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 500 BCE. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in ...

, which the Burgermeister enjoys until Grimsley informs him that he is breaking his own law. Kris and Topper manage to evade capture and run into the woods. As Kris and Topper start their journey back to the Kringles, the Winter Warlock captures them with his tree monsters, but when Kris gives him a toy train as a present, the Warlock's evil exterior melts away and he befriends Kris. To repay him, Winter reunites Kris with Jessica, who informs him that the Burgermeister destroyed all the toys and the children now want new ones. To protect the town from further toy deliveries, the Burgermeister orders all doors and windows to be locked, but Kris enters by the chimneys and places toys in the children's stockings. The Burgermeister then sets a trap for Kris and Topper as he makes another delivery while his soldiers capture the Kringles and Winter. Jessica pleads with the Burgermeister to release her friends, but he refuses. Jessica determines that she belongs with Kris and goes to the prison, to rescue everyone. Jessica asks Winter to break everyone out but he sadly refuses, having very little magic left, save for some magic feed corn which enables

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 sub ...

to fly. With the reindeer's help, the entire group escapes. After months as an outlaw and discovery that their home was destroyed by the Burgermeister's guards, Kris grows a beard as a disguise. After Tanta suggests he return to his original name "Claus" for safety, Kris marries Jessica. After the wedding ceremony, the group travels to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

to build a castle and toy workshop. As the years pass and Kris and Jessica grow older, Kris continues to travel only at night, as he's still considered an outlaw. Eventually, the Meisterburgers died off and lost power over Sombertown and most of the laws were deemed ridiculous and revoked as Kris's legend goes worldwide, and he's deemed a saintly figure, becoming Santa Claus. As the years pass, Santa becomes unable to fulfill all the toy requests throughout the year and resolves to limit his trips to one night a year: Christmas Eve. As Santa prepares to head out on that night, Winter tells him that he has regained his magic and can guarantee a white Christmas. After the story, S.D. Kluger suddenly realizes that it's getting late and remembers that he still has to deliver the letters to Santa and leaves for the North Pole with Topper, Winter, the Kringles, and a parade of children, singing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" during the credits while Santa and his wife are seen silhouetted in an upstairs window as Jessica helps puts on his hat and Santa steps out of his castle, smiling and waving goodbye to the viewers.

Voice cast

as Special Delivery "S.D." Kluger *

as Kris Kringle/Santa Claus *

as Winter Warlock *

as Miss Jessica/Mrs. Claus *

as Burgermeister Meisterburger, Grimsley, Topper, animals, guards, doctor, Newsreel Announcer, Kringle Brothers, male townspeople, businessman, Scrooge-related man, and more * Joan Gardner as Tanta Kringle, stores lady, female townspeople, and more * Dina Lynn, Greg Thomas, Gary White, and Andrea Sacino as the children (Greg Thomas also as Young Kris Kringle)

Songs

# "The First Toymakers to the King" sung by Tanta and the Kringles featuring the Mike Sammes Singers # "No More Toymakers to the King" sung by Burgermeister Meisterburger and Grimsley # "Be Prepared to Pay" a.k.a. "If You Sit On My Lap Today" sung by Kris and the Westminster Children's Choir # "Put One Foot in Front of the Other" sung by Kris and Winter featuring The Mike Sammes Singers # "My World Is Beginning Today" sung by Jessica # "Wedding Song" a.k.a. "What Better Way to Tell You" sung by S. D. Kluger and The Mike Sammes Singers # "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" sung by S. D. Kluger and the Westminster Children's Choir Released by

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

on October 1, 2002, the soundtrack for ''Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town'' is available along with that of ''

Frosty the Snowman "Frosty the Snowman" is a popular Christmas song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950 and later recorded by Jimmy Durante. It was written after the success of A ...

'', the Rankin-Bass special produced the previous year in 1969. This edition contains the full dialogue and all songs for both specials.

Editing by ABC, Viacom and Freeform

The special has been edited for content and length by ABC, Viacom, and Freeform since its original airing. As early as 1986, ABC cut two songs from the special ("My World Is Beginning Today" and "What Better Way to Tell You"), as well as two other songs in half. When Viacom syndicated the special to local television stations in the 1980s and 1990s, only the songs (with the exception of "Put One Foot In Front Of The Other") were shortened for time while "What Better Way To Tell You" was removed entirely. Freeform has cut several scenes they believe may be traumatizing to younger viewers, such as Kris climbing and leaping to escape (which was cut to prevent children from trying to imitate the same stunt), Winter Warlock knowing Kris will return and telling him he will never escape, and the scene where the Burgermeister torches the seized toys in front of the children of Sombertown. In 2019, Freeform's print of the special included the 2012

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

logo preceding the film, due to their 2016 purchase of DreamWorks Animation (the current owner of the pre-1974 Rankin/Bass library), and the scenes that were originally cut were added as well.

Home media

Beginning in 1989, the special has been released numerous times on VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

. The 2005 DVD release included a CD single of Mariah Carey performing the title song. The special is also available as part of a DVD box set with other Rankin/Bass Christmas titles including ''

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on ...

'' and ''

'', and

Bill Melendez José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Melendez (November 15, 1916 – September 2, 2008) was an American character animator, voice actor, film director and producer. Melendez is known for working on the ''Peanuts'' animated specials. Before ''Peanuts'', he p ...

's ''

Frosty Returns ''Frosty Returns'' is a 1992 American animated Christmas television special starring the voices of Jonathan Winters as the narrator and John Goodman as Frosty the Snowman. The special was directed by Bill Melendez and Evert Brown and features mus ...

''. In 2010, the special was released in the same box set on Blu-ray Disc. In 2015, both the special and ''Frosty the Snowman'' were released on Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo packs in the 45th Anniversary Collector's Edition. In 2022, the special was released on 4K Ultra HD.

Reception

The film has an aggregated review score of 93% based on 14 reviews on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

with a critic consensus stating: "Arriving with light-hearted cheeriness and the best musical numbers, ''Santa Claus Is Comin To Town'' is a magical story told by charming wood-figure animation."

Novelization

A novelization of the film was published by Running Press in 2008 in an oversized children's hardback edition. The script was adapted by Sierra Harimann with watercolor illustrations based on the original show by Michael Koelsch. There are some additional details in the book, although it is unknown if they are from the imagination of the author or were based on the original script. The Dismal Forest is at the foot of the Mountain of the Whispering Winds. The little girl and boy Kris meets when he arrives are named Annette and Andy. The Sombertown Dungeon was built like a fort with a courtyard in the center, and it is there that the reindeer land to rescue everyone.

Video game

A video game based on the film was released on November 8, 2011 for the Nintendo DS and Wii.

References

External links

* {{Rankin-Bass 1970 animated films 1970 films 1970 in American television 1970 television specials 1970s American animated films 1970s American television specials American Broadcasting Company television specials American children's animated fantasy films American children's films Animated Christmas television specials 1970s animated television specials Christmas television specials Films about elves Films based on songs Films scored by Maury Laws Television shows directed by Jules Bass Television shows directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. Films set in the Arctic Santa Claus in film Santa Claus in television Stop-motion animated short films Rankin/Bass Productions television specials Stop-motion animated television shows Television shows written by Romeo Muller American Christmas television specials 1970s children's animated films