"A Kidnapped Santa Claus" is a

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 ...

-themed

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by American writer

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

; it has been called "one of Baum's most beautiful stories" and constitutes an influential contribution to the mythology of Christmas. "A Kidnapped Santa Claus" was first published in the December 1904 edition of ''

The Delineator ''The Delineator'' was an American women's magazine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founded by the Butterick Publishing Company in 1869 under the name ''The Metropolitan Monthly.'' Its name was changed in 1875. The magazine was publis ...

'', the women's magazine that would print Baum's ''

Animal Fairy Tales ''Animal Fairy Tales'' is a collection of short stories written by L. Frank Baum, the creator of the Land of Oz series of children's books. The stories (animal tales, comparable to Aesop's Fables or the ''Just-So Stories'' and ''Jungle Book'' of ...

'' in the following year. The magazine text was "admirably illustrated" with "pen drawings of marked originality" by

Frederick Richardson Frederick Richardson (1862 – 15 January 1937) was an American illustrator of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best remembered for his illustrations of works by L. Frank Baum. Life and career A native Chicagoan, Richardso ...

, who would illustrate Baum's ''

Queen Zixi of Ix ''Queen Zixi of Ix, or The Story of the Magic Cloak'', is a children's book written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Frederick Richardson. It was originally serialized in the early 20th-century American children's magazine ''St. Nicholas'' fro ...

'' in 1905.

Baum's mythology

"A Kidnapped Santa Claus" was published two years after Baum's ''

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus ''The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus'' is a 1902 children's book, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark. Setting Plot As a baby, Santa Claus is found in the Forest of Burzee by Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World ...

'' (1902), and shares its mythological cosmos: in the story as in the novel, Santa lives in the Laughing Valley on the border of the

Forest of Burzee ''The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus'' is a 1902 children's book, written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark. Setting Plot As a baby, Santa Claus is found in the Forest of Burzee by Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World ...

, and is assisted by Knooks, Ryls,

fairies A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, o ...

, and

pixie A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...

s. In modern editions the two works, novel and story, are sometimes published together. Though the short story has strong similarities with the novel, it has been interpreted as presenting "a less rosy view" of the world, in that it shows elements of evil as fundamental to existence and ineradicable.

Plot summary

The story opens with a quick overview of Santa's castle in the Laughing Valley. Its focus soon switches to the five Caves of the Daemons in nearby (though unnamed) mountains. These creatures are pagan

daemon Daimon or Daemon (Ancient Greek: , "god", "godlike", "power", "fate") originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit such as the daimons of ancient Greek religion and mythology and of later Hellenistic religion and philosophy. The word ...

s rather than Christian

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...

s, in that they are not servants of

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

or necessarily evil. Four of the five, the Daemons of Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, and Malice, certainly are bad, but the fifth, the Daemon of Repentance, is a more ambiguous figure. The Daemons of the Caves resent Santa Claus because children under the influence of his gifts rarely visit their caves. They decide to frustrate his efforts and counter his influence. (The Daemon of Repentance goes along with the plan, since children cannot reach his remote cave without passing through the caves of his compatriots beforehand.) The Daemons first try to tempt Santa Claus to their own vices; they visit him one by one, and attempt to lure him into selfishness, envy, and hatred. Santa Claus merely laughs at their clumsy efforts. (The obvious model for these episodes is the

Temptation of Christ The temptation of Christ is a biblical narrative detailed in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. After being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus was tempted by the devil after 40 days and nights of fasting in the Judaean Desert. At the time, ...

in the

Synoptic Gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...

.) Failing at temptation, the Daemons instead kidnap Santa Claus; they lasso him as he is riding in his sleigh on Christmas Eve, and bind him in their caverns. Santa Claus is accompanied on his rounds by Wisk the fairy, Kilter the pixie, Peter the knook, and Nutter the ryl (introduced as "The Deputies of Santa Claus" in the last chapter of ''

''), who travel under the seat of his sleigh; once the four realize that Santa is gone, they endeavor to complete his mission and deliver the gifts. They generally succeed, though with some mistakes; they deliver a toy drum to a little girl and a sewing kit to a little boy. Overall, though, they manage to save Christmas. Then they report Santa's absence; the queen of the fairies in the Forest of Burzee knows what has happened. An army of magical creatures is mustered to rescue the missing hero. Meanwhile, though, Santa is released from captivity by the Daemon of Repentance, who has repented the kidnapping. Santa meets the army on its way, and turns it back from attacking the daemons. (In the seventh chapter of ''The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus'', titled "The Great Battle Between Good and Evil," Baum depicts a combat between massed magical forces. Here in the short story he avoids that spectacle, a strategy he would employ again in the climax of the sixth Oz book, ''

The Emerald City of Oz ''The Emerald City of Oz'' is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em ...

'', in 1910.)

Later editions, adaptations, influences

"A Kidnapped Santa Claus" appeared in an anthology of Christmas stories in 1915; ''

The Baum Bugle ''The Baum Bugle: A Journal of Oz'' is the official journal of The International Wizard of Oz Club. The journal was founded in 1957, with its first issue released in June of that year (to a subscribers' list of sixteen). It publishes three times pe ...

'' reprinted it for Christmas in 1968. The story was released in book form in 1969, with a Foreword by Martin Williams and new illustrations by Richard Rosenblum. It has appeared in multiple editions in multiple forms since. In 1989 the story was adapted into a musical play for children, ''Santa Claus Is Missing!'', by Sylvia Ashby, with songs by Scott Taylor. Another adaptation exists in the form of the animated film ''Who Stole Santa?'' in the Oz Kids series (1996). An interactive musical, also under the title ''Santa Claus Is Missing'' written by Morna Murphy with songs by Ralph Martell, played at the Staten Island Children's Museum from 2003 to 2008. In 2009, cartoonist

Alex Robinson Alex Robinson (born August 8, 1969) is an American comic book writer and artist. Early life Alex Robinson grew up in Yorktown Heights, New York, and graduated from Yorktown High School in 1987. After a year spent at SUNY Brockport, he went to t ...

adapted the story into comic form in a book released by Harper Collins. A 2018 Canadian film directed by Marco Deufemia, ''Santa's Castle'' (or ''Christmas Castle''), is based on the story, with elements derived from other works, such as Lulea being the name of the Fairy Queen, as in ''

''. ''Christmas Castle'' (promotional title: Santa's Castle). Brain Power Studio, 2017. Tubit TV. https://tubitv.com/movies/456516/santas_castle More generally, the idea of kidnapping Santa Claus has been exploited by other artists in other works, as in Jean Van Leeuwen's book ''The Great Christmas Kidnapping Caper'' (1975),

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

's film ''

The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Henry Selick (in his feature directorial debut) and produced and ...

'' (1993), and Ruth Ann Pattee's play ''Can Mrs. Claus Save Christmas?'' (2000).

References

External links

The text online at Project Gutenberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidnapped Santa Claus, A 1904 short stories Fantasy short stories Children's short stories Christmas short stories Works originally published in The Delineator Works by L. Frank Baum Santa Claus in fiction Short stories adapted into films