The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus (1985)

At a council convened by The Great Ak, the forest being tells the story of Santa Claus to explain why he deserves to be made immortal.

Directors:

Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.

Writers:

Jules Bass (as Julian P. Gardner), L. Frank Baum (novel)

Stars:

Earl Hammond, Earle Hyman, Larry Kenney

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Earl Hammond	...	Santa Claus (voice)
Earle Hyman	...	King Awgwa (voice)
Larry Kenney	...	Commander of the Wind Demons (voice)
Lynne Lipton	...	Queen Zurline / Wife / Additional Voices (voice)
Bob McFadden	...	Tingler (voice)
Lesley Miller	...	Necile (voice)
Peter Newman	...	Peter Knook / Awgwas / The Gnome King / Husband / Additional Voices (voice)
Joey Grasso	...	Weekum (voice)
J.D. Roth	...	Young Claus (voice)
Alfred Drake	...	The Great Ak (voice)
Amy Anzel	...	Child (voice) (as Amy Anzelowitz)
Josh Blake	...	Child (voice)
Ari Gold	...	Child (voice)
Jamie Lisa Murphy	...	Child (voice)
Al Dana	...	Chorus (voice)

Storyline

The Great Ak calls a council of the Immortals to ask that Santa Claus be given immortality. To justify it, he tells the story of Santa Claus. The Ak found an abandoned baby and gave it to a lioness and a fairy to raise, who named him Claus. When Claus grew up, the Great Ak showed him the evil and hardship in the world, so Claus decides to live there and relieve some of the suffering. He decides to make toys for orphans, but King Agua, the ruler of the valley where Claus lives, doesn't want the children to be happy, resulting in a great battle with the Immortals.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas special | immortal | santa claus | council | valley | 

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Details

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pacific Animation Corporation, Rankin/Bass Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Most of the actors who provide voices for this movie also provide voices for Thundercats (1985) and Silverhawks (1986), also produced by Arthur Rankin Jr./Jules Bass.

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Goofs

The first two times Claus walks through the village to deliver the gifts, the valley looks like it's summer time, when in fact the movie takes place in a snowy village called The Laughing Valley.

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Quotes

Young Claus: What is Man's use? Why is he here? Why is he born at all?
The Great Ak: To leave the world, in some way, better than he found it.
Young Claus: Great Ak, how can I do that?
The Great Ak: You must follow your star, as others have before you; and try to bring a measure of love and joy to the world.

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Connections

Version of Who Stole Santa? (1996)

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Soundtracks

Oh Child

User Reviews

Beautiful stop motion classic

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.