J'ai rencontré le Père Noël (1984)

Holiday tale of a young boy asking Santa for his parents, mysteriously vanished during an African expedition, to return home for Christmas.

Director:

Christian Gion

Writers:

Christian Gion, Didier Kaminka

Stars:

Karen Chéryl, Armand Meffre, Emeric Chapuis

Cast

Credited cast:
Karen Chéryl	...	Good Fairy / Teacher
Armand Meffre	...	Le Père Noël / Santa Claus
Emeric Chapuis	...	Simon
Alexia Haudot	...	Elodie (as Little Alexia)
Jeanne Herviale	...	Grandmother
Dominique Hulin	...	Ogre
Hélène Ruby	...	Mother
Jean-Louis Foulquier	...	Father
Baye Fall	...	Bouake
Véronique Passetchnik
Stephan Loison
Herve Schmitz
Little Nicolas
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chris Davenport	...	Simon (voice)

Storyline

Holiday tale of a young boy asking Santa for his parents, mysteriously vanished during an African expedition, to return home for Christmas.

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Plot Keywords:

3 dimensional | 3d | christmas | teacher | santa claus | 

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Taglines:

Santa's space-age adventure for everyone!

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Genres:

Family | Fantasy | Musical | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although a French film, it is obvious a version of it was made for the English speaking market. In the English dub, there are English words used on the chalkboard and in other correspondence. Karen Chéryl also sings her numbers in English.

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Goofs

When the good fairy first turns into Little Red Riding Hood, she is clearly wearing red stockings. When the ogre catches her, her stockings have changed from red to white.

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Soundtracks

Oui, le Père Noël existe
Written by Francis Lai & Pierre-André Dousset
Performed by Karen Chéryl

User Reviews

Well...it's quite original.

As someone who lives in America, I saw the English dubbed version of this film released by Starmaker Video. I don't know if anything was lost in the translation or if this is just an odd film. My guess is the latter.

The plot revolves around a sweet little boy named Simon whose parents have somehow become political prisoners in Africa. Simon's class in school writes letters to Santa and he tells the jolly ol' man that he doesn't want toys for Christmas. He only wants his parents back.

Soon afterwards, the class takes a trip to the airport. Interestingly enough, Simon and a little girl named Elodie end up separated from their classmates and are placed on a plane. The plane supposedly takes them to the same part of the world where Santa lives (although it's not the South Pole). The two little kids wander around in the snow and into a forest in search of Santa.

This peculiar film includes more than just Santa Claus though. It also boasts an ogre, a fairy, a tribe of African rebels and several headache-inducing songs sung at the most inappropriate of times. I will probably remember "Here Comes Santa Claus" for quite some time. However, don't consider that a recommendation for you to go out and find a copy of this rare flick. 2/10

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

5 December 1984 (France)

Also Known As:

I Believe in Santa Claus

Filming Locations:

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Roissy-en-France, Val-d'Oise, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Holiday Films, Lapaca Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1