The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus (TV special)
Encyclopedia
The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus is a 1985 Christmas
television special
produced in stop motion
animation
by Rankin/Bass
. It is based on The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
, a 1902 children's book by L. Frank Baum
.
) deserves the mantle, although there is an edit that makes it difficult to realize that the scene in which Ak (Alfred Drake
) calls the council when first finding the infant in the woods does not occur in the same time period as the main story. In addition, Shiegra accompanies Claus to the Laughing Valley, in which, unlike the book, it is always Winter. A similar compromise toward popular culture is Claus's now eight reindeer, albeit unnamed. Peter Knook, a rather crusty but amiable fellow, replaces most of the other Knooks, save the Protector (King) and two strangers, and declares "only on Christmas Eve" for the reindeer without any argument or explanation. One important new character, Tingler, a Sound Imp (Robert McFadden
) also accompanies Claus and gives him someone to talk to.
When the show premiered, the book was not as easily available, and many Oz fans who only knew of the book were surprised to discover that Tingler was not one of Baum's creations, so true was the character to the author's spirit. Earle Hyman
portrayed the King of the Awgwas, and Leslie Miller played Necile. Most of the other voices were performed by Peter Newman
and Lynne Lipton
. Larry Kenney
was the Commander of the Wind Demons, who initially served as a devil's advocate
to Ak at the fateful hearing, but soon became the Immortal most approving of giving the Mantle to Claus, and casts the first vote in what proves to be a unanimous decision to that effect. Most of the Immortals' titles were changed to alleviate them all being kings and queens.
Screenwriter Julian P. Gardner created a musical production number, "Big Surprise" as the children at Weekum's orphanage plead Santa Claus for more toy cats. Other songs include the chorus "Babe in the Woods" and the powerful chant, "Ora e Sempre (Today and Forever)" representing the immortals. Bernard Hoffer
composed the music, as well as setting a quatrain
by Baum inspired by Claus's famous laugh. The presentation of the Christmas tree is different; Claus, realizing his death is imminent, decorates a tree with ornaments and suggests it should be his memorial.
This is the only Rankin-Bass Christmas special without a celebrity narrator. Originally broadcast on CBS
, this special now airs on the ABC Family
cable network, along with most of the other Rankin-Bass animated Christmas specials.
The Rankin-Bass production is distributed by Warner Bros. Television
. This special was paired with Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
and released on DVD under the Warner Archive brand on November 17th, 2009.
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
television special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
produced in stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
by Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. , also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American production company, known for its seasonal television specials, particularly its work in stop-motion animation. The pre-1974 library is currently owned by Classic Media,while the post-1974 library is...
. It is based on The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
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.-Infancy, Youth, Motivation:...
, a 1902 children's book by L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
.
Production
The Rankin-Bass production, which spells the title with an ampersand, truncates much of the story (it ran in a one-hour time slot) and simplifies some of the motivations, but its major alterations from the book are setting up the hearing over the Mantle of Immortality as a frame story explaining just why Claus (J. D. Roth/Earl HammondEarl Hammond
Earl Hammond was an American theater, radio, film and television actor, and, in his later years, a voice actor for several animated films and TV series.-Best known roles:...
) deserves the mantle, although there is an edit that makes it difficult to realize that the scene in which Ak (Alfred Drake
Alfred Drake
Alfred Drake was an American actor and singer.-Biography:Born as Alfred Capurro in New York City, the son of parents emigrated from Recco, Genoa, Drake began his Broadway career while still a student at Brooklyn College...
) calls the council when first finding the infant in the woods does not occur in the same time period as the main story. In addition, Shiegra accompanies Claus to the Laughing Valley, in which, unlike the book, it is always Winter. A similar compromise toward popular culture is Claus's now eight reindeer, albeit unnamed. Peter Knook, a rather crusty but amiable fellow, replaces most of the other Knooks, save the Protector (King) and two strangers, and declares "only on Christmas Eve" for the reindeer without any argument or explanation. One important new character, Tingler, a Sound Imp (Robert McFadden
Bob McFadden
Robert "Bob" McFadden was a singer and voiceover actor best known for his many contributions to animated cartoons. His best known characters were Milton the Monster, Cool McCool, and the ThunderCats' Snarf...
) also accompanies Claus and gives him someone to talk to.
When the show premiered, the book was not as easily available, and many Oz fans who only knew of the book were surprised to discover that Tingler was not one of Baum's creations, so true was the character to the author's spirit. Earle Hyman
Earle Hyman
Earle Hyman is an American stage, television, and film actor. Hyman is known for his recurring role on The Cosby Show as Cliff's father, Russell Huxtable.-Career:...
portrayed the King of the Awgwas, and Leslie Miller played Necile. Most of the other voices were performed by Peter Newman
Peter Newman (actor)
Peter Newman is famous for his voice work for Rankin/Bass. In ThunderCats he provided the voices of Tygra, Wilykat, Bengali, and Monkian. In SilverHawks he provided the voices of Quicksilver, Mumbo Jumbo, and Timestopper. He also played the evil Duke of Zill & Wack Lizardi in Felix the Cat: The...
and Lynne Lipton
Lynne Lipton
Lynne Lipton is an American film, stage, television and voice actress.She is best remembered for providing most of the voices of the female characters on the popular 1980s animated series ThunderCats. She voiced Luna of the Lunatacs, Willa...
. Larry Kenney
Larry Kenney
Larry Kenney is an American radio personality and voice actor.In 1963, Kenney began his radio career at the age of 15 as a disc jockey at WIRL in Peoria. After WIRL, he worked at WOWO, Ft...
was the Commander of the Wind Demons, who initially served as a devil's advocate
Devil's advocate
In common parlance, a devil's advocate is someone who, given a certain argument, takes a position he or she does not necessarily agree with, just for the sake of argument. In taking such position, the individual taking on the devil's advocate role seeks to engage others in an argumentative...
to Ak at the fateful hearing, but soon became the Immortal most approving of giving the Mantle to Claus, and casts the first vote in what proves to be a unanimous decision to that effect. Most of the Immortals' titles were changed to alleviate them all being kings and queens.
Screenwriter Julian P. Gardner created a musical production number, "Big Surprise" as the children at Weekum's orphanage plead Santa Claus for more toy cats. Other songs include the chorus "Babe in the Woods" and the powerful chant, "Ora e Sempre (Today and Forever)" representing the immortals. Bernard Hoffer
Bernard Hoffer
Bernard Hoffer is an American composer who was born in Switzerland and conductor who has created original music for a number of different films, television series, and commercials. He has also conducted several musical shows, such as the ballets A Boston Cinderella! and Ma Goose...
composed the music, as well as setting a quatrain
Quatrain
A quatrain is a stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines of verse. Existing in various forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and China; and, continues into the 21st century, where it is...
by Baum inspired by Claus's famous laugh. The presentation of the Christmas tree is different; Claus, realizing his death is imminent, decorates a tree with ornaments and suggests it should be his memorial.
This is the only Rankin-Bass Christmas special without a celebrity narrator. Originally broadcast on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, this special now airs on the ABC Family
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
cable network, along with most of the other Rankin-Bass animated Christmas specials.
The Rankin-Bass production is distributed by Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
. This special was paired with Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is a Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin-Bass. It was first aired in 1977, and its plot is similar to an earlier Rankin-Bass special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.- Plot :...
and released on DVD under the Warner Archive brand on November 17th, 2009.