Film Snail

6.3

Santa Claus: The Movie

PG·1985·108m

Family

Fantasy

Adventure

Family

Fantasy

Adventure

Summary

In ancient times, a man named Claus, who delivers toys in his small village, fulfils his destiny to become Santa Claus after meeting an expert toy-making elf, Patch, in the North Pole. In the present day, Santa Claus has become overwhelmed by his workload, and the disgruntled Patch flees the workshop to New York City. There, Patch unknowingly threatens the fate of Christmas by taking a job at a failing toy company run by a scheming businessman.

Cast

Dudley Moore

Patch

John Lithgow

B.Z.

David Huddleston

Santa Claus

Burgess Meredith

Ancient Elf

Judy Cornwell

Anya Claus

Jeffrey Kramer

Towzer

Christian Fitzpatrick

Joe

Carrie Kei Heim

Cornelia

John Barrard

Dooley

Anthony O'Donnell

Puffy

Melvyn Hayes

Goober

Don Estelle

Groot

Tim Stern

Boog

Christopher Ryan

Vout

Peter O'Farrell

Honka

Dickie Arnold

Goobler

Aimée Delamain

Storyteller

Dorothea Phillips

Miss Tucker

John Hallam

Grizzard, Chauffeur

Judith Morse

Miss Abruzzi

Jerry Harte

Senate Chairman

Paul Aspland

Reporter

Sally Cranfield

Reporter

Michael Drew

Reporter

Walter Goodman

Street Corner Santa

John Cassady

Wino

Ronald Fernee

Policeman

Michael A. Ross

Policeman

Morgan Deare

BZ's Lawyer (uncredited)

Roy Evans

Village Leader (uncredited)

Caroline John

Village Woman (uncredited)

Jill Goldston

Photographer In Court (uncredited)

Barrie Holland

Reporter (uncredited)

Stuart Milligan

Senator (uncredited)

Nicole Appleton

Little Girl in Ballet Class (uncredited)

Shannon Spruill

Bratty Kid in Ballet Class (uncredited)

Crew

Director

Jeannot Szwarc

Screenplay, Story

David Newman

Story

Leslie Newman

Reviews

r96sk

December 26, 2020

Nice film, I found enough enjoyment with it.

Probably not as deep or creative as it could've been, but I do like the plot of <em>'Santa Claus: The Movie'</em> as it starts off at the embryonic stages of Santa. It ends up turning into a run-of-the-mill good v. bad thing, but that cause is helped by the casting of John Lithgow - who is entertaining.

Lithgow isn't the only positive cast, as Dudley Moore and David Huddleston do solid things too. It's interesting to see that Lithgow doesn't rate this, as well as the fact that it's apparently popular in the UK; though I, as a Englishman, had never heard about this before this year to be honest.

There are, at least in my opinion, many better festive films out there, but this 1985 flick is a satisfying Xmas watch. It's cheesy and features some questionable special effects, but does have pleasant-looking reindeer and has charm.