30 Days of Christmas Movies - Santa Claus - The Movie

In order to really get into the spirit of Christmas, I thought it would be fun to watch 30 Christmas movies in 30 days.  I unfortunately haven't been able to post about each and every one each day, because my schedule has been a little busy so, I will probably post several today to catch up.  So far all the movies I have watched have been through Netflix streaming.

Movie 3 - Santa Claus: The Movie

Starring Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, David Huddleston, Burgess Meredith, Judy Cornwell, Christian Fitzpatrick, and Carrie Kei Heim.
 
Santa Claus the movie begins with telling the tale of how Santa became THE Santa.  Santa is first a kindly toymaker who along with his wife delivers the toys every year.  He and his wife have no children of their own so it is a special delight for them to make children happy with handmade toys.  Santa and his wife are given immortality by the toy making elves in order to share their toys with children all over the world.  

Hundreds of years pass with Santa delighting many with his wonderful gifts until we find ourselves in the 80s.  Santa is getting tired and needs an assistant.  One of the elves named Patch is up to the task with his creative ideas.  But of course some things go wrong and an evil toy manufacturer sets his sights on eliminating his North Pole competition.

In general, Santa Claus:  The Movie has some sweet parts and fun parts.  Santa and Mrs. Claus were amazing.  Both actors were completely delightful.  The elves were also wonderful.  Their home in the North Pole...FABULOUS.  

I think it all went great until they landed in the 80s.  At that point, the story lost its magic.  There is a Dickensian boy living on the streets that befriends Santa.  This boy Joe and his friend Cornelia (the poor little rich girl) defend Santa against all naysayers when people begin to turn against St. Nick.   They were sweet, but again seemed to be an odd addition to the film.  You picture little street urchins in old Dickens stories, but this loner boy was kind of odd.  The poor little rich girl seemed to belong in a movie in the 50s.  Sweet kids.  Just odd.  They aren't why the film fell flat for me.  It was just an odd combination of everything that went down from the modern era on.  

It was fun to kind of look back on the special effects choices that were made back then, but all in all, this was not a story that delighted me or gave me the holiday spirit like others.  I didn't get all misty eyed.  Not that getting misty eyed is necessary, but it just didn't tug at me emotionally at all.  There were a few moments that made me and my husband laugh.  When it was over, I didn't feel anything.  It was just okay.  With so many other Christmas movie options, I'd probably give this one 2.5 candy canes.  :)