A Rankin/Bass Holiday: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

Merry Christmas for those that celebrate it (as for anyone else, enjoy the day as it is).

Finishing up this month's dedication to Rankin/Bass Productions is another adaption of a Santa Claus story, this time by the writer of the 'Wizard of Oz', L. Frank Baum. Those familiar with Baum's work will note that this story came inbetween Oz books, 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' and 'The Marvelous Land of Oz'.

(With how many he has written about Oz, its surprising to see so many different stories.)

Baum brings his writing to how Santa Claus grew up under the watch of immortals, came across fantastic creatures and adopted many methods that would become a major part of his mythos. While another retelling of Santa Claus' origins, it certainly has a grander style to it at times, much like with other fantasy stories like 'Lord of the Rings'. Rankin/Bass themselves would end up doing an hour/long special that abbreviated the story to a degree, while still retaining a lot of its great fantasy elements and details befitting of Baum.

Quite frankly, its one of my favorite specials released by Rankin/Bass to be done in stop motion. So, lets not waste anymore time by diving into 'The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus'.

We open the story with the Great Ak, an immortal leader of forest dwellers, who has been arranging a meeting with other immortals to decide the fate of Santa Claus. It actually begins with a really great opening involving the introduction of other immortals (who will, much like us, will listen to Ak's tale of Santa Claus).

(Words cannot do it justice)

Ak begins his tale of finding the baby Claus in his forest during a cold winter. While initially unsure of what to do with the child, one of the nymphs, to take care of Claus. Claus ended up growing up under the watchful eye of Necile, as well as a lioness named Shiegra and the sound imp Tingler. When Claus reached maturity, Ak took the young man on a journey through the world of man, showing him the different flaws they possess like greed and selfishness. Wanting to help better the world, Claus decides to strike out on his own to help.

Accompanied by Shiegra and Tingler, he reaches the Laughing Valley and lives in that town for many years. While helpful, he feels he never really made much of a difference in the world through his work. He does end up rescuing a child in a snowstorm and creates a wooden cat while the kid recovers. They later end up calling it a 'toy' and soon becomes quite popular in the Laughing Valley. However, this brings the attention of the Awgwas, a race of monsters that-

(Gah! Not again!)

-that can turn invisible and make kids behave badly. Despite their warnings and attempts to stop Santa and his group, Claus keeps pushing to make his toys. Eventually, it gets the attention of the Great Ak, leading to a great battle between Ak and his forest allies against King Awgwa and his horde of monsters and minions.

It gets very 'Lord of the Rings' here, at least with it being a major conflict that needs to be resolved. It may not seem like much when just as stop motion, but Ak and his immortal allies certainly prove that their magic and sticks can overwhelm the Awgwas' forces.

Santa Claus would return to delivering toys, even acquiring flying reindeer to help pull his heavy. Unfortunately, as the years go by and age catches up to him, it becomes clear that Death would claim Claus sooner or later.

So, back at the meeting of the immortals, Ak calls to a vote if Claus is worthy to be bestowed the 'Mantle of Immortality', which would allow him to continue his efforts. The result is unanimous and so the mantle is bestowed.

Final Thoughts:
I know it feels like another simple wrap-up like the previous special, but there is a lot more to this special than you'd think at first. It still retains a timeless quality to it that, along with the numerous fantasy elements, makes it a real stand out of the Rankin/Bass stop-motion.

Claus himself isn't too different, preferring to take things on a more passive route rather than attempting full on violence (especially after seeing what other humans were like). The other designs for the monsters, immortals and even beasts were easily distinguishable and gave them their own personality of sorts as well (since many did not have any speaking lines).

As an adaption, things had to be cut out, like the lioness Shiegra being able to talk or Claus' deal with the reindeers involving them with the character Peter Nook (he shows up in the special, but not as shrewd as he was in the book). Still, many pure-heart readers of Baum's original stories enjoyed this just as well, even taking into account of the changes.

Despite its major action scene, the special does have a slow pace that not many people would like, as well as a few characters that feel a bit 'forced' in terms of humor. Its not perfect, but it is certainly good.

Hope you enjoyed this look at some 'Rankin/Bass' specials and have a wonderful end to 2015.

See you in the year 2016...

A Rankin/Bass Holiday: The Year Without a Santa Claus

Onto another holiday special by Rankin/Bass Productions. Here is 'The Year Without a Santa Claus'.

Much like Rudolph, this was inspired from an original story (a children's book) of the same name by Phyllis McGinley in 1956. It would later be made into a special for ABC in 1974, being released two weeks before Christmas itself. There isn't too much else about the history for the special, aside from it being changed in places, but that's adaptions for you.

(These guys? Yes, they were adapted into the special and I'll get to them)

Anyway, the story is actually told by Mrs. Claus herself, explaining how her husband has been feeling under the weather after the Thanksgiving holidays (who wouldn't be?). With advice from the doctor to stay in, as well as the notion that many people may not appreciate Christmas anymore, Santa Claus decides to take his own holiday to avoid the trip.

Not wanting to let her husband become disillusioned enough to let Christmas being permanently canceled, Mrs. Claus enlists the help of two elves, Jingle and Jangle. She wants the pair to head out into the world to find people who still believe in Santa Claus and his work. Riding the reindeer Vixen, the pair end up getting in between a fight by the Misers, Snow Miser and Heat Miser.

You can probably figure out who is which.

Anyway, the elves and the reindeer get shot down and end up in South Town in the Southern United States (which one? don't know. wasn't brought up in the special). It isn't too long afterwards that the sunny town turns against them, with meeting a kid who says he doesn't believe in Santa Claus and the police who has the elves arrested and the reindeer put into jail. For the local law enforcement, they believe them to be strange criminals.

(Then again, they do stick out oddly)

Mrs. Clause gets a hold of things by freeing the elves from prison, while Santa takes care of Vixen due to the reindeer getting a fever in hot weather. When the mayor of South Town puts the Mrs and the elves to the challenge of making it snow in South Town (which has never happened before), the group decides to take it up to bring back faith in Santa Claus while the titular man rests himself.

This requires seeing both of the misers, Snow and Heat. The former controls the actual snow, while the latter has South Town under his domain. This requires the Mrs. to see with the misers' mother instead. Mother Nature, to be more precise.

However, the real highlight of those visits are the songs.

(Really, no other explanation is needed)

Quicker than you can say, "Well, that was easy", Mother Nature has the misers agree to the plan: have Snow Miser bring the snow to South Town, while Heat Miser can bring some sunshine to the North Pole.

Eventually, news spread across the world of Santa Claus taking a break from Christmas this year. Santa himself ends up getting letters and even presents from children wishing for the best of the red suited man. Santa, touched by the kindness and generosity from the people of Earth, recovers and manages to perform his yearly flight, even stopping by South Town before the end credits roll.

Final Thoughts:

This was actually a chore to get through. It wasn't necessarily bad, but certainly was boring. Most of the character designs seemed to be standard fare for the Rankin/Bass stop motion, aside from a few. The story itself, while had some touchy moments, seemed to fly about in its mood. What could count as a climax to the Miser Bros subplot got wrapped up pretty quickly, far more quickly than some would like.

Actually, the Miser Bros may be the only saving grace of the special. Their designs were so out there, people immediately latched on to them for it. Not to mention they were sort of relocatable by being bickering siblings. Add in a catchy song between the pair and you've got some popular extras in an otherwise decent special.

(The ability to carry their own movie...I might tackle that later)

I'll be wrapping up the holiday with another origin story for Santa Claus, brought to you by the creator of the 'Wizard of Oz'.

Until next time...

A Rankin/Bass Holiday: Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

Welcome to another post for the 'Rankin/Bass Holiday'. Up next on the list is a special that deals with the origins of Santa Claus himself...well, at least one of them.

Inspirations for the man can be traced to different figures in history and folklore: Saint Nicholas from the 4th century, who lived during that time in Turkey and gave gifts to the poor; Odin from Norse Mythology, who is often said to appear during the Yuletide festitives of a 'Great Hunt'; Sinterklaas, a Dutch figure who can be considered the proto-Santa Claus. It wasn't too long before such a figure became part of Christianity, often times becoming more of the figurehead on Christmas itself, instead of Jesus Christ.

(Sorry for that.)

(No problem.)

Overall, he has become a major figure in Western society during the winter season. Pop culture likes to play around with the idea of how Santa Claus came to be. Sometimes, he can be adventurous. Other times, he is just a simple good person wanting to do more. Occasionally, he is seen as both.

(Like Russian Santa Claus here)

In 1970, Rankin/Bass released their own take on Santa Claus' origins, a special titles 'Santa Claus is Comin' To Town'.

The narrative of this special is actually from a mailman named Special Delivery, or S.D., Kluger, who addresses the audience of sorts (really just children) through the mailbag.

(See, its appearances like this that make people see stop motion as 'uncanny valley')

So, he explains how the story begins in the town of...Sombertown. It is run by Burgermeister Meisterburger, a rather ill-tempered person more concerned with his own power than anything else. His assistant, Grimsley, brings him a baby from Burgermeister's doorstep, with only the name tag 'Claus' and a note saying to take care of him. Burgermeister just orders Grimsley to take the baby to the orphanage instead. Well, we've found our villain for this special.

Grimsley tries taking the baby during a snowstorm, but loses it during the travels. The baby nearly ends up in the hands of the Winter Warlock, who-

(Woah!)

Uh...but some friendly critters manage to save the baby and deliver him to the a family of elves. The Kringles decide to keep the child as their own, with the elf queen Tanta naming the baby 'Kris'. Kris grows up with the elves, learning how they were great toy makers to the king of the land years ago. Inspired, Kris works on becoming a toymaker himself, hoping to restore their respected name.

Years later, Kris has grown up and makes his way to the closest town to deliver the toys. He encounters a penguin who got lost trying to get to the South Pole (somehow ending up in middle Europe or something) and joins Kris on his journey. I know the penguin has a name, but it really isn't that important to the plot.

Anyway, before Kris actually reaches Sombertown (where else would he end up), Burgermeister gets into an accident with a toy duck and bans all toys until he recovers. Kris didn't really get that memo and starts handing out toys upon his arrival. He even manages to convince the local teacher, Jessica, to get into the fun. However, Burgermeister ends up getting involved as well, wanting Kris to get arrested for delivering the toys. 

No surprise, Kris and the penguin end up escaping the town, but quickly finds themselves in the clutches of the Winter Warlock-

(Gaah!)

-who was actually waiting for Kris to return and dish out some punishment. However, Kris retaliates by giving him a toy train, warming the Winter Warlock's heart and turning him nice.

(Guess he feels a bit embarrassed at scaring Kris)

So, Kris gets a new friend, but is told by Jessica of how the Burgermeister destroyed the toys Kris brought to the kids. The Burgermeister keeps trying to get Kris to stop his toy delivery, but the future Santa Claus couldn't be stopped.

Lock all the doors? Kris goes down chimneys instead.

Daily searches? Kris hides the toys in the socks drying by the fireplace.

Eventually, the Burgermeister wises up and lays a trap for Kris. He ends up capturing Kris, the penguin, all the elves and even Winter himself. Apparently, the former 'Winter Warlock' didn't have all that great power he once had before. 

Jessica ends up being the only one left, wanting to try and free the others captured. She manages to find Winter's cell, but he laments how few magic abilities he has left. The only one that could be significant is some corn that grant reindeer the power of flight. Jessica manages to pull it off and free the captured.

Not long after, the Burgermeister puts out the order to capture Kris on sight, but Kris manages to grow a beard to hide his appearance.

(Genius!)

He also ends up discovering the name 'Clause', which he was original found under. He not only took the name back, but also ended up marrying Jessica to make her Mrs. Clause. Eventually, the group finds a home in the North Pole, building a new house and recieving letters from children for toys. As the years go on, Santa Claus decides that he would go out one day a year (since he was getting tired of weekly trips and the like). The day he picked out ended up being Christmas itself.

In the end, S.D. Kluger recites how that, while there are some people who may not enjoy the holidays, it is important to keep to them and enjoy them. It ends with the titular song as Kluger gets some picks ups from the elves, the penguin and Winter himself along the ride to Santa Claus' home.

Final Thoughts:

This special seemed a bit...off. This is mostly in the story moreso than the animation, which was pretty good for its time. It felt like they needed to fit in a lot of the usual Santa Claus tropes (name, red suit, toy gifting, going down chimneys, etc) and worked on building a story around it all. In some areas, it worked and fell flat in others.

Much like Rudolph before it, it didn't need to have high stakes outside of trying to outsmart the main villain of the special. It certainly felt more casual, laid back, something to watch with family instead of by yourself. Characters are kind of simple, though you could read into a few of them to find them more complex, like the Winter Warlock and even the Burgermeister himself.

In the end, it isn't a major special to see, but it wouldn't hurt to see it at least once.

Next time, we'll see what it is like to have a year without a Santa Claus.

A Rankin/Bass Holiday: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Welcome to the opening winter month of December, with the major holiday shopping starting up around this time as well. What better time to get Christmas-themed set of postings in?

In actually, I'll be focusing on a production company that has had a heavy hand in this: Rankin/Bass Productions. For those unaware, Rankin/Bass is an American company that has been known to produce many seasonal videos and specials, particularly around Christmas. Remember some of those old stop-motion videos they like to show around the holidays? Pretty good shot of them being Rankin/Bass productions. They weren't exactly limited to stop-motion, as they did have a hand in making some hand-drawn work as well. Still, the stop-motion work has been the most remembered of their portfolio, so that will be the focus for this month.

(They've certainly got a large selection to choose from)

I think the best way to start off is with the first stop-motion special Rankin/Bass created: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

(Here is, I'm betting, the memories start flowing back in)

The original story of Rudolph was created in 1939, making it one of the more 'relatively' recent creations to come about in Christmas. The character ended up getting his own song, which explained how a glowing nose casted the poor reindeer out until a foggy Christmas Eve had Santa Claus ask him for help to pull his sleigh. A pretty simple story, all things considered, but timeless enough that it became part of Christmas.

The original stop-motion special clocks in a little under an hour and was broadcast on NBC in 1964. It tells pretty much the same story, but with some new songs and characters thrown in to help extend the runtime.

So, how well does this special hold up after over 50 years? Let's find out.

The special takes place through a story (sort of) told by Sam the Snowman.

(I like the cut of his Cardigan)

He introduces us to Christmastown, where Santa, the elves and reindeer live and work while preparing for Christmas. Here, we get the introduction (and birth) of Rudolph himself. Here, he is the son of Donner and a female deer (who is only known as Mrs. Donner). After giving Rudolph his name, his red nose starts a-glowing and worries his parents. Santa Claus himself ends up stopping by (a lot slimmer here, probably found a weight loss guide in between trips) to congratulate Donner for the birth.  He brings up how Rudloph will need to be careful with it, lest he becomes unable to help pull the sleigh if it continues.

(Probably bulks up before trips. Maybe helps him keep warm in the cold sky)

Years later, Rudolph is living a relatively normal live, hiding away his 'deformed' red nose through some dirt while trying to make some reindeer friends. He even catches the eye of young female fawn named Clarice. Unfortunately, his red nose gets discovered and he gets laughed off. He soon finds himself an outcast among his own reindeer kind.

Still, he isn't exactly the only one.

In the toy shop of Christmastown, the elves have been working on new toys, with one Hermey feeling more like becoming a dentist than a toy maker.

(Though from here, it looks like he is ready to snap at a moment's notice)

Deciding to head out on his own, Hermey meets with Rudolph, quickly becoming friends and declaring themselves 'misfits'. Unfortunately, they get themselves lost in a snowstorm before being rescued by a prospector named Yukon Cornelius, a rather bombastic fellow.

(I like the cut of his gib...and mustache...and beard)

While the jolly Yukon tries to make a fortune off of gold and silver in the north (this far north, its all ice), they soon encounter-

(Holy Cow!)

Sorry, but this thing scared the heck out of my as a kid. Our trio of heroes manage to evade the Abominable Snowman by chipping off a piece of ice and sailing that way. Good idea, especially since the monster isn't too fond of swimming.

Back in Christmastown, Rudolph's parents are actually worried for his safety and try to go out and find him, Clarice also accompanying them. Back with our main heroes, they end up arriving on the Island of Misfit Toys. This is where you get such things as the Charlie-in-a-Box (instead of Jack), a spotted elephant, and a train set with square wheels on their caboose. The trio want to stay, but the ruler of the island, King Moonracer (a griffin-like creature) allows them to stay for just a night before they can move on. He does bring up the idea of contacting Santa Claus about the island to give the toys a new home, at least.

Feeling that his own red nose got his friends into trouble (which is sort of true, since it attracted the monster's attention before), Rudolph leaves in the night to find his own path instead. Time passes (whether it is months or years, I couldn't tell), Rudolph grows up and tries to return home. When he finds his home empty, Santa Claus himself makes an appearance to explain how his family went out looking for them. Since Rudolph's father is one of the sleight pullers, Christmas could be canceled.

Well, there is also a snowstorm that hit a few days before Christmas, but lets focus on the search.

Rudolph manages to find a cave, where-

(Good God, its trying to eat one of them!)

Uh, anyway, Rudolph tries to save Clarice and his parents, but gets quickly knocked out. Thankfully, Hermey and Cornelius managed to come across the cave (how convenient) and save a day. Cornelius manages to knock the monster out, while Hermey removes all of its teeth. 

(For Hermey, this is just practice)

Anyway, the ending kind of wraps everything up: Cornelius reforms the monster (after both take a dive off the cliff), Rudolph gets some respect and the chance to pull the sleigh through the storm thanks to his nose, and the misfit toys get picked up to be delivered to new children.

The End...

Final Thoughts on the Special:

It certainly is a timeless piece, wouldn't be able to pin it into one set time (for the most part), though the stop motion has aged a bit since the 1960s. Some of the characters kind of come off as jerks, mostly adults like Donner and even Santa Claus himself (at least in the beginning). It isn't too heavy on plot, mostly about accepting who you are and using what you've got to your best advantage.

Overall, it is an okay movie to watch, easy to sit through and the songs can either be good, catchy, or irritable (depends if you like Christmas music or not).

Next up, lets get into the origins of Santa Claus himself.

Until next time...