Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (film)

After a newsreel prologue stating that children around the world are preparing for the arrival of Santa Claus, a postman named Special Delivery "S.D." Kluger is introduced. When his mail truck breaks down, he tells the story of Santa in response to several letters sent from children.

The story begins in the gloomy city of Sombertown, ruled by the ill-tempered Burgermeister Meisterburger. A baby arrives on his doorstep with a nametag reading "Claus" and a note requesting that the Burgermeister raise the child, but he instead orders his henchman and lawkeeper Grimsley to take the baby to an orphanage. On the way there, a gust of wind blows both sled and baby to the Mountain of the Whispering Winds, where the animals hide him from the Winter Warlock and take him to the Kringle elf family. Led by their matron Tanta, they adopt the baby and name him Kris. A few years later, Kris hopes to restore the Kringles' title as the "first toymakers to the king".

When Kris is old enough, he volunteers to deliver the toys to Sombertown. Meanwhile, the Burgermeister, after tripping on a toy duck and suffering a leg injury, bans all toys in the town, declaring that anyone found possessing a toy will be arrested and thrown into the dungeon. On his way to Sombertown, Kris meets a lost penguin whom he names Topper. In the town, he offers toys to two children washing their stockings by a water fountain. As the children are about to play with the toys, Kris is stopped by Miss Jessica, their schoolteacher, but she softens toward Kris when he offers her a china doll as a "peace offering". As Kris gives out more toys, the Burgermeister arrives and orders the children arrested. Kris stops him and gives him a yo-yo, which the Burgermeister enjoys until Grimsley informs him that he is breaking his own law. Kris and Topper manage to evade capture and run into the woods.

As Kris and Topper start their journey back to the Kringles, the Winter Warlock captures them, but when Kris gives him a toy train as a present, the Warlock's evil exterior melts away and he befriends Kris. To repay him, Winter reunites Kris with Jessica, who informs him that the Burgermeister destroyed all the toys and the children now want new ones. To protect the town from further toy deliveries, the Burgermeister orders all doors and windows to be locked, but Kris enters by the chimneys and places toys in the children's stockings.

The Burgermeister then sets a trap for Kris and Topper as he makes another delivery while his soldiers capture the Kringles and Winter. Jessica pleads with the Burgermeister to release her friends, but he refuses. Jessica determines that she belongs with Kris and goes to the prison, to rescue everyone. Jessica asks Winter to break everyone out but he refuses due to having little magic left, save for some magic corn which enables reindeer to fly. With the reindeer's help, the entire group escapes. After months as an outlaw and discovery that their home was destroyed by the Burgermeister's guards, Kris grows a beard as a disguise. After Tanta suggests he return to his original name "Claus" for safety, Kris marries Jessica. After the wedding ceremony, the group travels to the North Pole to build a castle and toy workshop.

As the years pass and Kris and Jessica grow older, Kris continues to travel only at night, as he is still considered an outlaw. Eventually, the Meisterburgers die off and lose power over Sombertown as Kris's legend goes worldwide and he is deemed a saintly figure, becoming Santa Claus. As the years pass, Santa becomes unable to fulfill all the toy requests throughout the year and resolves to limit his trips to one night a year: Christmas Eve. As Santa prepares to head out on that night, Winter tells him that he has regained his magic and can guarantee a white Christmas.

After the story, S.D. Kluger suddenly realizes that it is getting late and remembers that he still has to deliver the letters to Santa and leaves for the North Pole with Topper, Winter, the Kringles, and a parade of children, singing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town". Meanwhile, Santa and his wife are seen silhouetted in an upstairs window as Jessica helps puts on his hat and Santa steps out of his castle, smiling and waving goodbye to the viewers.

• Fred Astaire as Special Delivery "S.D." Kluger
• Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle/Santa Claus
• Keenan Wynn as Winter Warlock
• Robie Lester as Miss Jessica/Mrs. Claus
• Paul Frees as Burgermeister Meisterburger, Grimsley, Topper, animals, guards, doctor, Newsreel Announcer, Kringle Brothers, male townspeople, businessman, Scrooge-related man, and more
• Joan Gardner as Tanta Kringle, grouchy store lady, female townspeople, and more
• Dina Lynn, Greg Thomas, Gary White, and Andrea Sacino as the children (Greg Thomas also as Young Kris Kringle)

CD cover

1. "The First Toymakers to the King" - Tanta and the Kringles featuring the Mike Sammes Singers
2. "No More Toymakers to the King" - Burgermeister Meisterburger and Grimsley
3. "Be Prepared to Pay" a.k.a. "If You Sit On My Lap Today" - Kris and the Westminster Children's Choir
4. "Put One Foot in Front of the Other" - Kris and Winter featuring The Mike Sammes Singers
5. "My World Is Beginning Today" - Jessica
6. "Wedding Song" a.k.a. "What Better Way to Tell You" - S. D. Kluger and The Mike Sammes Singers
7. "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" - S. D. Kluger and the Westminster Children's Choir

Released by Rhino on October 1, 2002, the soundtrack for Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town is available along with that of Frosty the Snowman, the Rankin-Bass special produced the previous year in 1969. This edition contains the full dialogue and all songs for both specials.

The special has been edited for content and length by ABC, Viacom, and Freeform since its original airing. As early as 1986, ABC cut two songs from the special ("My World Is Beginning Today" and "What Better Way to Tell You"), as well as two other songs in half.

When Viacom syndicated the special to local television stations in the 1980s and 1990s, only the songs (with the exception of "Put One Foot In Front Of The Other") were shortened for time while "What Better Way To Tell You" was removed entirely.

Freeform has cut several scenes they believe may be traumatizing to younger viewers, such as Kris climbing and leaping to escape (which was cut to prevent children from trying to imitate the same stunt), Winter Warlock knowing Kris will return and telling him he will never escape, and the scene where the Burgermeister torches the seized toys in front of the children of Sombertown.

In 2019, Freeform's print of the special included the 2012 Universal Pictures logo preceding the film, due to their 2016 purchase of DreamWorks Animation (the current owner of the pre-1974 Rankin/Bass library), and the scenes that were originally cut were added as well.

Beginning in 1989, the special has been released numerous times on VHS and DVD. The 2005 DVD release included a CD single of Mariah Carey performing the title song. The special is also available as part of a DVD box set with other Rankin/Bass Christmas titles including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, and Bill Melendez's Frosty Returns. In 2010, the special was released in the same box set on Blu-ray Disc. In 2015, both the special and Frosty the Snowman were released on Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo packs in the 45th Anniversary Collector's Edition. In 2022, the special was released on 4K Ultra HD.

The film has an aggregated review score of 93% based on 14 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic consensus stating: "Arriving with light-hearted cheeriness and the best musical numbers, Santa Claus Is Comin To Town is a magical story told by charming wood-figure animation."[3]

A novelization of the film was published by Running Press in 2008 in an oversized children's hardback edition. The script was adapted by Sierra Harimann with watercolor illustrations based on the original show by Michael Koelsch.[4] There are some additional details in the book, although it is unknown if they are from the imagination of the author or were based on the original script. The Dismal Forest is at the foot of the Mountain of the Whispering Winds. The little girl and boy Kris meets when he arrives are named Annette and Andy. The Sombertown Dungeon was built like a fort with a courtyard in the center, and it is there that the reindeer land to rescue everyone.

A video game based on the film was released on November 8, 2011 for the Nintendo DS and Wii.[5][6]

• List of Christmas films
• Santa Claus in film
• The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town
• List of Rankin/Bass Productions films

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• Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town at IMDb