With Merlin's aid, Santa Claus must defeat the evil machinations of the devil Pitch to ruin Christmas.With Merlin's aid, Santa Claus must defeat the evil machinations of the devil Pitch to ruin Christmas.With Merlin's aid, Santa Claus must defeat the evil machinations of the devil Pitch to ruin Christmas.
- Awards
- 1 win
- El Diablo
- (as José Luis Aguirre 'Trosky')
- El mago Merlín
- (as Armando Arriola 'Arriolita')
- La niña pobre (Lupita)
- (as Lupita)
- Padre despertado
- (as Leopoldo Ortín Jr.)
- Padre de Billy
- (as Manolo Calvo)
- Niño malo
- (as niño J. Carlos Méndez)
- Niño malo
- (as niño Jesús Brook)
- Madre despertada
- (as Enriqueta Lavat)
- El herrero Llavón
- (as Ángel D'Stefani)
- Abuelo despertado
- (as Gmo. Bravo Sosa)
- Narrator
- (English version)
- (voice)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRiffed on Mystery Science Theater 3000 on December 24, 1993. Season 6, episode 21. Then riffed years later by Rifftrax LIVE.
- GoofsWhen seen through Santa's telescope, the earth is revolving in the wrong direction.
- Quotes
Evil Doll: Why don't you steal us. We can all be yours!
Lupita: No, you know that stealing is bad, and I want to be good.
Evil Doll: But you must learn to steal!
Lupita: No. You know stealing is bad, and I want to be good.
Evil Doll: We dolls don't like good little girls!
Lupita: No. To steal is evil, and I don't want to be evil.
Evil Doll: You must be evil if you want a doll!
Lupita: No, you know stealing is evil, and I don't want to be evil.
Evil Doll: Steal, fight, and we will all be yours!
Lupita: No. I don't want to be evil, and stealing is evil.
Evil Doll: You want to good, eh, you don't want to be bad?
Lupita: No, you know stealing is bad, and I want to be good.
Evil Doll: Well then, you'll never have a doll! HAHAHAHAH!
- Alternate versionsA 1989 U.S. home video release was "substantially re-edited and abridged" to "remove all seemingly objectionable material." This version is missing all material involving Pitch. The running time was reduced to 63 minutes and the film retitled "Santa Claus: The Motion Picture" in order to cash in on the big budget production Santa Claus: The Movie (1985).
- ConnectionsEdited into Santa's Enchanted Village (1964)
- SoundtracksNoche de Paz (Stille Nacht)
Music by Franz Xaver Gruber (uncredited)
Lyrics by Joseph Mohr (uncredited)
Public Domain
However, in 1959, there was still time for an unsophisticated storyline. The best years of Rankin-Bass lay ahead, and -- down in Mexico -- work was being completed on a slightly outre' Christmas film.
SANTA CLAUS emerges in the 1990s as a "party film," simply on the merits of some of the more bizarre elements, which include the fabled Jolly Old Elf spying on unaware children with a sophisticated, wiggly telescope eye, a minor demon tormenting Santa with a toy missile launcher, and far more elfin magic than is good for you.
In his castle (literally) in the clouds, Santa and a gaggle of "typical" children (a Mexican boy, a somewhat Germanic girl and an all-American cowboy Norte Americano) are busily getting the good on the unwary children of the world. In spite of a minor flaw with his mobile spy eye, Santo deftly homes in on a little girl who has no means to get that doll she's been wanting.
You realize, of course, that she'll get it...
In the meantime, down in suburban Heck, the devil sends wicked, somewhat able Pitch to Earth to stonewall Santa's Christmas dealings. Pitch is essentially warned that he'd better not screw this job up. At this point, I think we all see where all this is heading.
Santo arrives on Earth in a vaguely sci-fi sleigh. He bedevils a couple of nasty boys who heckle the waif, and we see her tormented with guilt as Pitch tries to engineer her stealing of a doll.
Of course, she instinctively does the right thing, which leaves Pitch at loose ends. Having been a wee bit short of the task of corrupting a 5 year-old child, he turns on Santa. There follow a few extremely humiliating scenes of the demon trying to do something significant.
Santa wins, Pitch loses.
How do you analyze a film like this? It plays exclusively on a "feel good" emotional level, with no sophistication in plot or execution. For the very young, it will probably play well (a public domain video version was market in the U.S. some years ago). For the older viewers, I'd suggest the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, which mercilessly homes in on each and every bizarre or particularly weak point.
- kikaidar
- Jun 14, 2000
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Santa Claus vs. The Devil
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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