I saw and liked this as a kid, so I thought I'd see how well it holds up as an adult. The answer is that it doesn't: every scene I found charming as a boy I now find embarrassing. SANTA CLAUS: THE MOVIE turns out to be one of the most twee and overly mawkish Christmas movies ever made.
The problem with the film is the script, which just meanders all over the place, plotlessly and painfully without focus or insight. It appears that the producers realised they could use the same kind of 'flying' special effects from the SUPERMAN series except swap them for Santa and his reindeers flying through the air. But that's no basis for a movie.
It takes an hour or so for the storyline (involving an evil toy manufacturer) to get moving, and before then there are just lots of annoying scenes with the elves, who make the Ewoks look appealing. We get Dudley Moore mugging shamelessly in one of his irritating kid's film performances, and David Huddleston overegging it as a good-natured Santa. One of the sub-plots, involving floating kids, seems to have been stolen from WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.
Thankfully, the film does pick up a little in the latter stages when there's actual stuff going on (even if it still isn't much), and we do get a scene-stealing turn from John Lithgow as a remarkably slimy villain. Sadly, his presence isn't enough to stop this from being a film that's a worthless watch for anyone over eight years old.
NB. I recently watched this film one more time just to see if I was being too harsh on it above. I guess I was - a little. If you're in the mood for cloying sentimental and feel-good Christmas fare, then I guess it's the film for you. It certainly looks nice in high definition and the early storyline about how Santa Claus became Santa Claus is quite well done. A good kid's film then, although adults may want to pass on it.
The problem with the film is the script, which just meanders all over the place, plotlessly and painfully without focus or insight. It appears that the producers realised they could use the same kind of 'flying' special effects from the SUPERMAN series except swap them for Santa and his reindeers flying through the air. But that's no basis for a movie.
It takes an hour or so for the storyline (involving an evil toy manufacturer) to get moving, and before then there are just lots of annoying scenes with the elves, who make the Ewoks look appealing. We get Dudley Moore mugging shamelessly in one of his irritating kid's film performances, and David Huddleston overegging it as a good-natured Santa. One of the sub-plots, involving floating kids, seems to have been stolen from WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.
Thankfully, the film does pick up a little in the latter stages when there's actual stuff going on (even if it still isn't much), and we do get a scene-stealing turn from John Lithgow as a remarkably slimy villain. Sadly, his presence isn't enough to stop this from being a film that's a worthless watch for anyone over eight years old.
NB. I recently watched this film one more time just to see if I was being too harsh on it above. I guess I was - a little. If you're in the mood for cloying sentimental and feel-good Christmas fare, then I guess it's the film for you. It certainly looks nice in high definition and the early storyline about how Santa Claus became Santa Claus is quite well done. A good kid's film then, although adults may want to pass on it.