Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970)

Fred Astaire is the narrator of this stop motion animated film made for television. Burgermeister Meisterburger is the mean, grouchy, mayor/type dictator of the town of Sombertown. A baby arrives on his doorstep with a tag that says "Claus". The Burgermeister tells his assistant to take the baby to the orphanage. Along the way there is a huge gust of wind that blows the baby away and he lands in the snow where some animals hide him so that the Winter Warlock won't see him. They take him to a family of elves named "Kringle" ruled by Tante Kringle and they name him "Kris". As he gets older he tells his family that he will one day restore them to their rightful place as the "Toymakers to the King".

When Kris grows up he decides that he will deliver toys to the kids of Sombertown where toys are not allowed and the Burgermeister says that anyone found with toys will be arrested and thrown into the dungeon. On his way Kris meets up with the Winter Warlock who warns him to stay away from his land. When Kris gets to Sombertown he meets Miss Jessica, the schoolteacher, and gets a crush on her. When the Burgermeister sees the toys, he wants to arrest the children but Kris gives him a yoyo. He loves the yoyo, but his assistant reminds him of his own rules and he chases Kris out of town. Kris meets up with the Warlock again and things get ugly until he gives the Warlock a toy train which melts the frozen heart of the Warlock. Kris continues to get toys to the children and when the Burgermeister finds the toys, he conducts a house to house search until he finds and burns all of the toys. Kris and party are arrested, but escape when the Warlock gives Jessica "magic feed corn" to give the reindeer so that they can fly everyone to safety.

Kris goes back into the hills as an outlaw and grows a beard to disguise himself and changes him name to "Claus", the name that the was born with. Jessica and Kris get married and move to the North Pole where they build their workshop. The Burgermeisters eventually die off and Santa decides that he can only deliver toys once a year due to demand. History is made!

One of my favorites! Who can hear Burgermeister Meisterburger and not go back to when they were 7?

48 Minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie THREE AND A HALF STARS.

The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974)

I realize that this is not a theatrical movie, but I felt that since it has been around since I was a kid, that I had to include it. This movie is made in Stop Motion Animation.

Santa Claus(the voice of Mickey Rooney)wakes up with a bad cold and is told by his doctor that he can't do his regular trip. It then falls to a couple of elves, Jingle and Jangle, to find people that still believe in Christmas. While they are doing this, their reindeer Vixen is mistaken for a dog and is thrown into the pound. The Mayor of the town, Southton, agrees to let Vixen go if they can make it snow in this hot area on Christmas.

Mrs. Claus then goes to the famous stepbrothers, Heat Miser and Snow Miser, who control the weather in the world, to help them out. Neither one wants to compromise and Mrs. Claus has to tattle on them to their mother who happens to be Mother Nature. It works out and they end up finding some generous people to help Santa out. Spurred on by this outpouring of good cheer, Santa decides to make the Christmas Eve deliveries.

The pictures above are of Brian and Steve as the Heat Miser and Snow Miser last Halloween. Thanks for the pictures Mykel!

48 minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie TWO AND THREE QUARTER STARS.

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (1964)

Our hero Rudolph is born and his father is embarrassed because he has such a shiny nose. When he begins his reindeer training, his father covers up his nose because he doesn't want Santa to see his "defect". He befriends a young doe named Clarice who thinks that he is 'cuuuuuuuuuute". During his training his nose is discovered and he is ostracized. He meets a misfit elf named Hermey who wants to be a dentist. They decide to run away and on their journeys meet Yukon the prospector who is searching for peppermint, some misfit toys, and an abominable snowman called a Bumble. Rudolph's mother and Clarice decide to look for him and end up getting cornered by the Bumble. Rudolph tries to protect them, but gets knocked out. Hermey and Yukon end up removing the Bumble's teeth and Yukon pushes the Bumble into a hole and falls in after him. He ends up showing up later as "Bumbles bounce!" and he was able to get out of the hole. Everyone finds their way home and Rudolph becomes the hero as Santa needs his "nose that shines so bright" to light the way for his sleigh to make his Christmas Eve deliveries. The good news continues as Hermey gets his dentist shop and the Misfit Toys get rescued and become gifts for girls and boys.

Rudolph was first created in 1939 by an employee of Montgomery Ward. The song from the story was first recorded in 1948, but it did not become popular until 1949 when Gene Autry recorded it for commercial distribution. This stop motion animation special is the longest running special today and it has great memories for me!

Not Rated. 60 Minutes. I give this movie THREE AND ONE HALF STARS.

Holiday Inn (1942)

"Holiday Inn" begins as Jim (Bing Crosby) and Lila (Virginia Dale) are finishing their last song and dance show with Ted (Fred Astaire) before they retire to a farm in Vermont. Lila decides that she wants to keep working, dumps Jim and gets together with Ted. Jim goes to the country, and finding that he can't hack the country farm life, check himself into a sanatorium. While there he comes up with the idea of turning his farm into an inn that is only open on national holidays. On those holidays, they offer dinner and elaborately themed song and dance numbers according to which holiday it is. He pitches this to Ted, where he finds out that Lila dumped Ted for a millionaire, and they set it up. Before they get started, Jim meets a woman named Linda(Marjorie Reynolds)who ends up getting a job at the Inn. Ted tries to take her away at the Independence Day celebration and she goes with him to Hollywood to make a movie about the Holiday Inn. Jim is depressed about this and at he goes to Hollywood, confronts Ted and gets Linda back. Ted also gets back together with Lila as her rich boyfriend seems to have some tax problems.

This film has some great entertainment. Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby do a fine job singing and dancing. With it being an Irving Berlin movie, there are many of these song and dance numbers. The clothes that the ladies wear are absolutely beautiful! The set at the Inn is the same set for the Inn in "White Christmas". This movie is considered a Christmas movie although the only "Christmasy" part about it happens at the beginning and the end.

This movie is the first in which the song "White Christmas" is introduced. Today some of broadcasts of this movie have cut out the politically incorrect "Abraham" musical number because of it's depiction of a black face mistral show. Turner Classic Movies retains this part because of the historical value as well as the fact that they only show uncut versions of their movies. Interesting fact: The Holiday Inn's of today are named after the film.

101 Minutes. Not Rated. Black and White. I give this movie THREE STARS.

White Christmas (1954)

This is a magnificent film that is about two men who meet in Europe during WWII in 1944. Captain Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Private Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) are entertaining the troops on Christmas Eve with Wallace, who is a successful Broadway entertainer in his regular life, singing "White Christmas" as Davis works the record player. Their commander, General Waverly (Dean Jagger) arrives and as it is his last day in command, the soldiers all give him a grand send off by singing "The Old Man". After the General leaves, the men come under attack and Davis saves Wallace's life injuring himself in the process. Feeling guilty, Wallace gives in when Davis suggests that they work together when they get home.

Soon they become "Wallace and Davis" the darlings of Broadway with their variety show. They get a letter from an old army buddy asking them to take a look at an act that his sisters, Judy(Vera-Ellen) and Betty(Rosemary Clooney), put on. The four of them meet and when the girls have to escape a landlord who is trying to say that they skipped out without paying, the men help them out and put on a funny routine to buy the girls some time to get away by doing a very funny turn to the girls' "Sisters" number. The men meet up with the ladies on the train going north and decide to join them at their next show at the Columbia Inn in Vermont. When they arrive, they are told by the housekeeper Emma (Mary Wickes)that since there is no show and therefore no guests, that their act isn't needed. They also find out that Bob and Phil's former commander, General Waverly, owns the inn and has sunk his savings and pension into the Inn. To help him out, Bob and Phil decide to have their whole show come up and rehearse at the Inn. Later they come up with the idea to have as many former soldiers that had been under the command of General Waverly come up to Vermont as a surprise for the General on Christmas Eve.

Throughout the film there are misunderstandings, ploys to get couples together, many song and dance numbers and much more.

The dancing and singing in this movie is top notch and is in my top 5 Christmas movies! Plus Cathy and I like to drive Jean nuts with our exemplary rendition of "Sisters". I am also looking forward to a Christmas tradition in which Cathy, Brittany and sometimes Bret put up and decorate Cathy's tree while I recline under a blanket, drink and watch this wonderful movie! I was surprised to see that a lot of critics rated "Holiday Inn" over "White Christmas", they don't know what they are talking about!!

I found out some interesting facts on Wikipedia regarding this movie. Fred Astaire was offered the part of Bob Wallace but turned it down and Danny Kaye ended up with the part. Vera-Ellen's costumes all have a high neck as she was battling Anorexia (you can see how thin she was) and her neck looked rather old. Rosemary Clooney actually sung both parts of the "Sisters" number, although she was not on the soundtrack for the movie because she was under contract with another company. The set for the Columbia Inn is indeed an exact replica of the Inn in "Holiday Inn". The choreography for the dance numbers was done by the famous Bob Fosse.

120 Minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie FOUR AND ONE HALF STARS!