Does not liking the concept of Santa Claus make me a Scrooge-like person around Christmas time?  I have railed against Kris Kringle (voiced by Mickey Rooney) in previous reviews seasonal films, and this sentence already gives away the subject of today’s movie.  It is because of my distaste for this fictional, invented, and magical being that I skipped over Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (1970) before despite its relative generational popularity.  That should also tell you most of why Santa is antithetical, in many respects, to Catholic teaching.  There was the real Turkish archbishop, St. Nicholas of Myra, who did some important things for God’s greater glory.  Then there is this strange person that has been unskillfully extracted from the biography of this holy person to become the whimsical, globe-trotting gift giver in Santa Claus that has, unfortunately, attained more popularity than the actual saint.  Our film has nothing to do with his roots in Turkey, but it is an origin story.  It is also bonkers and slightly psychedelic, while at the same time making a firm connection to Christianity without (somehow) saying the name of Jesus.  I am sure that my synopsis will not do it justice, but know as you are reading this description that it is bonkers.

The person to tell us this hard to believe story about how Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town is Special Delivery “S.D.” Kluger (voiced by Fred Astaire).  He is bringing the letters from all the boys and girls to Kris in the North Pole, and he stops to tell his animal friends, and us, about how he came by his once-a-year job and everything else that comes with it.  He begins this monologue because he claims that many of the children’s missives contain questions along these lines.  Why is he reading them?  It is probably best that not to ask.  Anyway, Kris, incredibly, was once a baby and left at the front door of Burgermeister Mesiterburger (voiced by Paul Frees), the mayor of Sombertown.  The town name should tell you all you need to know about its curmudgeonly leader.  Predictably, he has no time for orphans and sends the infant away to an . . . orphan asylum?  My apologies, but my brain tripped over why they did not just say orphanage.  On the way to whatever you want to call it, the wind picks up the child and blows it onto the mountain of the Winter Warlock (voiced by Keenan Wynn).  Everyone knows to fear this grouchy wizard, including the animals, so the furry creatures make sure tiny Claus is delivered to the elf family known as the Kringles.  Their matriarch, Tanta Kringle (Joan Gardner), instructs her helpers to take in the wee one, naming him Kris.  Kris is raised by the toy making elves, observing how their output keeps piling up outside because Winter Warlock prevents their goods from being taken to the children of Sombertown.  When he is old enough, Kris vows to begin delivering them to the denizens of the nearby village.  When the day comes, he is joined by a penguin named Topper (voiced by Paul Frees).  This has nothing to do with the plot, but tell me where on your Christmas traditions bingo cards is a flightless bird from Antarctica?  Kris has poor timing, though.  Burgermeister has recently tripped over a toy outside his palace and broke his leg.  Because of this, he has decreed all toys illegal.  However, Kris comes along, basically says screw that, and starts handing out gifts.  He is initially stopped by Ms. Jessica (voiced by Robie Lester), the teacher, but he soon prevails upon her the importance of giving the kids a chance to play.  Burgermeister finds out, but is temporarily mollified when he receives a yoyo.  But even his joy at getting a long sought after toy fades and he is back to finding a way of preventing more presents from getting into the hands of children. He institutes further laws aimed keeping Kris out of town, but each time, the so-called outlaw Kris finds a way around these draconian measures.  Eventually, Burgermeister resorts to arresting everyone, including Winter Warlock, whose heart Kris had melted by giving the mean magic man a train.  Jessica talks to Winter Warlock through the bars, asking him to do more magic to free them.  The best he can come up with is enchanted corn kernels, which Jessica feeds to the reindeer to make them fly.  Once freed, Kris and Jessica get married, with Kris using his birth name for the ceremony and it taking place on that holy night that is Christmas Eve.  This is also used as the justification for giving Kris the appellation “Santa,” meaning good, and for picking that day to be the one day to travel around handing out the gifts.  This is basically how we get to the present-day mess that we have now.

The last few minutes of Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town show Kris getting older and rounder, but apparently he once had hair almost as red as his famous suit, which appears to be a Kringle uniform of sorts.  Between that and penguin sidekicks and Winter Warlocks, not to mention the musical interludes, you have a bizarre Christmas story.  Still, the Catholic in me was at least satisfied to see the holiday officially established as a Christian one.  It also makes the distinction, though not obviously, that Santa Claus has nothing to do with the day.  He is simply a generous person imbued with magical properties that likes giving toys to strangers.  An even subtler message is how one can change when you let good into your heart.  We see this with Winter Warlock.  As Kris is returning from his first mission, for lack of a better phrase, he is confronted by the angry version of Winter Warlock.  Importantly, the mountain dweller is insistent on being called Mr. Warlock.  It is not until Kris produces the train, and Winter Warlock melts down to something approximating human, that he starts to prefer just being called Winter.  The use of the word “melt” is significant.  Isaiah 13:6-7 reads, “Howl, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it comes.  Therefore, all hands fall helpless, every human heart melts.”  The appearance of “howl” might give this a Dooms Day feel, but it is important to recall that this appears in the book of the prophet Isaiah.  During Advent, his chapters are frequently read because he, more than any other Old Testament figure, presaged the coming of the Messiah.  Many of the prophecies that describe how this event was to occur come from him.  As that day approaches, we are called upon to cast off, destroy, melt, or take your pick of metaphors for getting rid of our former selves that can be an impediment to Jesus.  That is the reason for this time of year.

And this is the reason for me to give you this kind of analysis of films like Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town: to provide subtext for you watching these movies.  Of course, this applies to any review.  Further, this is when I usually give you my recommendation, and I am torn on this one.  I appreciate the pointedly Christian elements.  It is the strangeness of the story that gives me pause, and my desire to see Santa Claus disappear from our collective consciousness is why I would not recommend it.