Review of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) by Bryan G — 18 Dec 2006

[font=Courier New]It has been some time since I last saw [i]Frosty the Snowman[/i]. It has always been my least favorite of the most notable Rankin and Bass animated Christmas features, the other and better films being [i]Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer[/i] and [i]Santa Claus is Comin? To Town[/i]. But since it is Christmas soon, I thought it would be perfect to visit with it again. I also got the chance to see [i]The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus[/i], a Rankin and Bass feature I hadn?t seen before.

I guess the first thing I noticed and disliked about [i]Frosty the Snowman[/i] was that it was a cartoon rather than the traditional stop-motion used for previous films. Plus it is only about half the length of the other films, and the story doesn?t seem to make a lick of sense when you think about it. But the film is goodhearted, and has become a staple for the Christmas season.

[i]The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus[/i] is a telling of the history of Santa. We see everything from when he was a baby till when he became the annual gift giver we all know and love. The council of Immortals hear tales of his generosity toward mankind, and they are trying to see if he is worthy enough to be granted immortality.

The movie is interesting, but not fully entertaining. Seems like the film was made for the audiences who watched the original Rankin and Bass films and have now grown up. Kids might like the varied collection of side characters and their neat designs. But the movie's lagging story might cause them to lose interest real fast.

So here we have two films that are a good watch. [i]Frosty[/i] has the luck of coming packaged with [i]Rudolph[/i] and [i]Santa Claus is Comin? To Town[/i] in a really great collection box, otherwise I probably wouldn?t have gotten the movie. As for [i]The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus[/i], I?m not sure if that is available on video or DVD. I caught it on T.V., so you might have to try to do the same if you were interested. [/font].