Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970)

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town is a classic Christmas gem and a real nostalgic treat. If you grew up watching this show every Christmas season, you'll find an annual viewing still warms the cockles of your heart. The production values and stopmotion animation are quite excellent and hold up very well against digital techniques, in my opinion. Character design, continuity, and the original soundtrack are esp. noteworthy. You'll love all the voice talent, from Fred Astaire (Postman Narrator) and Mickey Rooney (Kris Kringle) to Keenan Wynn (Winter Warlock) to Paul Frees (Bergermeister Meisterberger and henchman Grimsby in the Teutonic helmet) to Robie Lester (Jessica). Key musical numbers are "It's A Difficult Responsibility" and "Put One Foot in Front of the Other." The original songs are all catchy and Jessica even has a solo number reminiscent of Julie Newmar. This short (48 min) but creative production does more to explain the origins of Kris Kringle -- from infancy to his first toy missions to Sombertown -- than Jim Carrey could do for the Grinch. As a bonus, The Little Drummer Boy (25 min) is also included but here the back story is a bit darker than in Pinocchio: Thieves murder Aaron's father (shown with a quick cutaway) so he "hates all people" (repeating this many times) and is quite the young tough (even in forced servitude) until his encounter with the Christ Child. For similar offerings, click my avatar and see my Christmas and Snow lists. 5 stars. (10-14-07 updated 12-18-08)