December always brings viewings of holiday themed films and specials in homes across the world. But even with all of the Christmas films available this season there are standouts that I always find myself coming back to. And today’s feature is no exception. We’re looking at Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town!
But before that I need to talk about Rankin/Bass Productions, the company founded by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. This production company was known for creating various specials such as 1960’s New Adventures of Pinocchio as well as 1964’s Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The studio was primarily known for using an animation technique known as Animagic, which animated wooden and plastic figurines. Like many studios they outsourced their animation to other countries. Animagic is in practice a Japanese film-making technique, despite Rankin/Bass Productions being based out of New York City. The company was in operation from 1960-1987, and although it was dissolved before the 21st Century it has remained a fixture in television via continued airing of its television specials, particularly their holiday specials. Today’s feature is no exception…
Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town was a made for television special that was released via broadcast in 1970. The special was directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, the score was composed by Maury Laws as well as Jules Bass. The special was written by Romeo Muller, and features the voice talents of Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn, Paul Frees, and Joan Gardner. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town tells the story of how Chris Kringle became the beloved Santa Claus as well as how other holiday traditions came to be. It all began with a warm-hearted toy maker attempting to bring joy to children in a town where toys are outlawed.
Naturally the title and plot of the special are a direct reference to the classic holiday jingle originally written and performed in 1934. Even in the age of stop-motion techniques I find the film’s presentation to be rather charming. Stop motion is known for being especially time consuming to create, but it also has a very distinctive visual style that pops and leaves a memorable impression. The voice acting has aged well for the most part and the cast gives performances that wouldn’t be out of place in any holiday-themed special.
The special itself was made for television and as such does not have feature-length running time. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town is 50 minutes long. However, over the years it has been edited for commercial purposes as well as content, which has been deemed problematic by certain networks. Among the cuts were three musical numbers and two scenes that ABC decided were too dangerous for children. These scenes and musical numbers were ultimately restored in the DVD releases.
Networks such as ABC have aired the special on television every year since it was originally aired, which speaks well of the special’s impact on the holiday season. Rankin/Bass Productions is world famous for its contributions to the world of television despite the relatively short life span of the studio. This is a testament to the quality of the work they did on these specials, and all of them should be in your collection if they aren’t already. I’ve even partnered with Amazon to bring you a special purchase link for Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town! These links help support my reviews at no additional cost to you, and I highly recommend this special as a lovely Christmas film!
