SnoopyStyle In the middle ages, kindly toymaker Claus and his wife Anya deliver toys to the village children. They and their reindeers, Donner and Blitzen, are caught in a snowstorm. Following prophesy, they are taken in by the elves or Vendequm led by Dooley. The Ancient One proclaims Claus, Santa Claus. As work mount, Claus elevates modern-minded Patch (Dudley Moore) as his assistant but the toys are shoddy and Patch is demoted. Claus befriends two orphans, homeless boy Joe and rich girl Corneli. Patch leaves the north pole and heads to NYC where he works for Corneli's step-uncle, corrupt toy manufacturer B.Z. (John Lithgow).The first half is a Santa Claus origins story. It's functional but lacks much drama. David Huddleston is a big burly guy but I finally realize that he doesn't have enough jolly. Dudley Moore as an elf is silly. Maybe they should make him a drunken elf. There is a change in the middle as the movie arrives in the modern world. First off, the product placements of McDonald's and Coke are jarring. A homeless kid is ill-fitting Dickensian. Lithgow is going overboard into cartoon villainy. "Christmas II" It turns into tacky camp. If that's the point, then the movie should shorten the first half and fully embrace its tackiness.

gwnightscream This 1985 fantasy stars Dudley Moore, David Huddleston, John Lithgow and Burgess Meredith. This sort of tells the origin of Santa Claus (Huddleston) who starts out as a woodcarver and becomes a Christmas symbol when he comes to the North Pole learning it's magical secrets. The late, Moore (Arthur) plays Patch, one of his elves who decides to leave to better his toy making abilities. He heads to New York City where he gets a job working for corrupt, toy manufacturer, B.Z. (Lithgow) who learns of his special talents and tries to profit from them. Soon, Santa tries to get Patch back, stop B.Z. and save the Christmas spirit from becoming lost. The late, Meredith (Rocky) plays an ancient Elf. I watched this as a kid and think it's underrated. The cast is good, there's neat effects and I like Sheena Easton's "Christmas All Over The World" song. I recommend this good Christmas fantasy.

HelenMary This Santa Claus film is one of the best, in terms of heartwarming Christmas films. It's quite twee and hasn't aged well but it's still lovely and enjoyable. The Santa Claus is from the North Pole (of course) and is traditional (post Coca-Cola) and a craftsman who makes presents for children before he "becomes" Santa. It's got some lovely magical scenes, and beautiful reindeer (animatronic so dated now but still cute and entertaining for children) and the elves - lead by Dudley Moore - are sweet and funny. There are some great music and soundtrack and the sets are quite beautiful. I'm sure it was quite big budget at the time! The bad guy, played by John Lithgow, who is trying to take over Christmas, was hilarious, comic-book malevolent and had one of his most iconic roles with some great one-liners. The two child actors were a little hammy in places, particularly the girl, but all in all they are sweet and accomplished and it is the moral and heart of the film that is so prominent and distracts from any flaws; both of the children are orphans of sorts and need a home and someone to love them, she's from a rich family and he is from the streets. It's heartwarming and suitable for all family members and nicely old fashioned enough to not be bogged down with so much SFX and flippancy that all heart is lost. Dudley Moore is fun and enjoyable, and Mrs Claus simply radiant and charming along with Santa - who is so believable and one of the best, jolly and kindly Santa ever put on screen. Fun for all the family.

Robert W. A big budget story about the traditional idea of Santa Claus seems like a good idea. I actually think I can pinpoint where the film sort of falls apart. While the film starts as this captivating fairy tale it quickly turns into a original version of Will Ferrell's "Elf." The film suddenly focuses nearly entirely on Dudley Moore's character because he was the big "star" of the time. The problem is his character has very little depth and you feel no attachment to him whatsoever. The characters are good but don't have enough depth whether it be Moore's character or the villain or the two children, they feel underdeveloped. And the focal point of the story should be Santa because they set up a very interesting beautiful story about this man and then it all falls apart. There are some stunning special effects, the animatronic deer are incredible (although some real deer were used) and the scenery is beautiful. It would have been very impressive for its time. It just feels like they had a great idea but when it came to writing the story it didn't fill out properly.Dudley Moore was a comedy icon in the eighties. He had Arthur under his belt and I'm sure he seemed like the right person for this role. The problem is that the character is underdeveloped as I mention and Moore puts in no personality at all into the character. He isn't fun or easy to watch and brings no life to the elf. David Huddleston is brilliant as Santa Claus. He is shot larger than life, with the giant beard and he just looks regal and commands screen presence. If only the film had focused on him. John Lithgow is decent as our villain B.Z. Lithgow is a fantastic actor, comedic or otherwise, but this role is pretty straight forward for him. He pulls it off flawlessly but had to bored by the simplicity of the character. He gets no chance to really stand out which he easily could have. He plays the character very campy which he does well and it was the only way he could have played it. Christian Fitzpatrick and Carrie Kei Heim play the two youngsters who get themselves into danger. Somehow they should have been the focus of the antagonists story but they aren't and the kids are way underdeveloped as characters and basically just background characters.The biggest disappointment for me is that the film shows some potential. The sheer idea of an epic Santa Claus story that incorporates all the traditional legend and lore with big special effects seems like a sure fire hit. And it wouldn't be a comedy but a sweet family drama. I think that was the idea here but it falls apart in a big way. Poor Jeannot Szwarc who has spent years and years in Television but in the eighties was the name behind Jaws 2, and then back to back this film and Supergirl (both big flops.) You can even see a similar style between this and Supergirl (a film I appreciate as a campy fun classic.) Santa Claus unfortunately just feels flat from every angle. I don't think it even sits in the Christmas classic genre. It is underwhelming in many, many ways. 5.5/10