The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

• Directed by Glen Hill
• October 31, 2000

Voice Cast

• Young Santa Claus-Robby Benson
• Old Santa Claus, Thog-Jim Cummings
• Necile-Dixie Carter
• Ak (Master Woodsman of the World)-Hal Holbrook
• Wisk, Wil Knook-Carlos Alazraqui
• King Mogorb-Maurice LaMarche
• Ethan the Cripple, Megan, Tycus-Brianne Siddall
• Shiegra-Cynthia Songé
• Natalie, Mayrie-Kath Soucie
• Martha-Mary Kay Bergman
• Gardenia-Melissa Disney
• Wagif Knook, Bo (Master Mariner of the World)-Jess Harnell
• Peter Knook, Andrew-Nick Jameson

The story of how a child left in the woods and raised by the Faire Folke grew to become Santa Claus.

This is only the second version of The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum that I am aware of. The first is a Rankin/Bass Claymation special which I have as of yet been unable to find on DVD or Blu-ray, yet I’ve stumbled across a few copies of The Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold. Go figure…

Before I get to my thoughts, to go off on a bit of a tangent I’m not sure why this story hasn’t gotten a big screen adaption. Aside from the television special and this direct to video animated feature, no one has touched this yet from what I’ve seen there is a potential for some really cool visuals and a Lord of the Rings style story set at Christmas. Get on it Hollywood!

Anyway, this is one of the more unique takes on the Santa Claus mythology and is a rather satisfying origin story for the character. As a concept I like it much more than Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town. While child friendly, it does not usually talk down to its intended audience.

Though the story doesn’t talk down too much, there are points when it gets a little simplistic. I am not sure if the creative minds behind this were trying to soften something from the story at those points or it was drawn from the original narrative itself.

The animation is okay. This was a direct to video release, and they definitely kept the cost down here. There are points where are the animation reaches the limitations of the cost they were willing to put in. That’s a bit of a disservice because this does have moments of genuine quality and overall is rather good.

The only weak point in the character designs are of the Awgwas, who in part make life miserable for humans. I know this is meant to be family friendly so there is a need to keep the tone relatively soft but the Awgwas do not look evil or threatening. They look like something out of the Power Rangers. Like Putties to be honest.

The voice acting isn’t bad. Robby Benson, Jim Cummings, Dixie Carter, Hal Holbrook, Carlos Alazraqui, Maurice LaMarche, and Kath Soucie are all talented actors/voice actors and do a great job bringing their respective characters to life. Up until the DC animated releases, quality voicework was extremely rare in direct to video releases.

In the end this version of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is an entertaining and enjoyable Christmas endeavor. An adult could watch this by themselves or more likely enjoy it when they watch it with their children not regret it.

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is not the greatest Santa Claus origin film ever, but it is a good one. If you come across this by yourself or with your family be willing to give it a look. You won’t regret it.