Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town: “My World is Beginning Today”
Last Christmas, although the dreary presence of the Covid-19 loomed, it was a special time for me. It was the 50th anniversary of one of Rankin/Bass’s most iconic stop-motion Christmas specials, and one of the shiniest treasures of my early 2000s childhood. It was one of the very first stop-motion films I ever watched, and the nostalgic magic within it has stuck with me for over a decade. This special taught me and other generations of children who Santa Claus is.
The special, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, first aired on ABC on December 14th, 1970, and quickly became one of Rankin/Bass’s most highly rated programs since Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Like the latter special, it was based off of a sweet, popular holiday tune by the same name, and followed a specific structure that would shape Rankin/Bass’ future specials: an inksuit narrator stops to tell and sing a story to the viewers that ties to the lyrics of the song sharing its name. The popular holiday song, “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town”, was written by Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie during the Great Depression, a somber time in American history where many new, warm, and nostalgic holiday traditions were born or revived under a new light, such as going shopping with family and friends, putting up eye-candy decorations, and preparing for the visit from the bearded man in red. Many of the creators of Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, including the directors and producers Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, grew up during that golden age of entertainment and wanted to carry the true Christmas spirit over to a new, less festive generation. Today, half a century later, that charming, sentimental spirit is still actively rolling, and it is very obvious why it still continues to air on American television each December. As a fan of the classic Christmas aesthetic, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town is one of my most watched Christmas specials for various reasons.
A TV promo for ‘Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town’ from 1977
The special opens with a live-action montage that resembles the newsreels shown in theaters in the ‘30s and ‘40s. Children all over the world and their families are shown making preparations for the annual visit of Santa Claus. The black and white footage of “junior citizens” putting up decorations and wandering around festive displays feels very genuine. They all believe in Santa Claus.
This brief segment eventually fades to an Animagic scene of a mailman driving an antiquated mail-carrier holding sacks of mail to the North Pole. This is Special Delivery Kluger (S.D. for short), played by none other than the old Hollywood legend Fred Astaire. Astaire’s wonderful voice performance as S.D. took the torch for Rankin/Bass’ tradition of Inksuit acting (see my review on Rudolph for more info). His character design and demeanor, from his voice, to his face, to his long legs, to his carefree, spritely dance moves heavily resemble the beloved star.
After opening and reading some letters from children asking Santa Claus commonly-inquired questions, and breaking into a cheerful Astaire-style dance for a crowd of forest animals (two actions severely discouraged for American mail workers), S.D. Kluger begins to tell the tale of how Santa Claus became the most famous man in the world, adopted his distinguished characteristics, and became a symbol of universal love and goodwill. Although Kluger’s tale about the jolly elf obviously never happened in real life (although it is loosely based off of Saint Nicholas’s story), it has many ties to former societies and the people involved in them.
One of the many questions regarding Santa Claus that ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town’ answers is why he wears a red suit. It was a parting gift from his adopted family for his journey to Sombertown.
Most of the whimsical, fairytale-esque backstory takes place in a sad, colorless, and pitiful setting literally called Sombertown, in which the citizens are under high authority of the greedy dictator, Burgermeister Meisterburger. After tripping on a toy duck and getting injured during a ceremony, the humiliated Burgermeister demands all toys be banned in Sombertown. Burgermeister Meisterburger's stubborn tendencies to create specific laws that only benefit himself, his gross amounts of political power, his fragile dignity, as well as his silly German accent (done impeccably by Paul Frees) should remind you of a particular figure in history. That’s right. Burgermeister Meisterburger is to Sombertown as Adolf Hitler was to Nazi Germany (or perhaps Donald Trump sans the accent). The children are the oppressed, the toys are their beloved works (such as art and literature), and Kris Kringle is an ally force that brings joy and promise back to the people. Kris, being raised in a loving adoptive setting by elves and woodland animals, is charming, hardworking, lively, a skilled problem solver, and a lover of all creatures and people. Kris was voiced by Mickey Rooney, who was a WWII-era teen idol and familiar face everyone could relate to (his performance was so acclaimed, he would go on to play Santa Claus in three more stop-motion specials: The Year Without a Santa Claus in 1974, Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July in 1979, and A Miser Brothers’ Christmas in 2008).
Jessica’s mind about Burgermeister Meisterburger’s toy ban quickly changes after Kris Kringle, her future partner in crime, gives her a china doll. “Watch out for that dolly!”, he tells her. “She’s a hardened criminal!”
When Kris Kringle and his new penguin companion, Topper, make it to Sombertown, one of the first people he meets is Miss Jessica, the town’s nonsense-free schoolteacher. Unfortunately, Jessica is written as a malleable spinster that needs to have her icy heart warmed by a man, but is still a very relatable and compelling character. At first, Jessica is against Kris’s actions, passing out toys because of its potential danger, but quickly changes her mind after Kris gives her a China doll. Jessica realizes how stupid and nonsensical the Burgermeister’s laws are, and decides to secretly help Kris in his mission. Toys are not “frivolous, impractical, or unproductive”. They are gifts of love that make the children of Sombertown happy.
After Kris and his friends are arrested for their criminal activity, Jessica feels guilty that she wasn’t there in time to warn him. The very town that she has lived in all her life has turned against her personal beliefs, and she undergoes a deep awakening through her hauntingly-beautiful song, “My World is Beginning Today”. She realizes that she should live a more colorful, rebellious life with Kris and help him do good. She lets her hair down (which is ginger just like Kris’!), and her dress changes from indigo and silver to baby blue, white, and gold.
After freeing Kris and his friends from prison with the Winter Warlock’s remaining magic, Jessica changes her name to Mrs. Claus on account of not just her love for the newly-named Santa Claus, but her desire to embody the meaning of Claus. They hold their own private wedding in the forest on Christmas Eve, where they exchange gifts to each other.
Kris Kringle changes his name to Santa Claus to get out of trouble and asks Jessica if she would like to take it along with him. She becomes Mrs. Claus, an underrated Holiday character that would receive more representation in ‘The Year Without a Santa Claus’.
Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town’s message to its viewers is to simply be more like Santa Claus. S.D. Kluger wraps up with the fact that although December can be an unhappy time for many people, Santa Claus’s essence can sprinkle in some heart. People should give more than they should take. People should rebel for what is morally wrong in society, and help both those in need and those doing good. Santa Claus is not just a symbol of Christmas and toys, but is a loving spirit that lives within all of us. Before S.D. Kluger hops into his car to deliver the children’s letter to Santa, he states, “Maybe if we could all learn Santa’s beautiful lesson, maybe there would finally be peace on Earth, and good will toward man.”
Santa Claus setting off in his sleigh guided by eight reindeer is an iconic backdrop that is hard to miss in December.
8 Fun Facts:
Fred Astaire actually reprised his role as S.D. Kluger seven years after Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town in The Easter Bunny is Comin’ to Town, a carbon-copy of the former special, but involving the Easter Bunny instead of Santa. Instead of driving an old mail-carrier, he controls a giant, talking train named Chugs.
Composer Maury Laws stated that the soundtrack for Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town was his favorite to work on out of all of the Christmas specials he was involved with.
Jessica’s voice actress, Robbie Lester, was a talented songwriter, singer and voice actress who constantly worked with Disney in the ‘60s and ‘70s. She played the singing voices of Dutchess from The AristoCats and Miss Bianca from The Rescuers (two heroines who had their dialogue voiced by Eva Gabor), sang the opening theme to The Three Lives of Thomasina (a criminally underrated Disney film), and was a narrator and singer for many Disney records, including read-a-long storybooks.
The cover for the original soundtrack for Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, signed at the top by Jessica’s voice actress, Robie Lester. The image of Santa riding past the decorated trees never appears in the film, but it’s still super pretty.
In one broadcast version of the special, Topper the penguin’s name was dubbed as “Waddles”, which created a small Mandela Effect among viewers of the special.
The doctor that diagnoses Burgermeister Meisterburger looks exactly like the King in Tanta’s history book with his beard and glasses. Later on, he reappears as the father of the household the Burgermeister inspects for toys. Are they all the same person?
Kris tells the first two children he meets that he’ll give the Burgermeister a big, red yoyo. The yoyo he hands him later on is actually blue and yellow.
Many broadcasts of the special have had multiple scenes cut out not only to cut time for commercials, but because they were problematic. The song “Be Prepared to Pay'' is a dated scene that has been heavily criticized for showing Kris, an adult man, asking children to sit on his lap and kiss him in exchange for toys. Some other scenes that have been cut include Kris jumping on and off the rooftops (to prevent children from imitating him and getting injured), the Burgermeister burning the children’s toys (a very dark and depressing scene for some viewers), and various parts of the wedding scene that bring up heavy religious themes.
In the scene where Kris looks over the list of children in Sombertown to deliver presents to, many names on the list are awkwardly spelled. Irene is spelled as “Irean”, Diane is spelled as “Daian”, and Fred is spelled as “Fread”.
Do any of these names on Kris’s list look off to you? Do you know anyone named Feiber? There’s a possibility that the Japanese set/prop designers spelled the English names as they heard them pronounced out loud.
External Links:
-Watch the full special here!: Santa Claus Is Comin To Town 1970 (1080p Bluray)