Santa Claus: The Movie

"You'd better watch out! This year he REALLY IS coming to town."

1985 1h 48m EN

😐

6.3

MID

🥫

22%

ROTTEN

⭐

6.3

IMDB

★6.3TMDB · 296🥫22%Rotten Tomatoes★6.3IMDB · 17,355

FamilyFantasyAdventure

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In ancient times, a man named Claus, who delivers toys in his small village, fulfils his destiny to become Santa Claus after meeting an expert toy-making elf, Patch, in the North Pole. In the present day, Santa Claus has become overwhelmed by his workload, and the disgruntled Patch flees the workshop to New York City. There, Patch unknowingly threatens the fate of Christmas by taking a job at a failing toy company run by a scheming businessman.

“You'd better watch out! This year he REALLY IS coming to town.”

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Cast

Dudley Moore
Patch
John Lithgow
B.Z.
David Huddleston
Santa Claus
Burgess Meredith
Ancient Elf
Judy Cornwell
Anya Claus
Jeffrey Kramer
Towzer
Christian Fitzpatrick
Joe
Carrie Kei Heim
Cornelia

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jeannot Szwarc
Writers: David Newman, Leslie Newman, David Newman
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 47% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

41 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jeannot Szwarc, shot by Arthur Ibbetson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Henry Mancini. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Peter Hollywood shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Dudley Moore and John Lithgow and David Huddleston carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jeannot Szwarc directs. Arthur Ibbetson behind the camera. Henry Mancini scores. Peter Hollywood cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Earned back only 47% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
341 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4International production across 3 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands.
5Directed by Jeannot Szwarc, shot by Arthur Ibbetson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Henry Mancini. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Peter Hollywood shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Dudley Moore and John Lithgow and David Huddleston carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "You'd better watch out! This year he REALLY IS coming to town.".
10IMDB entry: tt0089961 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Arthur Ibbetson
Original score: Henry Mancini
Editing: Peter Hollywood
Production design: Anthony Pratt
Costume design: Bob Ringwood
Makeup / hair: Elaine Bowerbank
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $50,000,000
Box office: $23,717,291
Return: 47% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
Rotten Tomatoes: 22% 🥫 Rotten
IMDB rating: 6.3/10 · 17,355 votes
MPAA: PG

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Jeannot Szwarc

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Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2020-12-26
★ 7/10
Nice film, I found enough enjoyment with it. Probably not as deep or creative as it could've been, but I do like the plot of <em>'Santa Claus: The Movie'</em> as it starts off at the embryonic stages of Santa. It ends up turning into a run-of-the-mill good v. bad thing, but that cause is helped by the casting of John Lithgow - who is entertaining. Lithgow isn't the only positive cast, as Dudley Moore and David Huddleston do solid things too. It's interesting to see that Lithgow doesn't rate this, as well as the fact that it's apparently popular in the UK; though I, as a Englishman, had never heard about this before this year to be honest. There are, at least in my opinion, many better festive films out there, but this 1985 flick is a satisfying Xmas watch. It's cheesy and features some questionable special effects, but does have pleasant-looking reindeer and has charm.
CinemaSerf2023-12-02
★ 6/10
I didn't love the start of this film. There's this local carpenter who crafts intricately sculpted little toys for kids at Christmas but makes his poor reindeers - "Donner" and "Blitzen" race through the most atrocious snow storm so he (David Huddleston) and his kindly wife (Judy Cornwell) can deliver them! Anyway, that weather overwhelms them and things look distinctly hypothermic until a great star arrives in the heavens and next thing they are being fêted by "Dooley" (John Barrard) in the most beautiful toy factory in the world. He is now to be called "Santa" and his job will be to deliver these presents to children all over the planet. Luckily they have a sprinkling of magic dust to doctor the food of not just his own reindeers, but of a few others too and decades now pass uneventfully. As more and more people learn to write, though, the demands on him become increasingly onerous, indeed the poor soul is frankly a bit knackered. An assistant! That's the answer. Two of his elves vie for the position but it's "Patch" (Dudley Moore) who develops and automated production line and emerges victorious. Thing is, his products are cheap and cheerful - they break and soon he is out on his pointy ear and working with disgraced toy manufacturer "BZ" (a well over-the-top John Lithgow). The naive "Patch" is only trying to regain the affection of "Santa". His new business partner is looking to make a mint. Has "Patch" got his priorities right? Perhaps "Santa" has some growing up to do, too? This is a gently entertaining Christmas tale that allows Moore to showcase a little of his comedy acting skills, but generally the rest of it is all a rather thinly-veiled swipe at the rise of commercialism and the throw-away culture. Christian Fitzpatrick is quite engaging as the urchin "Joe" and those with eagle eyes might spot Melvyn Hayes and Don Estelle (famed for the BBC sitcom "Ain't Half Hot Mum") but I found the narrative to be just a little too repetitive and it certainly made me glad I never liked candy cane. It's still fun, but like the gifts he made themselves, I wonder how many kids nowadays would get anything from the charming simplicity of this film?