Santa Claus is Coming to Town

     Ahh yes, the second most iconic work of Rankin and Bass... Santa Claus is Coming to Town tells the story of, well, Kris Claus and how he became Saint Claus. The special quickly attempts to explain everything about Santa, from who Mrs. Claus is to why he travels by night.

     I'm not entirely sure if I should be reviewing this, or giving a rifftrax of it. It is almost painfully easy to make fun of, with many plot-holes, oddities, and ridiculous songs...
     Anyway, considering this special is so prolific that anyone who has ever watched TV around Christmas time knows about it, I won't bother summarizing, and will get right into how to repair it.



     First off, improve the animation ten fold. I don't mean make it computer animated; I mean get  the director for James and the Giant Peach to animate it. (Same director as Nightmare Before Christmas, but James and the Giant peach gives the impression he isn't completely bonkers.) Then multiply the budget by 60, at least.
     With the improved pre-production, onto the story.

     First, the Burgermeister's reason for banning toys needs to be better. Tripping and breaking a bone on a toy? Not a good enough reason, the children would sooner collectively Zerg Rush him for that reasoning. It'd have to be something the parent's agreed on. Burgermeister can have his reason for hating toys, but his public reason should be "Children need to be prepared for what awaits them later in life; toys do not help them in this matter, and therefore should be removed." Kris can then come in and argue how toys help children develop into functional, well-rounded human beings. It stops being silly, and becomes a quality of life argument.
     Second, the winter warlock needs more time to transition from being evil to being kind. Instead of suddenly go through a paradigm shift, use the song "put one foot in front of the other" to have him transition into his good form, with the chorus at the end being fully triumphant.
     Third, they need a different way to escape the dungeon than "flying deer, your argument is invalid." The deer need a different explanation for flight than just enchantment. Magic can play a part sure, but have it be something else as well, like the children's desire to see Kris free. (Do you believe in fairies?)
     Fourth, Topper is pointless, and seems to disappear quickly after Kris builds his castle. Instead, make it one of his Reindeer, and have it pull a sleigh with the presents in it. Bam, reason for sleigh and reason for reindeer.
     Finally, give Jessica more personality. The Mrs. Claus in Rudolph had more personality, and since this is trying to be in continuity with it, then the personality should be the same. But then again, this is the late 1960's we're talking about... Writing good womens is hards, even though it is pretty much just writing a character who happens to be female, it's HARDS.

     Now, even though I'm talking about how to improve it, I strongly advise against remaking this movie, or changing it from the original. Any company that does will be facing a death sentence from people complaining about how it is trampling on their childhood. If everyone stops watching it and it stops making money, then fine. But until that time, changes will be volatile. (For reference, they remade Rudolph. It is in CGI. And yet it seems like it had worse writing, acting, and quality. Probably not making all it's money back on it's deposit...)


     Now, personally, for those of you who have seen this a million times, but feel you must watch it every year... I recommend The Rifftrax for the special. It is pretty funny; not laugh out loud, but funny enough to make a repeated viewing of the film more enjoyable.

Tomorrow... I think I shall resume Rankin Bass's collection...