A Christmas Story 2 (2012)

"Lightening never strikes the same place twice." 

Director

Brian Levant

Cast

Braeden Lemasters - Ralphie Parker

Daniel Stern - Mr. Parker

Stacey Travis - Mrs. Parker

Valin Shinyei - Randy Parker

David Buehrle - Schwartz

David W. Thompson - Flick

Tiera Skovbye - Drucilla Gootrad

Last year, I reviewed as many films based on the works of writer and humorist, Jean Shepherd as I could find. 

Shepherd books In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories, and Other Disasters are the basis for the classic holiday movie A Christmas Story. For those three or four people out there who've never seen this movie, it's about a kid, Ralphie Parker, and his quest to obtain a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.

As I previously pointed out on this blog, A Christmas Story isn't the first nor the last movie about Ralphie. I've reviewed those other movies on this blog, the last one being the 1988 movie Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss. 

After that, I mentioned I would check out the worst example of a cash grab I had ever heard of - A Christmas Story 2. But I ran out of time during the Christmas season. So, I put it off until this year, Now, the time I never thought would come has indeed arrived.

Released straight to DVD in 2012, when I heard this movie was now a part of reality, I immediately decided to never watch it. Of course, I was lying to myself. Deep down, I knew I would someday. 

I had only seen it packaged along with the first movie. How else would producers get the public to buy it? 

In this sequel, things haven't changed too much during the six years that have passed since the events of the first movie. Ralphie Parker (Braeden Lemasters), who's 15-years old now, still hangs around with his pals, Flick (David W. Thompson) and Schwartz (David Buehrle). His old man (Daniel Stern) still battles it out with the furnace. Mrs. Parker (Stacey Travis) still maintains the Parker homestead. And Ralph's kid brother Randy (Valin Shinyei) somehow looks the same age as he did six years ago while his older brother has obviously aged. 

Ralphie has quite a crush on Drucilla Gootrad (Tiera Skovbye) who's dating the captain of the football team at his high school, or something stupid like that. I don't know. I forgot. 

All of Ralphie's fantasies this time seem to surround her. But don't worry. Those fantasies don't venture into closed rooms. Ralphie hasn't matured that much!

That BB gun he got for Christmas years ago is now an afterthought. This year his heart is set on something new for Christmas - a 1939 Mercury Eight Convertible. As he, Schwartz, and Flick pass by Hohman, Indiana's used car dealership one afternoon, Ralphie pauses to soak in the sight of this desired Mercury displayed in all its dark green and polished chrome glory, he decides to help himself inside the car to see how it feels. 

He begins to fantasize (Ralphie does this a lot in this flick) that he's cruising along with his love interest, Drucilla, nestled up close to him. 

While he's alone in the car with his Drucilla fantasies, Ralphie accidentally releases the break causing the vehicle to roll off its display and out into the street. He gets his pant leg caught on the break release, and rather than remove it, he takes his pants off. 

The bumper barely taps a light post. Yet, somehow, this is enough to cause a plastic reindeer decoration to fall from the light and through the convertible top. He crawls out of the back seat not wearing any pants, and none of it is funny.

He swears to the car dealer that he'll pay the $83 to have the top repaired. 

Ralphie tries going to his old man for help, which doesn't get him anywhere. 

So, he convinces Flick and Schwartz to help him come up with the money by getting a job with him at Higbee's Department Store - the same store from part one. 

After screwing up in department after department at Higbee's, the three of them are finally placed in the store's Santa Claus area. 

Here, they end up getting into a fight with the gruff, and problematic store Santa. And this costs them their jobs. I'll add the Santa in the original was overworked and tired, but not a complete jerk. 

Alone, Ralphie goes back to the store manager for one last chance. The manager rehires him and puts Ralphie outside the store dressed as a reindeer (because the first movie had him in a bunny suit. I suppose they can't repeat everything from part one) to help attract customers. 

Soon after weeks of working, Ralphie comes up $1 short of the car's repair costs.

So, he robs Schwartz of his "lucky buck" and then goes to pay off the damages. But the story doesn't end there. It goes on after he spends the $83 to take a homeless family out for a meal at the same Chinese restaurant where the Parkers had their Christmas dinner in part one.

The 1983 movie A Christmas Story used to be this quaint comedy that many people simply enjoyed around the holidays. That's all it was for me having made it a point to watch it every Christmas season for the last 35 years. Now, with the amount of A Christmas Story commercialism and retail the public is beaten over the head with year after year, the varnish that is the movie's charm has been wiped off. 

Tiera Skovbye as Drucilla, and Braeden Lemasters as Ralphie Parker
in A Christmas Story 2.

No wonder so many people hate it. The other day I saw an A Christmas Story-themed Advent calendar at the grocery store. What have we done to this classic movie? Before watching it, I was sure that A Christmas Story 2 would merely be another piece of schlocky merch with the movie's title greedily slapped on it. After watching it, I don't necessarily think that I'm too far off on that initial assumption. 

Anyone who has read my previous posts on those other Jean Shepherd movies knows my main gripe about A Christmas Story 2 is its claim to be the "official sequel" to A Christmas Story. Again, it's not.

A film aired on PBS back in 1985 called The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski. Technically, this is the first movie to be released after A Christmas Story that's based on Shepherd's stories about Ralphie Parker. 

After Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss, the movie My Summer Story was released theatrically in 1994. It, too, pulls from the works of Shepherd. It's directed by Bob Clark who directed A Christmas Story. It's narrated by Shepherd yet again. And My Summer Story feels like a tried-and-true sequel. It's not as strong as the first, but I still found it entertaining. Above all, it tries to be its own story and make its own comedy.

A Christmas Story 2 only pulls from the first movie and takes nothing directly from Shepherd's works. Even the narration is an impersonation of Shepherd.

Were the original honestly depicts an era in American history often viewed with rose colored glasses, this sequel imitates the slapstick comedy, novelty, sight gags, and jokes from part one.

The entire sequel puts all its effort into being the first movie while thinking it's something different because it's a new Christmas story. There's a gag with Flick sticking his tongue to an air tube only because he accepted the "coup de gras" of all dares and stuck his tongue to a frozen flagpole in the first film. There's a scene with Ralph slowing saying "oooh, fudge" as he watches the plastic reindeer fall from the lamp post into the car. There's the old man yelling even more profane gibberish at this furnace. There's fantasy upon fantasy from Ralph. There's another leg lamp. If I want the humor and stuff from part one, I'll watch part one. 

Daniel Stern, who's not a bad actor, is the worst portrayal of Ralph's dad. 

With Darren McGavin's role as "the old man" in the original, he makes this character relatable. He's an embodiment of everyone's dad. He's an all-American father.  He loves a good bargain. The weight of all things is upon his shoulders whether it's his Oldsmobile freezing up, or a clinker in the furnace. He may be gruff, throw out some choice words in heated moments, but he's dad. Above all, his performance isn't exaggerated. McGavin plays it all very naturally.

With Stern's portrayal, there's no other way to say it. He makes him a cartoonish asshole. McGavin's old man was likeable. This guy - not even close. 

He's ridiculously over-the-top, talks out of the side of his mouth like he's caricature of an inner-city taxi driver, and turns the old man into more of a sitcom character than an actual dad. He's nothing but an exaggeration. 

Being a father can be a thankless job. When Mr. Parker wins his "major award" in part one, it's recognition. To the family, it's a leg lamp that's as gaudy as can be. To the old man, it's a symbol of appreciation. That's something he rarely sees. It's no wonder he lights up when he wins it (no pun intended).

In the first film, the only time the Old Man shows anger to his wife is when she "accidently" knocks his lamp over while watering her plants. When he finds her holding his shattered lamp, he can barely contain his anger. 

"You were always jealous of this lamp," he blurts, scowling in dismay.

When her true feelings of disgust come out, he has nothing left to say but "get the glue." 

"We're out of glue," she says. 

He glares at his wife.

"You use up all the glue...on purpose!" 

In part two, one scene shows the old man yelling at his wife in a grocery store because she orders a Christmas turkey that's 40 cents a pound. In the first movie, he loves turkey so much that he's called a "turkey junkie." I guess he drops his habit when it costs 40 cents a pound. 

But rather than pay it so his family can have a nice meal on Christmas, he refuses and then attempts to go ice fishing to catch Christmas dinner - unsuccessfully. Mrs. Parker ends up buying a fish from the market for Christmas and tells the family their dad caught it. Nothing learned. 

In another scene he yells at his wife and accuses her of jinxing his fishing as she takes over the pole for a few moments and catches a large fish. When they try to pull the fish up through the small hole in the ice, and then snag it with a net, they lose it. The old man explodes in anger as she tries to help. Again, I don't know what else to call him. What an asshole!

One scene that caught my attention has Ralph meeting his dad out on the frozen lake to open up about the car, but his dad takes over the conversation.

I thought we'd get to see a genuine father and son moment - something that doesn't really happen in the first. 

But this scene doesn't go there, and it becomes a missed opportunity to explore Ralphie's relationship with his dad. This is odd as the majority of the narration, which is Ralph as an adult, begins with "The old man."

This scene caught my attention since it was his dad who gave Ralphie the Red Ryder BB gun in the first movie. His dad was the only character Ralphie didn't ask. And his dad never told him "You'll shoot your eye out." I would have loved to see this relationship explored more. 

I'll give the movie credit in its storyline. Having watched the previous movies based on the works of Shepherd, tales of Ralphie Parker with the backdrop of good ol' Americana that is fictional Hohman, Indiana, are what make his stories unique. A Christmas Story 2 isn't much different as far as that goes. 

Daniel Stern as Mr. Parker.

It manages to have that feel. It's faint, but it's there.

Lemasters clearly puts in great effort and energy into his role. He's not bad at all as an older Ralph. His Ralph is certainly more animated than before.

Before A Christmas Story, Shepherd was an established radio personality, having been on air for decades. He was and still is enticing and fun to listen to. His likeable chummy personality and honest humor is reflected beautifully in the classic Christmas film. And his narration in A Christmas Story is a big aspect of the movie's charm and popularity.  

The narrator, Nat Mauldin, the film's writer, impersonates Jean Shepherd's voice in part two. It is what it is.

I didn't realize until the end of the movie that I actually tuned out the narration. It wasn't a conscientious decision. I just tuned it out without thinking about it. Every little thing that happens is not only shown, but also explained. The narration is painfully overdone. And the majority of it is completely unnecessary. Most of the time, the narration is only telling us exactly what we're already seeing. So, why is it there? My guess is to continue reminding the audience how funny part one is.

A narrator's purpose in a movie is to assist in the storytelling. It adds context to what the audience is watching. One of the oldest rules in writing is "show, don't tell." This movie shows and tells...and tells some more.

When Shepherd narrates the original, it gives a little more depth to Ralphie. It helps move the story along and adds an element of interest and fascination for the audience. It works. And above all, it's limited. As Shepherd was popular as a storyteller on radio, it makes sense to bring is personality and voice to the big screen.

In part two, the narrator verbalizes everything and in nearly every scene. Again, it's all because of the first movie, but saturated in the attempt to give the audience an intensified part one like extra, extra cream and sugar in an already perfect cup of coffee.  

The same can be said for all the fantasy sequences in the film.

Each one practically leads to his love for Drucilla. None of these fantasy sequences are funny. Not one! Ralphie may have grown since the events of the first movie. But he certainly hasn't matured much if I'm to take anything away from all his fantasies in part two.

Honestly, the most interesting part of the movie is the damn car Ralph drools over. When the interior and exterior of the car are shown to the audience, and the narrator shares Ralphie's thoughts, my thinking "that's a classic" was the best reaction I gave to the movie.

I honestly think if the writers really made this second Christmas story its own thing, even though it's not based on any specific stories from Jean Shepherd, it might have been a relatively enjoyable sequel to watch despite being a clear cash grab. It would go along with the spirit of Shepherd. But it makes itself rely so heavily on part one.  

I didn't watch A Christmas Story 2 just to be fair before publicly bashing it. I wanted to approach it honestly despite my previous assumptions. 

This movie takes all the subtle, relatable humor from the first one and beats the audience over the head with it just like all the other commercialization of A Christmas Story that has since wiped the gleam and shimmer off the once modest Christmas comedy.

So, I think this wraps up my watching all the Jean Shepherd movies I could find. I'm going to give 2017's musical A Christmas Story Live! starring Matthew Broderick a huge pass. And this time, I mean it.

Santa Claus: The Movie (1985) - Video Rental Chicken Fat *Christmas Edition*

"A prophesy has come to pass that there would come to us a chosen one, and that he, having no child of his own, would love all children." 

Director

Jeannot Szwarc

Cast

David Huddleston - Claus/ Santa Claus

Judy Cornwell - Anya

Dudley Moore - Patch

John Lithgow - B.Z.

Carrie Kei Heim - Cornelia

Christian Fitzpatrick - Joe

Burgess Meredith - The Ancient Elf

John Barrard - Dooley

In the catalog of well established Christmas movies, many of them are considered mandatory holiday viewing. Every decade has a Christmas title that has stuck around year after year after year - It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Miracle of 34th Street (1947), White Christmas (1954), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970), A Christmas Story (1983), Home Alone (1990), Elf (2003), The Polar Express (2004)… the list goes on. And there are several hugely popular titles I didn't mention, which some Christmas fanatics out there will give me a scornful look for not including. Oh, and I'm not forgetting the number of film adaptations of Charlie Dickins's A Christmas Carol. My personal favorites are the 1951 version with Alastair Sim, and the 1984 one with George C. Scott. 

A lot of people fondly remember a lot of movies around the holidays. But aside from lesser known Christmas movies like, say, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) or Santa Claus vs. The Devil (1959) - yeah, those exist - there's one movie I just never hear anyone talk about at all, let alone claim as a personal holiday season favorite. That's Santa Claus: The Movie from 1985. I used to see copies of this movie on the video rental shelf back in day. And I was curious back then to see what Santa Claus's own movie was all about. I never did, though, until last night. I found it streaming on Peacock.

The movie begins in a small village centuries ago as villagers await the arrival of their beloved carpenter who will deliver gifts to the local children. 

That woodcutter, Claus (David Huddleston - The Big Lebowski), does arrive. As he hands out gifts to the children, Claus receives a happiness at seeing their joy. 

He and his wife, Anya (Judy Cromwell), need to leave to deliver more gifts to the children in the village at the other end of the forest.

Despite a brutal blizzard, Claus and Anya harness their reindeer, Donner and Blitzen, to travel through the forest.

In the middle of their journey, Donner and Blitzen collapse with exhaustion. Santa and his wife are stuck. They huddle together to keep warm.

A celestial light falls upon them. They wake up and are rescued by a band of elves who take them to their magic toy shop in the North Pole which can only be seen by a chosen few. 

These elves have evidently long awaited this meeting with Claus. In fact, Dooley the head elf (John Barrard) reveals Claus's coming was prophesied long ago. 

After they're shown around the elves's toy shop, it's revealed Claus will stay indefinitely and live forever. 

Later, Santa is presented to the ancient elf (Burgess Meredith) who claims the prophesy to be fulfilled. He grants Claus control of time on every Christmas Eve night so he can deliver gifts to all the children in the world. He dubs him "Santa Claus" and gives the magical gift of flight to the reindeer. The other reindeer that famously drive Santa's sleigh were already living with the elves.  

So, Santa delivers presents every Christmas for centuries. His lore among the world develops into what we know him to be today. Th elves even read him A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Moore which gives Santa insight into how the world see's him - a jolly old elf whose belly shakes like a bowl of jelly when he laughs. 

As the 1980s roll around, Santa is feeling overworked. Also, the world loves material possessions, such as toys for instance, to the point where the act of giving has waned considerably. This is becoming burdensome for the jolly old fat man. 

Anya recommends he make one of the elves his assistant to help lighten the load. 

One of the elves, Puffy (Anthony O'Donnell) is more traditional when it comes to manufacturing toys. Another elf, Patch (Dudley Moore) is more progressive in that he wants to update the toy-making process.

Santa chooses Patch to be his assistant after the two elves compete for this assistant position. 

Meanwhile, on the streets of New York City, a young orphan girl named Cornelia (Carrie Kei Heim), who's living with a wealthy family, befriends a homeless orphan boy named Joe (Christian Fitzpatrick) by giving him food and letting him sleep in the basement of her family's large house. 

On one particular Christmas Eve, Santa encounters Joe alone on the street and befriends him. He lets Joe ride in his sleigh, and even take the reins.

They happen to stop at Cornelia's house, and Santa takes Joe down the chimney with him. 
Cornelia wakes up and finds Santa and Joe in her living room. She's overjoyed, of course. And this chance encounter solidifies her friendship with Joe. 

Meanwhile, back at the North Pole, Patch's machines produce faulty and poorly constructed toys. Evidently, when these toys break while children are playing with them, they somehow return to his workshop by coming down his chimney. 

Distraught and crestfallen at the number of returned toys, Santa has to fire Patch. But before he can do so, Patch gives up his position to Puffy. 

David Huddleston as Santa Claus in Santa Claus: The Movie.

Thinking Santa is too disappointed to want him around, Patch runs away and heads to New York. 

There, he sees a commercial for the B.Z. Toy Company. The company, headed by greedy businessman B.Z. (John Lithgow), is in hot water and in the middle of congressional hearings for manufacturing dangerous toys. 

Patch goes to visit B.Z. hoping he can land a toy-making job that will somehow catch Santa's attention and redeem himself. 

After some persuading, B.Z. hires Patch. The elf's idea is to create a lollipop that gives people the magic power of flight. Patch creates a flying vehicle, similiar to Santa's sleigh, to deliver these lollipops to all children everywhere on Christmas Eve. 

The lollipop is a huge hit. This gives B.Z. the idea to implement "Christmas 2" in March so more revenue can come into his toy company, and he can continue improving his public image. During Christmas 2, Patch will deliver magical candy canes instead of lollipops. 

B.Z. also happens to be Cornelia's step-uncle. However, the candy canes end up being faulty, too. When they get hot, they explode.

One evening when she invites Joe to take shelter in her basement as there's a rainstorm outside, she and Joe overhear B.Z. talking to his assistant about his plan to end Santa's reign of gift giving and take over Christmas. 

B.Z. catches Joe in the basement, and hides him back in his toy factory. Now, it's up to Cornelia, Santa, and Patch to make everything right and save Christmas. 

Santa Claus: The Movie starts as an origin story, and carries on portraying Santa doing what everyone on Earth knows Santa does - makes toys and deliver them to kids on Christmas. Midway, the movie seems to realize it needs a plot before it completely looses the audiences' interest and attention.

This is an easy movie to make fun of as it easily dives into being campy and overly whimsical. But I want to be fair rather than simply poke fun at it.

The movie addresses aspects of Santa Claus that children wonder about such as how his sleigh is able to fly, how he can visit so many homes around the world in one night, and how he goes up and down chimneys. 

However, a few plot points are unclear. For instance, Claus, Anya, and their reindeer are stuck in the blizzard unconscious when the elves find them. And when they do, a heavenly light shines upon them, from which the elves appear. So, are Claus and everyone else dead? The way the scene plays out gives that impression.

After they rescue them and bring them back to the toy workshop, Claus asks Dooley what the elves plan on doing with all the toys they've made. 

Dooley says their toys have been waiting for him.
"What've they got to do with me?" Claus says.

"You're going to give them...to your children. You have all the children of the world." 

"I won't live long enough for that."

"Both of you will live for ever!" Dooley says.

I was always taught eternal life is more of a situation for the afterlife. So, if Claus and his wife are dead, they're eternity is making toys and giving them away for free. Even if they're not dead, that's their eternity.

Yeah, I know Claus takes great pleasure in giving to children. So, in that regard, it's heaven I suppose. I'm just speculating.

Santa and Anya evidently can't have children of there own. It's hinted at, but not fully explained. When Santa takes a liking to Joe while struggling with the changing world, I sense he's compensating for his inability (or whatever the situation is) to be a father. 

When he meets Joe, Santa seems a little too naïve about what some children unfortunately go through - negligence and abandonment. He acts like he's never met a homeless child before, which is odd considering he's been doing this for centuries. Chalk one up for the "chosen one" who would love children everywhere. *Sarcasm intended.

Another scene leaves me baffled. Shortly after Claus arrives to the North Pole, he and Anya watch as the elves open a hole in the roof. They watch in wonderment as the bright North Star is in alignment with the opening in the roof. As soon as that happens, Dooley, who is looking through a telescope shouts, "Now!" 

All the other elves are gathered in a circle directly underneath the opening in the roof.

The star begins to brighten up and shine its light upon them.

As they "ooh" and "ahh", snow begins to fall through the hole in the roof. 

The elves congratulate themselves for whatever is going on here. And then everyone, Claus and Anya included, begin to dance. The audience, meanwhile, is left clueless as to what this all means. My guess it has something to do with the prophesy. I really have no idea.

Speaking of which, the cliché of a prophesy is already an overused trope, even for 1985's standards. Who chose him to be Santa? Why? And how do they know Claus was "the chosen one?" They just spring it on him. It's such a buildup that seems way too big for this picture. 

As Burgess Meredith looks Claus in the eye and recites this prophesy, telling Santa Claus what his mission in life will now be, I was waiting for Meredith to throw out, "You're gonna eat lighting, and you're gonna crap thunder!" I'm being serious, too. What a missed opportunity for a great Rocky callback that could have been talked about for years afterwards. 

The movie really wants its audiences to notice where the production money went - basically into the sets and constant use of green screen. And to its credit, the set pieces are imaginative and impressively detailed. Santa's workshop looks like a fun place to be in. 

Though some of the green screen effects are poor, the movie manages to impress with its scenes of Santa flying over New York City. Even with the use of green screen, the camera angles are well done to pull off these shots as realistically as special effect techniques of 1985 would allow.   

The story is tawdry and kitsch. It's really nothing but heaps of sugar, with a story thrown in because its customary for movies to have one. It comes out bland in the end.

McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer are shamelessly inserted. 

One of these product placements take place when young Joe, pitiful and hungry, peers in through the golden arches painted on the window of a small but crowded McDonald's. Inside, folks are laughing and carrying trays loaded with burgers, fries, and drinks. The camera zooms closer to Joe's mournful face as he watches all these happy folks eating their food and having fun. And we certainly get shots of these happy people eating McDonald's. It's contrasted by Joe's sad expression. Had Joe muttered the slogan McDonald's used back in 1985, "It's a good time for the great taste of McDonald's" to the camera before meandering off down the street, still hungry, I would give this movie a huge pass. That's another opportunity missed. Such a scene could have been one of the boldest producuct placement scenes in Christmas movie history. But, I guess even Hollywood and fast food franchises have to maintain some kind of standard. Anyways, it all just adds to the overall Christmas commercialism that serves as the foundation of this movie, and makes Santa Claus sad.  

John Lithgow plays his business character in such an over-the-top way, it's hard not to laugh at it. And I mean that respectfully. He puts a lot...and I mean a lot... into his performance. While Huddleston plays Santa with loads of sentimentality, Lithgow as the bad business guy is as cartoonishly villainous as can be. The animation is Lithgow's performance itself, figuratively speaking. And honestly, he's perfectly cast for this role. Lithgow is a great actor, and I cannot say his role in Santa Claus: The Movie is an exception. He is still highly entertaining.

In the scene where Patch meets with B.Z., he asks, "Don't you believe in Santa?"

"Why should I," B.Z. says. "He never brought me anything."

"That's because you were probably a naughty boy," Patch says. 

"Yes, I guess I was no angel."

Still, Patch wants to work with him knowing perfectly well B.Z. must have been on Santa's naughty list for so long. That seems off to me.

I'll have to take a point away from this movie for lack of coherent writing.  

Dudley Moore as "Patch the Elf."

I couldn't get invested in any of the characters, not even Santa Claus. Lithgow is the most interesting character. All the rest are paper cutouts. 

Some of the acting felt like director Jeannot Szwarc used the first take and didn't bother with shooting any more takes. 

By the way, Szwarc's list of movies he's directed includes Supergirl, Jaws 2, and Bug to name a few unpopular movies.  

Overall, I found the story forced, haphazard, slow at times, and sappily artificial. But if there's anyone out there who includes Santa Claus: The Movie in their annual holiday movie watching line-up, I get it. I seriously get it. There is apparent effort to make a good movie. It's there. And somewhere underneath the cheesy, cream puff, sugar coating is a small gleam of charm. The movie didn't work for me. Regardless, I can respect any fandom for this movie. To its fans, I say...enjoy Santa Claus: The Movie. Kids, who are clearly the target audience, will surely find joy watching this movie. As they do, I'll watch my Christmas Carol from 1951, and A Christmas Story like I have for the last 35 years.