Santa Claus (1959 film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Santa Claus
U.S. theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rene Cardona English direction Ken Smith
Produced by	William Calderon
Written by	Adolfo Torres Portillo and Rene Cardona
Narrated by	Ken Smith
Starring	English-language version has no on-screen cast credits
Music by	Antonio Diaz Conde (musical director)
Cinematography	Raul Martinez Solares
Editing by	Jorge Bustos
Studio	Churubusco–Azteca Studios Mexico Cinematográfica Calderón S.A.
Distributed by	K. Gordon Murray Presents
Release date(s)	26 November 1959 (1959-11-26) (Mexico) October 1960 (1960-10) (U.S.)
Running time	97 minutes (Mexico) 94 minutes (U.S.)
Country	Mexico
Language	Spanish

Santa Claus (sometimes also known as Santa Claus vs. the Devil) is a 1959 Mexican fantasy film directed by Rene Cardona and co-written with Adolfo Torres Portillo. In the film, Santa works in outer space and does battle with a demon named Pitch, sent to Earth by Lucifer to ruin Christmas by killing Santa and "making all the children of the Earth do evil".

A dubbed and slightly edited English-language version was produced for U.S. release in 1960 under the direction of Ken Smith. It was lampooned on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Plot

On December 24, Santa prepares for his yearly journey at his Toyland castle in space. He plays the organ while his children helpers from all over the world sing. Meanwhile, in Hell, Lucifer instructs his chief demon Pitch to travel to Earth and turn the children of the world against Santa.

In a busy marketplace, Pitch attempts to convince five children to "make Santa Claus angry": Lupita, a poor girl; Billy, the son of wealthy but negligent parents; and three troublemaking brothers. Pitch fails at convincing Lupita to steal a doll from a vendor, but succeeds in convincing the brothers to break a shop window. Santa's child workers alert him to these events.

Unable to travel to Earth before nightfall on Christmas Eve, he instead uses equipment to watch Pitch and the children. One device allows him to view Lupita's dream, induced by Pitch, in which she is tormented by life-sized dancing dolls who entice her to steal. He also listens as the three brothers plot to break into Billy's home and steal his presents. They also attempt to write a letter to Santa claiming they have been good, but Santa's voice informs them that he can see all that they do.

Merlin the wizard, Santa's most trusted assistant, gives Santa a sleep inducing powder and a flower that allows him to disappear. He then retrieves a magic key that will open any door on Earth and prepares his mechanical reindeer. On Earth, the three rude boys plot to capture and enslave Santa. Meanwhile, Lupita and her mother say a prayer and Lupita says that she has wished for two dolls, one of which she will give to the Baby Jesus.

During Santa's journey, Pitch makes several unsuccessful attempts to sabotage Santa's delivery of toys in Mexico City. Santa succeeds in reuniting Billy with his parents, who had left him alone to go to a restaurant. On a city rooftop, the three brothers prepare to capture Santa and steal his toys. They see Santa's sleigh in the sky and hurry indoors, only to find that they have received coal. After a failed attempt to steal the sleigh, Pitch succeeds in emptying Santa's dream powder bag while Santa drops the disappearing flower.

Santa's trip is nearly complete when he is chased by a vicious dog outside a large house in Mexico. Finding himself without the powder or the flower, he climbs a tree to escape the dog. Pitch appears and proceeds to wake the household and calls the fire department to report a fire at that location, so that Santa will soon be seen by many people. With dawn approaching, Merlin assists with a last-minute escape and Pitch is defeated after being doused with the spray from a fire hose.

Before returning to the castle Santa makes one final stop, leaving a doll for Lupita. His labors now completed, Santa steers the sleigh back to the castle, content in the knowledge that he has brought happiness to all of Earth's children.

Cast

• José Elías Moreno as Santa Claus [uncredited in English-language version]
• Pulgarcito as Pedro [uncredited in English-language version]
• José Luis Aguirre as Pitch (Precio) [uncredited in English-language version]
• Armando Arriola as Merlin [uncredited in English-language version]
• Lupita Quezadas as Lupita [uncredited in English-language version]
• Antonio Díaz Conde hijo as Billy [uncredited in English-language version]
• Ángel Di Stefani as Vulcan [uncredited in English-language version]
• Ken Smith as the narrator [credited on-screen under the header "English Direction"]
• Queta Lavat

The English version of Santa Claus features only limited production credits and no cast information.

Mystery Science Theater 3000

The film was featured in the fifth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (episode #521), which first aired on Christmas Eve 1993. The devil Pitch became a recurring character on MST3K, played by writer Paul Chaplin. Chaplin said, "It's kind of a fun movie, and we all enjoyed it", noting that he made "quite an attractive demon". The episode may be the origin of the phrase "nightmare fuel"; during the movie, Crow T. Robot calls an animatronic Santa "some good old-fashioned nightmare fuel", and the phrase spread through MST3K message boards.

Santa Claus finished #21 out of 177 episodes in a poll of MST3K Season 11 Kickstarter backers. In his ratings of all MST3K episodes, writer Jim Vorel placed the episode 30 slots lower at #51, writing, "This movie just defies any attempt to understand it. It’s like something you would see in the depths of a violent fever dream."

The MST3K version of the film was released on 20 July 2010, by Shout! Factory as part of the Mystery Science Theater Collection Vol. XVI DVD set along with The Corpse Vanishes (episode #105), Warrior of the Lost World (episode #501), and Night of the Blood Beast (episode #701). The set also features extras including "Santa Claus Conquers the Devil: A 50-Year Retrospective", an original radio spot, a still gallery, and a teaser for Wonder World of K. Gordon Murray in Colorscope.

In December 2014, the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000, now part of RiffTrax, performed a live riff of the movie to theaters nationwide.

Images for kids

• 

  In the film, Lucifer's servant tries to sabotage Santa by giving humans evil ideas such as in this scene where Lupita, portrayed by Lupita Quezadas, steals a rag doll hiding it in her clothes

• 

  A scene in the film in which what it appears to be a model of the Monumento a la Revolución is shown

See also

In Spanish: Santa Claus (película) para niños