Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (TV special)
| Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Written by | Romeo Muller |
| Directed by |
Arthur Rankin Jr. Jules Bass |
| Voices of |
Fred Astaire Mickey Rooney Keenan Wynn Joan Gardner Paul Frees Robie Lester |
| Narrated by | Fred Astaire |
| Music by |
Maury Laws Jules Bass (lyrics) |
| Country of origin |
United States Japan |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Jules Bass Arthur Rankin Jr. |
| Cinematography | Kizo Nagashima |
| Running time | 51 mins |
| Production company(s) | Rankin/Bass Productions |
| Distributor | NBCUniversal Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | December 14, 1970 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer |
| Followed by | The Year Without a Santa Claus |
| Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town! | |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | IGN |
| Distributor(s) | DreamWorks Classics |
| Director(s) | Jules Bass |
| Series | Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town |
| Platform(s) | Wii Nintendo DS |
| Release |
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| Genre(s) | Christmas |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town is a 1970 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The film stars Fred Astaire as the narrator S.D. Kluger, Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle/Santa Claus, Keenan Wynn as the Winter Warlock, and Paul Frees in various roles. The film tells the story of how Santa Claus and several Claus-related Christmas traditions came to be. It is based on the hit Christmas song of the same name, which was introduced on radio by Eddie Cantor in 1934, and the story of Saint Nicholas.
The special was created in Japan using stop motion animation called "Animagic", in which all the characters are made out of wood and plastic and animated via stop-motion photography. The special was originally telecast December 14, 1970 by ABC and continues to air every year on sibling channel ABC Family (now Freeform) though both channels have at times edited the special to make room for commercials (ABC has cut two key songs, as well as two other songs in half; ABC Family/Freeform has cut several scenes that might be traumatizing to younger viewers, like Kris climbing, and leaping to escape to prevent children from doing dangerous stunts, Winter Warlock knowing Kris will return, & telling him he'll never escape including the scene where the Burgermeister torches the seized toys in front of the children of Sombertown).
Special Delivery "S.D." Kluger (voiced by and resembling Fred Astaire) the mailman is introduced after a newsreel prologue, telling how children around the world are preparing for Christmas and Santa Claus' arrival. When his snowmobile/mail truck breaks down, he tells the story of Santa Claus, answering the children's letters to Santa.
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