History Main / SantaClausmas

** It should be noted that, while God is mentioned by Calvin quite often throughout the strip, Jesus isn't.

In Japan, Christmas was imported as an excuse for local UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken franchises to sell their product as an "authentic" American-style seasonal tradition. It worked spectacularly, and now a country that is 2% Christian [[UsefulNotes/ChristmasInJapan has a robust Christmas-based economy]], which inevitably means a bevy of Christmas-themed works in Japanese media that have nothing whatsoever to do with the religious aspects of the holiday. This can be the case even when the characters are Christian-style devils, or the setting involves explicitly non-Christian spirituality.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': The denizens of underwater Bikini Bottom don't know about Christmas until Sandy (a land squirrel from Texas) tells [=SpongeBob=] about it. He gets everyone (except [[TheGrinch Squidward]]) in on it, but the there is no mention of Christ and the holiday focuses on stockings, Christmas trees, and most of all Santa Claus.

* ''Manga/GabrielDropOut'': Vignette, a demon, celebrates Christmas with her friend Raphael, an angel. Raphi reassures her it's okay to celebrate Christ's birth because in Japan it's just a commercial holiday. Satania, another demon, rushes over to Vigne's place for aid in carrying out one of her asinine schemes on the holy day, but they manage to brainwash her into forgetting about it by tempting her with melon bread.

A depiction of a religious holiday which centers entirely around its secular trappings, with the actual religion in question not even cropping up casually. In Western media this is primarily applied to the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter, and occasionally to such Jewish holidays as Hanukkah, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur (as is seen in ''Shalom Sesame'', the Jewish American version of ''Series/SesameStreet'').

* On ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy,'' when Lois discovers that she's Jewish and wants to put on a seder, Peter objects because it's Easter.

* "WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants": The denizens of underwater Bikini Bottom don't know about Christmas until Sandy (a land squirrel from Texas) tells [=SpongeBob=] about it. He gets everyone (except [[TheGrinch Squidward]]) in on it, but the there is no mention of Christ and the holiday focuses on stockings, Christmas trees, and most of all Santa Claus.

* In ''[[Series/SesameStreet Elmo Saves Christmas]]'', the Easter Bunny sells "Christmas Easter Eggs for Easter". There's nothing religious about any of the episode, whether Christmas or Easter.

** This is justified by the fact that the characters in ''Rugrats'' are Jewish; hence why we get retellings of the Biblical stories behind Passover and Hanukkah, but at Christmas we get this trope instead of anything about Jesus.

* In the ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyHolidaySpecial'', Quill's explanation of Christmas apparently didn't include the Nativity at all, as the aliens' song is based on (a warped understanding of) Santa Claus and secular Christmas songs.

-->'''Alan:''' ''(nonplussed)'' Fair enough.

-->'''Linus:''' ''(after the reading)'' [[InternalHomage Like I've said before]], that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown!

A depiction of a religious holiday which centers entirely around its secular trappings, with the actual religion in question not even cropping up casually. In Western media this is primarily applied to the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter, and occasionally to such Jewish holidays as Hanukkah, Passover, Yom Kippur, and Rosh Hashanah (as is seen in ''Shalom Sesame'', the Jewish American version of ''Series/SesameStreet'').

A depiction of a religious holiday which centers entirely around its secular trappings, with the actual religion in question not even cropping up casually. In Western media this is primarily applied to the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter, and occasionally to such Jewish holidays as Hanukkah, Yom Kippur, and Rosh Hashanah (as is seen in ''Shalom Sesame'', the Jewish American version of ''Series/SesameStreet'').

* In the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]], the celebration of the New Year absorbed many elements of Christmas due to the Communist Party banning the latter and (in the 1930s, allegedly at the suggestion of UsefulNotes/JosefStalin's daughter Svetlana) using the New Year's Eve to fill the vacuum. Ironically, this resulted in Christmas customs spreading even to those parts of the Soviet Union that were not Christian, such as Central Asia or Tuva. This tradition stuck even after the USSR collapsed and Christianity was legalized again: in modern-day {{UsefulNotes/Russia}}, Christmas serves as a more solemn, spiritual holiday, while the Christmas tree, the presents and the local version of Santa Claus continue to be associated with the New Year.

* In the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]], the celebration of the New Year absorbed many elements of Christmas due to the Communist Party banning the latter and (in the 1930s, allegedly at the suggestion of UsefulNotes/JosefStalin's daughter Svetlana) using the New Year's Eve to fill the vacuum. Ironically, this resulted in Christmas customs spreading even to those parts of the Soviet Union that were not Christian, such as Central Asia or Tuva. This tradition stuck even after the USSR collapsed and Christmas was legalized again: in modern-day {{UsefulNotes/Russia}}, Christmas serves as a more solemn, spiritual holiday, while the Christmas tree, the presents and the local version of Santa Claus continue to be associated with the New Year.

* In the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]], the celebration of the New Year absorbed many elements of Christmas due to the Communist Party banning the latter and (in the 1930s, allegedly at the suggestion of UsefulNotes/JosefStalin's daughter Svetlana) using the New Year's Eve to fill the vacuum. Ironically, this resulted in Christmas customs spreading even to those parts of the Soviet Union that were not Christian, such as Central Asia or Tuva. This tradition stuck even after the Union collapsed and Christmas was legalized again: in modern-day {{UsefulNotes/Russia}}, Christmas serves as a more solemn, spiritual holiday, while the Christmas tree, the presents and the local version of Santa Claus continue to be associated with the New Year.

* In the [[UsefulNotes/UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]], the celebration of the New Year absorbed many elements of Christmas due to the Communist Party banning the latter and (in the 1930s, allegedly at the suggestion of UsefulNotes/JosefStalin's daughter Svetlana) using the New Year's Eve to fill the vacuum. Ironically, this resulted in Christmas customs spreading even to those parts of the Soviet Union that were not Christian, such as Central Asia or Tuva. This tradition stuck even after the Union collapsed and Christmas was legalized again: in modern-day {{UsefulNotes/Russia}}, Christmas serves as a more solemn, spiritual holiday, while the Christmas tree, the presents and the local version of Santa Claus continue to be associated with the New Year.

* In the Soviet Union, the celebration of the New Year absorbed many elements of Christmas due to the Communist Party banning the latter and (in the 1930s, allegedly at the suggestion of Stalin's daughter Svetlana) using the New Year's Eve to fill the vacuum. Ironically, this resulted in Christmas customs spreading even to those parts of the Soviet Union that were not Christian, such as Central Asia or Tuva. This tradition stuck even after the Union collapsed and Christmas was legalized again: in modern-day {{UsefulNotes/Russia}}, Christmas serves as a more solemn, spiritual holiday, while the Christmas tree, the presents and the local version of Santa Claus continue to be associated with the New Year.

* The first ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' Christmas special does this, focusing on Santa, but the second [[AvertedTrope averts]] it: the babies stumble across a nativity scene and don't understand what it is, but decide to give presents to the baby Jesus. (They never refer to him or the scene by name, so arguably this is more PlayingWithATrope.)

* WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}' first Christmas special does this, focusing on Santa, but the second [[AvertedTrope averts]] it: the babies stumble across a nativity scene and don't understand what it is, but decide to give presents to the baby Jesus. (They never refer to him or the scene by name, so arguably this is more PlayingWithATrope.)

** This is justified by the fact that the characters in Rugrats are Jewish; hence why we get retellings of the Biblical stories behind Passover and Hanukkah, but at Christmas we get this trope instead of anything about Jesus.

-->'''Linus:''' ''(after the reading)'' [[ContinuityNod Like I've said before]], that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown!

* ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' centers around a man who believes himself to be Santa Claus, and his efforts to have himself declared sane in time for Christmas. The 1994 remake does introduce a couple of religious elements, however.

** While ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' very famously averts this trope, it's played straight with ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheEasterBeagleCharlieBrown''.

-->'''Linus:''' [[ContinuityNod Like I've said before]], that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown!