Line #97 Film/SantaClaus1959


1	[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pitchsanta.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:330:"[[Film/TheExorcist The power of Claus compels you!]]"]]
3
4	->''"Now this is good old-fashioned {{nightmare fuel}}!"''
5	-->-- '''[[TropeNamers Crow]]''', ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''
6
7	Prepare yourself for a [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour Big Brother]] SantaClaus fighting the evil forces of prancing demons with the help of child labor and Myth/{{Merlin}}.
8
9	''El Santo Claus'' was directed by Rene Cardona and written by Cardona and Adolfo Torres Portillo. The original film was produced in Mexico in 1959 and features primarily Spanish dialog. It depicts the adventures of SantaClaus in preparation for and during his annual Christmas rounds. Most commercial adaptations of the Santa Claus legend add a distinctive twist to the traditional story, but this film trumps them all with its depiction of an ''[[AnotherDimension interdimensional]]'' Santa doing battle with a demon sent to Earth by Lucifer to ruin Christmas by killing Santa and "making all the children of the Earth do evil." Furthermore, Merlin (yes, ''that'' Myth/{{Merlin}}) serves as Santa Claus' [[Film/JamesBond Q]], inventing things like The Flower to Disappear for Santa to use.
10
11	Believe it or not, there's a good explanation for the film's... [[NightmareFuel unique]] take on Santa Claus. In the late 1950s, Santa remained an unfamiliar figure in much of Mexico, where holiday gift-giving customs still focused on the [[TheThreeWiseMen Magi]] and their feast day, Epiphany (January 6). Even today, many discussions of Mexican Christmas customs make no mention of the jolly old fat man, instead focusing on such traditional holiday elements as posadas and piñatas. Santa has become more popular only in recent decades. Another odd running theme is the focus on social standing and class, which was a major concern of Mexico during that period; see ''Film/LosOlvidados''.
12
13	A dubbed and slightly edited English-speaking version was produced for U.S. release in 1960 under the direction of K. Gordon Murray. ''Santa Claus'' was considered to be a financial success over several holiday-season theatrical releases in the 1960s and 1970s. Broadcast of the film also became a holiday tradition at several U.S. television stations. The film garnered at least one award, winning the Golden Gate Award for Best International Family Film at the UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco International Film Festival in 1959.
14
15	A series of shorts by K. Gordon Murray mixed clips from ''Santa Claus'' with new footage shot at the various Santa's Village theme parks. These were riffed by Podcast/RiffTrax as "Santa's Village of Madness". WebVideo/RedLetterMedia's ''WebVideo/BestOfTheWorst'' reviewed the full version of ''Santa Claus'', which Podcast/{{RiffTrax}} also lampooned on December 4, 2014; both shows used the full version that included Vulcan and other scenes that were edited out of the famous [=MST3K=] cut. On December 15, 2020, Creator/TraceBeaulieu and Creator/FrankConniff, as part of their "The Mads Are Back" series, did a livestream riff of a shortened version of the cut used by [=MST3K=], making this the second of only two films to be riffed on three times by [=MST3K=] and its alumni (the other being ''Film/SantaClausConquersTheMartians'', targeted by [=MST3K=], [=RiffTrax=], and WebVideo/CinematicTitanic).
16
17	Not to be confused with ''Film/SantaClausTheMovie''.
18
19	For the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' version, please go to the [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S05E21SantaClaus episode recap page]]. It was also reviewed in the 2013 ChristmasEpisode of ''WebVideo/BestOfTheWorst''.
20	----
21	!''Santa Claus 1959'' has examples of:
22
23	* AfricaIsACountry: When Santa's helpers from Africa are introduced, not one African country is directly mentioned and we just see a bunch of black kids in leopard skins with bones in their hair who play bongos.
24	* AmericansAreCowboys: All the kids from around the world hanging about Santa's workshop are decked out in the most stereotypical garb imaginable. Naturally, the two kids from the United States are wearing colorful plastic cowboy hats and "western" clothes.
25	* AndThatsTerrible: The narrator seems to believe the ViewersAreMorons since he is incapable of letting any of Pitch's shenanigans go without commentary and sometimes even admonishment.
26	* AnotherDimension: Instead of the North Pole, this version of Santa lives on a FloatingContinent in the Fifth Dimension.
27	* ArchEnemy: Pitch is this to Santa. At the beginning of the movie, Lucifer orders Pitch to capture Santa and ruin Christmas, and it's implied that Pitch is given this job every year.
28	* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: After being manipulated into believing a violent criminal is outside his residence, a man pulls a gun out of his nightstand. In addition to not checking to see if the thing is loaded, he waves it around carelessly. While waving the gun around he briefly points the gun at his wife.
29	* AsYouKnow: Santa and Merlin go back and forth on how to use his various magic gadgets. Both keep pointing out how they should both ''really'' know all of this, but their memories are terrible.
30	* BadassSanta: With all of the powers that Santa has and with Merlin as his [[Franchise/JamesBond Q]], Santa is able to defeat a centuries-old demon with ease, multiple times!
31	* BeardOfEvil: Pitch.
32	* BigRedDevil: Pitch.
33	* BlackAndGrayMorality: Though as the film progresses, it descends into GrayAndGrayMorality territory — Pitch seems less evil than intended.
34	* BlindIdiotTranslation: The awkwardly named Flower To Disappear is a good example of this. It's a literal translation of a pun that doesn't work in English, see PunnyName below.
35	* BreadEggsMilkSquick: One letter sent to Santa asks for, among other items, a bicycle, a baseball bat, an atomic laboratory, a machine gun... you know, typical children's toys.
36	-->'''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Crow]]:''' Oh, it's from [[UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi Gaddafi]]!
37	* {{Camp}}: Pitch can out-effeminate [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls HIM]] at times.
38	* CaptainObvious: The narrator, who describes ''every single thing'' that happens on screen.
39	* CarpetOfVirility: Vulcan has what looks to be an actual fabric sample glued to his chest.
40	* CatapultNightmare: Lupita has one of these.
41	--> '''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Mike]]''': ''(as Lupita)'' I had the [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar 'Nam]] dream again!
42	* Myth/ClassicalMythology: Vulcan. In the dub, he's referred to as "The Blacksmith". In the original version, his name is "Llavón" (a play on the word "llave", key).
43	* ClockworkCreature: The reindeer which pull Santa's sleigh are this, complete with wind-up key.
44	* CompanionCube: Surprisingly encouraged by the rich boy's parents, who advise him to practice piano if he ever feels lonely while they're out socializing.
45	* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: If Pitch fails to capture Santa this year, Lucifer is going to force feed him chocolate ice cream: a double whammy since not only is Pitch lactose intolerant he's also incapable of tolerating cold foods due to a usual diet of red hot coals. In the original version, Lucifer threatens to dip Pitch in chocolate ice cream instead of feeding it to him, which is almost as bad.
46	* CreatorProvincialism: Santa allegedly delivers gifts to all the children of the world, but we only see a few stops in Mexico City. Santa also has children from every country helping at his workshop, and naturally one of the Mexican kids is Santa's right-hand helper and gets more screen time than the others (of course that kid was also shown as part of the American and Spanish groups, so who the hell knows).
47	* CreepyDoll: Lupita has to face some of these in her Pitch-induced nightmare.
48	* CrystalDragonJesus: Santa Claus. The full version of the movie states that Santa is in fact a being from the Fifth Dimension.
49	* CultureEqualsCostume: Santa's helpers, who are all dressed in stereotypical outfits according to their nationalities.
50	* DarkestAfrica: How the kids from Africa are cringingly depicted.
51	* DisproportionateRetribution: Pitch's punishment, even if it wasn't done on purpose. He's soaked in water... in the snow. The Narrator brags about how he'll probably catch pneumonia. Given how Pitch is an IneffectualSympatheticVillain at worst, it comes off as a little mean-spirited.
52	* EvilCounterpart: Lucifer and Pitch as evil counterparts to Santa and Merlin, due to them sharing the same dub voice actors, respectively.
53	* EvilIsPetty: After Santa avoids the bad boys' ambush, Pitch contents himself with manipulating them into fighting each other. By this point, he's seemingly desperate for ''any'' kind of win.
54	* EvilLaugh:
55	** The animatronic Santa doesn't sound ''jolly'' so much as this.
56	** The real Santa's laughs aren't much better.
57	** Pitch has an evil laugh of his own, but sadly it just doesn't compare.
58	** The clockwork reindeer as well.
59	* TheFaceless: Lucifer, who never appears as anything but a booming voice and a burst of flames.
60	* FantasyKitchenSink: Downplayed, but for the typical Santa elements, this film throws many other elements in there.
61	* FlamingDevil: Pitch, and Lucifer as well.
62	* FlashStep: Apparently, not only can demons teleport, but it [[MickeyMousing sounds like a piano key being struck]].
63	* TheFool: Pitch, basically. He bumbles his way through everything so ineptly that sometimes it seems like he wouldn't even be able to survive a trip to the grocery store without his magic.
64	* GoldfishPoopGang: The trio of "bad boys" who plot to kidnap Santa.
65	* GoodIsNotNice: Santa, oddly enough. He's not above stooping to Pitch's level.
66	* GoshDarnItToHeck: Santa only curses this way, and yet he ''still'' apologizes when he loses his temper in front of the kids.
67	-->"Arggh! Blast it, darn that devil! Oh, I'm sorry, but that old devil is always annoying me with his mischief!"
68	* GratuitousJapanese: One of Santa's child helpers is a Japanese boy who speaks in unsubtitled Japanese.
69	* {{Hell}}: In a Christmas movie? That's... ''different''...
70	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Pitch, at the end. So, Pitch has gotten Santa stuck in a tree and plans to expose him to the world. To do this, he uses his dream powers to make a sleeping man sleep-call 911 and report a fire. The Fire Department arrives, sees the flames and smoke put off by Pitch, and hose the devil down.]]
71	* HowCanSantaDeliverAllThoseToys: According to the shorts culled from the film, Santa uses the fifth dimension to be everywhere at once, so Merlin apparently discovered quantum entanglement and superposition. In the film, however, Santa visits ''three'' households before returning back to the North Pole. It actually attempts to retcon in the rest of the world; when Santa first gets to Mexico, it's explicitly his first stop, then a little while later, his helper mentions he's already been everywhere else.
72	* HumanAliens:
73	** Santa who, as stated, is from the Fifth Dimension.
74	** Possibly Santa's helpers as well. They're said to be from Earth and are even given Earthly nationalities, but at the same time they seem to know very little about Earth, with one boy asking Santa about the types of food Earthlings eat and being shocked at the answer.
75	* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Poor Lupita desperately wants a doll of her own. Although initially tempted by Pitch to steal one, she ultimately refuses. Later during her nightmare when the evil dolls are taunting her, Lupita ''still'' stands firm that she refuses to steal because of how wrong it is, even if it means losing her only chance of having something she desires.
76	* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Pitch. He was obviously intended to be evil, but his portrayal is really more buffoonish. Most of his shenanigans seem designed more to irritate Santa rather than capture or kill, and in the end, he manages to defeat ''himself'' purely by accident.
77	* LaughingMad: '''''That one laughing reindeer''''' is by far the best example of this.
78	* LegCling: Santa, out of pity, appears in front of the LonelyRichKid... who then grabs Santa's boot and begs for someone to love him. Seriously, if you didn't feel a tug inside during this scene, you have no soul.
79	* {{Leitmotif}}: Pitch has one. Appropriately enough for a demonic servant of Lucifer himself, it's...[[{{Narm}} a goofy-sounding bassoon piece]].
80	--> '''Tom Servo:''' ''(singing)'' It's [[WithLyrics the devil's theme]]... this goofy little song... even though he's the embodiment of evil, he's still got a goofy song... In his tights, he brings death, despair, destruction and disease... come, let's all join him and a-laugh along! DEVIL!
81	* LonelyRichKid: One subplot involves a rich boy whose parents frequently socialize, even on Christmas. Naturally, he writes a letter to Santa wishing for his parents to come home.
82	* LovePotion: A variation. Billy's parents are given a drink that makes them recall that which they love most, and it's their son.
83	* MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext: Santa and his army of child laborers from the Fifth Dimension (assisted by Merlin) battle a demon sent by Lucifer to persuade the children of earth to do evil. That is the ''actual plot''.
84	* MallSanta: The animatronic Santa in the storefront. Oddly, some naughty kids attacking the animatronic Santa seem to somehow injure the ''real'' Santa too.
85	* TheManBehindTheMan: Lucifer, whose only scene is ordering Pitch to capture Santa Claus.
86	* NarratingTheObvious: The narrator spells out every last little thing about the story, no matter how apparent it might already be.
87	* {{Narrator}}: A particularly obnoxious one, at that.
88	* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Pitch spends most of the plot just pulling pathetic and often unsuccessful impish pranks. But at one point he decides [[LetsGetDangerous he's through playing around]] and kicks it up a notch. He sabotages Santa's magic items, allowing Pitch to sic an angry dog on him and trap him in a tree, plants suggestions in the heads of people living nearby that Santa is a burglar out to murder them all (using one man's sleep-talking to put in a panicked call to the fire department), and stops by Lupita's house [[KickTheDog just to mock her for not having a doll because she wouldn't listen to him earlier]].
89	* OhCrap: Santa has one of these moments when he realizes his sleep powder and Flower To Disappear are gone... and there's a big dog coming right at him.
90	* OnlySixFaces: The multinational groups of Santa's helpers are mostly the same few kids in different costumes.
91	* OurDemonsAreDifferent: Pitch. He eats fire and brimstone, prances effeminately, and wears red tights.
92	* ParentalNeglect: The rich boy is constantly left home alone by his parents while they go out socializing.
93	* PimpedOutDress: Billy's mother wears a very fancy dress when going out. It has a beaded bodice, and pleats all around.
94	* PrettyInMink: Billy's mother wears a silver mink wrap to go with her evening dress.
95	* {{Public Domain Character}}s: Featuring a list of characters not typically in the same movie.
96	** SantaClaus, the title character.
97	** Myth/{{Merlin}}, who is basically playing a magical version of Q from ''Franchise/JamesBond''.
98	** {{Satan}}, and his lesser demon minions [[TheGrinch who try to steal Christmas]].
99	** [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Vulcan]]
100	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Just count how many times "Jingle Bells" plays as background music.
101	* PunnyName: The Flower to Disappear was originally named "La Flor de No Te Veo" (the flower of "I can't see you"), which is a play on the phrase "no te veo" and "Nochebuena", the Spanish name for the poinsettia.
102	* RobeAndWizardHat: Merlin wears these while working in his magic lab.
103	* RumpRoast: Santa gets his bottom burned when Pitch lights a fire in a chimney he's trying to go down.
104	-->'''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Crow]]:''' Santa! Stop, drop, and roll!
105	* ScatterbrainedSenior: Merlin has some difficulty in figuring out the best way to deal with a vicious dog.
106	-->'''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Servo]]:''' This is the guy who trained the King of England?
107	* StopTrick: Done in very obvious fashions in scenes involving Pitch popping in and out of view.
108	* {{Synchronization}}: In one scene the naughty kids throw a rock at an animatronic Santa Claus in a store front... which causes the real Santa in his Fifth Dimension castle to recoil and shout in pain as if ''he'' had been hit himself.
109	* TakeOurWordForIt:
110	** Santa's sleigh "almost ran into the Moon!" Sure it did, Narrator. You keep telling yourself that.
111	** Visiting ''three'' houses in Mexico City apparently equals delivering toys to all the children on Earth.
112	* TakeOverTheWorld: Pitch declares that ''he'' will rule the world with Santa out of the way. Apart from his plan making very little sense to begin with, not only is he in the service of [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]], but the way he says it implies that he thinks ''Santa'' is the incumbent ruler of the world...
113	** [[FridgeBrilliance Though with Santa out of the way, and only children left to guard his castle, the resources Santa uses could indeed be used for much darker intentions than giving children presents.]]
114	* TheDevilIsALoser: Pitch fits this to a tee.
115	* ThinlyVeiledDubCountryChange: Surprisingly [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in the English dub, which was uncommon for back in the time it was dubbed. The setting of Mexico is still kept, and the Mexican characters' names are not changed.
116	* TricksterArchetype: Pitch. Most of his attempts to stop Santa revolve around sneaky (if poorly considered) plots.
117	* TruthSerums: A variation is found in Santa's "Cocktail of Remembrance" which he gives to the rich boy's parents after they've left him alone at home to attend a dinner party.
118	* UnusualEars:
119	** Pitch. They're pointy, and ''very'' big.
120	** Not to mention Santa's "earscope," a satellite dish with a giant plastic ear in the center.
121	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Lupita's reaction to seeing giant, evil dollies in her dream is... DullSurprise.
122	* WeirdWorldWeirdFood: In a couple of odd AsYouKnow moments, Pitch exposits to Lucifer about how demons eat red hot coals and Santa talks to one of his young helpers about how in the Fifth Dimension they eat "pastries and ice cream made from soft clouds."
123	* WhenYouComingHomeDad: The LonelyRichKid thinks this, if he doesn't actually say it.

Context Film / SantaClaus1959