Santa Claus Conquers The Martians... not so out of this world
It's the night before Christmas, and everything is quiet. Children toss in their sleep, eager for the morning to come. Some are only pretending to be asleep, alert for the tiniest of sounds - the tinkle of sleigh bells or the sound of hooves on the roof. Any minute now, a big fat stranger in a red coat may squash himself down the chimney, drink their parents' booze, scoff a few pies and leave presents in return. Some people say he's not real, but they know better, because they've seen him on the big screen.
Father Christmas the film star celebrates his 110th anniversary this year. His first appearance was in 1897 short Santa Claus Filling Stockings, which did exactly what it said on the tin but was sufficient in its time to create waves of excitement. Modern viewers, however, may not have recognised him back then. He use to wear a variety of costumes, including a long green robe and a badly fitting sailor suit, and it wasn't until the Forties that the red and white outfit we're familiar with today emerged as his favourite. However other associated traditions existed much as they do today, as illustrated in A Trap For Santa Claus, directed by none other than D.W. Griffith. Illustrating its director's trademark cynicism, it shows its young heroes accidentally capturing their itinerant criminal father instead.
Santa first appeared in a feature film in 1916's Snow White, and first produced his familiar "Ho, ho, ho!" in 1926's Santa Claus, breaking into the talkies in style. By this time he was starting to become an international figure in his modern form, displacing some of the similar gift-givers elsewhere in the world or being woven into their stories, as in the 1964 Russian film fable Morozko ('Father Frost') and the 1959 Mexican hit Santa Claus, which sees him battling the devil after Satan decides he wants children to be naughty instead of nice. 1964 even saw him visit another planet in Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, widely believed to be one of the worst films of all time. This much-loved disaster sees him defeat interplanetary Communism by demonstrating the importance of children having fun.
The heyday of Santa films was, of course, the 1980s, when he was so popular that several films would compete to tell his story each festive season. In 1982 he appeared in animated form in The Snowman, created by Raymond Briggs, an enormously popular classic still referenced in advertising today. This decade also saw a backlash and the production of some Santa films which definitely weren't aimed at children, such as 1984's Silent Night, Deadly Night, which came close to being banned in America; though it probably didn't cause as much distress as the infamous "that's how I learned there was no Santa Claus" scene in Joe Dante's Gremlins. And we began to learn a bit more about the supporting cast who help Santa on his Christmas adventures, a trend which began with 1948's Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. Prancer and Bluetoes, The Christmas Elf each took their turn to say hello. In later years we would also meet Buddy the lost Christmas Elf, Olive, The Other Reindeer and Father Christmas' repo man brother, Fred Claus.
As if hurtling all the way round the world in the course of one night weren't enough, Santa has had other difficult jobs to do in his time. He helped to prepare the young heroes of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, protected the North Pole from explosive mining in The Night They Saved Christmas, and needed some protection himself when kidnapped and held prisoner by The Nightmare Before Christmas' Oogie Boogie man. In latter years he's also had to deal with the legal complexities of his contract, as in Miracle On 34th Street and The Santa Clause. But you can guarantee that he'll always be there to deliver Christmas presents, come what may. Every film star has to have a hobby.
