Santa Claus is Coming to Town
(1970)
When it comes to specials about Santa, this one is at the top of the list. Santa Claus is Coming to Town is the Year One of Santa. It's the back story of everyone's favorite jolly elf.
I know pretty much everyone has seen this, but for the sake of those who may be unfamiliar, let's do a quick(-ish... you know how I can ramble) recap of the story.
Little baby Claus is left on the Burgermeister Meisterburger, the grouchy mayor of Sombertown. He sends the baby to the Orphan Asylum. From there, he is adopted by the Kringle elves, who used to be the Toymakers to the King. They named him Kris, and as he got older, he wanted to restore the Kringles to their former toy making glory. The Burgermeister hates toys, and Kris has to sneak around at night, grow a beard, and change his name back to Claus so he doesn't get caught.
As I already stated, this is one of, if not my number one, favorite Santa Claus movies/specials. I had a conversation about this special with a friend the other day, and he said that it would be better if they got rid of "the stop motion stuff with CGI". I had to do everything in my power not to smack him for his blasphemy. The "Animagic" style of stop motion that they used is what makes it so special. It wouldn't be the same without it. Even if it was done in a standard animation style, like Frosty, it still wouldn't be the same. Don't mess with my Santa.
Tonight's song is another Goon creation: Christmas