Santa Claus is Coming to Town

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CatholicSam

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I saw about five minutes of the old-fashioned movie “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” this evening on ABC in the 8:00 hour (Eastern). It was sort of claymation looking, and seemed quite old. In that time I saw so many things that made me mad! It showed a young Santa talking about being “a Kringle” and then a lady comes up to him and hands him a necklace that says “Claus” and tells him it’s his real name (so where’s Santa come from?). That was a perfect opportunity to talk about St. Nicholas, but that’s not really what bothered me. Then it shows Santa’s wedding, with the narrator describing it as very lonely. Santa and his wife bring wedding presents and put them under the tree, “and that was the very first Christmas.” :banghead: Aarrrgghh! “No church wanted to let them in, but the tree was more beautiful than any church.” Then, *something * looking like a big old man off to the side says “Let’s have some magic” and the tree lights up. That’s all I saw before I had to change channels to keep my blood pressure in a safe range.

Anyone else seen this? Probably a lot of you think it’s a sweet movie. But how can people stand for shows like this to twist Christmas around and have absolutely nothing to do with the real origins! They could at least have left out the part about that being the first Christmas. :mad:
 
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CatholicSam:
Anyone else seen this?
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Yep. 🙂
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CatholicSam:
Probably a lot of you think it’s a sweet movie.
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Yep. 🙂
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CatholicSam:
But how can people stand for shows like this to twist Christmas around and have absolutely nothing to do with the real origins! They could at least have left out the part about that being the first Christmas.
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Because it’s clearly fiction. It’s the same as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. I grew up with it, and I knew that. I also got to see the CCC cartoon video about the real Saint Nicholas, and I always understood that that one was the real one all along. There’s a very clear difference. But perhaps you would like the claymation Little Drummer Boy movie much better…that one actually goes into the nativity scene, and does so quite well. 🙂
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CatholicSam:
I saw about five minutes of the old-fashioned movie “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” this evening…
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I think that might be the main problem here. You really do need to see the whole thing before you start judging it like that. Catch it when it’s on again sometime this month, and watch it from the beginning. Think of it as the official “mythical” version of Santa Claus…just enjoy it for the story that it is. And then make sure you (and the rest of your family) know the real story. 🙂
 
I just watched it too. The wedding part was great. The narrator said that since they were not welcome in any town, they stood in front of the Lord. This is actually consistent with Roman Catholic teaching that the couple are the ministers of matrimony and the priest is a witness. Even Catholics can get married like that if they are so isolated. The movie also talks about Christmas Eve as being the holiest night of the year.

When the trees light up, the little kid says “and that was the first Christmas tree”. Not historically correct but at least they weren’t claiming that it was a pagan custom.

Not too bad in the current climate of taking every religious idea out of most kids programs. And it was even on network TV. 😉
 
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kmktexas:
I just watched it too. The wedding part was great. The narrator said that since they were not welcome in any town, they stood in front of the Lord. This is actually consistent with Roman Catholic teaching that the couple are the ministers of matrimony and the priest is a witness. Even Catholics can get married like that if they are so isolated. The movie also talks about Christmas Eve as being the holiest night of the year.

When the trees light up, the little kid says “and that was the first Christmas tree”. Not historically correct but at least they weren’t claiming that it was a pagan custom.

Not too bad in the current climate of taking every religious idea out of most kids programs. And it was even on network TV. 😉
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I agree with you KM. I also heard about standing before the Lord. It is not that any church did not want them but the towns did not want them because of other issues that the movie talks about, like making toys. You really need to see the whole thing.
 
It’s a work of fiction, something for little kids. Nothing horrible about it, in my opinion.

All those Christmas specials get a big 👍 in our house!
 
I liked ALL those Claymation Christmas special that came out during my childhood (1964-1974).

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964)
The Little Drummer Boy (1967)
Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970)
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1972)

Look at it this way, those Christmas programs are MUCH better than the video games and other programs that are CURRENTLY out today (2005)
 
the alternative to these oldies is the new generation of Christmas themed made for TV movies that involve and promote premarital sex, fornication, adultery, and all activity leading up to those acts by dressing eveyone up in holly and mistletoe, using Christmas trees and lights, while conveniently ignoring any reference whatever to the Birth of Jesus Christ or the need for salvation, the reason for which he came.

a Christmas Carol, the supreme secular tale, by the way pays no lip service to Christ except in the general sentiments of doing good to one’s neighbor–not a bad thing at all. If Dickens had envisioned his tale for modern family rated American TV he could not have done better to please a network executive.
 
Well, I am glad to hear that the five minutes I saw were not representative of the movie and that I heard wrong about the Christmas tree. You can’t blame me for being upset when I thought it said the “first Christmas” period :o And I agree that these are sweet movies compared to things like “Jingle All the Way” etc. I will have to take “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” off my black list 😉
 
I saw it. None of that bothered me, partly because there’s a penguin with human characteristics. How cool is that?
 
I truly believe that people can take their religion and faith a bit too seriously and when that happens they become over scrupulous in any and all programming. This is the very first time in my entire life that I have heard of someone actually complaining and get offended over Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. I disagree that this cartoon should have been used to educate people on the real Saint Nick…Santa is MYTH only using the minor details of Saint Nick…The movie does a fair job of being ambiguous but yet letting people know what the deal is with Christianity… theres cartoons for that as well…The Little Drummer Boy and Nestor The Long Earred Donkey.

I just watched The Ghost & Mrs Muir on TV… and this analogy comes to my mind…that would be like someone saying…“they should have used that movie to let people know when you die you cant just go off and live forever with your dead lover…there’s purgatory, judgement, etc…the movie will have people thinking there isnt…'blah, blah, blah”… the same with Harry Potter…

Sorry…but ripping on this beloved classic cartoon has really freaked me out and makes me glad religion must contend with secularism for if this is a glimpse of what a theocracy would be like I want no part of it… 😦
 
My husband and I watched it and it was cute! I was surprised by the line about “standing in front of the Lord”–I’m sure some folks were complaining about that!

It’s harmless fiction. There’s nothing wrong with saying that Santa is bringing our kids presents, just so long as we’re teaching them why we really celebrate Christmas.
 
Where have you been these past 40 years? That movie is the classic of all classics. I was in tears the last time I saw it. I remarked to my husband that they would never in a million years
make a movie like that again.

Did you notice the Cross on the Christmas tree between them when they were married? How they mentioned the “holiest day
of the year” being chosen as the one day he would ride?

Did you notice how chaste the two main characters were?

The themes of conversion (Winter Warlock), of fighting injustice,
of love and generosity, and the total giving of one’s self? Just
look for any of that, today.

The only thing that might ever have bothered me is the magic, but
it is in a fantastical way, like Narnia, or Lord of the Rings, and stuff like that.

They even changed his name to Claus with Santa in front to imply that he was a saintly person.

When I was young, this explained the idea of Santa Claus in a very satisfying way. My parents took off on this theme, indicating that He is God’s helper, and the real St. Nick, and that is his job in the world, to make poor kids happy, and spread the love of God.
My grandmother and aunts would even brag about being his helper, crocheting sweaters and what not for him. It was wonderful. If only the world could be like it was back then.
 
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Cece:
Where have you been these past 40 years? That movie is the classic of all classics. I was in tears the last time I saw it. I remarked to my husband that they would never in a million years
make a movie like that again.

Did you notice the Cross on the Christmas tree between them when they were married? How they mentioned the “holiest day
of the year” being chosen as the one day he would ride?

Did you notice how chaste the two main characters were?

The themes of conversion (Winter Warlock), of fighting injustice,
of love and generosity, and the total giving of one’s self? Just
look for any of that, today.

The only thing that might ever have bothered me is the magic, but
it is in a fantastical way, like Narnia, or Lord of the Rings, and stuff like that.

They even changed his name to Claus with Santa in front to imply that he was a saintly person.

When I was young, this explained the idea of Santa Claus in a very satisfying way. My parents took off on this theme, indicating that He is God’s helper, and the real St. Nick, and that is his job in the world, to make poor kids happy, and spread the love of God.
My grandmother and aunts would even brag about being his helper, crocheting sweaters and what not for him. It was wonderful. If only the world could be like it was back then.
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Did you notice my second post?
 
I would like to add that I guess I just think that the REAL story behind Christmas is so awesome, the most amazing story ever, really, that I can’t understand how any myth or fictional piece is worth the time. Why waste time and energy on a puny little myth when the ***truth * ** is so much more amazing than any story ever could be?

And as for where I have been in the last 40 years: half the time I didn’t exist and when I did come into being 24 years ago, it wasn’t in the USA. :eek: Can you believe it? Not everyone was born in the same country as you, Cece.
 
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Edwin1961:
I liked ALL those Claymation Christmas special that came out during my childhood (1964-1974).

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964)
The Little Drummer Boy (1967)
Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970)
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1972)

Look at it this way, those Christmas programs are MUCH better than the video games and other programs that are CURRENTLY out today (2005)
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My favorites were the Little Drummer Boy and Rudolph. I didn’t, even as a kid, like the other two as much, but I still watched them.
 
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CatholicSam:
IAnd as for where I have been in the last 40 years: half the time I didn’t exist and when I did come into being 24 years ago, it wasn’t in the USA. :eek: Can you believe it? Not everyone was born in the same country as you, Cece.
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Where are you from originally? I ask because I am a totally nosey person.🙂

If this show did not market itself as Christian then you can not hold it to the same criteria as you would a Christian movie. It is an entertaining fantasy, nothing more. In fact, this show could be a stepping stone to explain the real story to your child.
 
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