The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is the Rankin-Bass production that I'm most familiar with. Many of my readers know I'm a huge fan of L. Frank Baum and his Oz works, and the original book is by Baum, originally published in 1902, so I sought it out because of that connection. The book would also serve as the basis for an anime series, a traditionally animated film, some stage adaptations, a graphic novel, multiple audio dramatizations and some unproduced screenplays that have been floating around Hollywood.
Baum's Santa Claus was written before much of our common Santa lore was really set in public consciousness, so it varies in many ways and is definitely not to be considered in continuity with any other Rankin-Bass production. The Rankin-Bass adaptation was written by Jules Bass, using his Julian P. Gardner pseudonym one last time. The special was for a one hour time slot.
We open on Christmas Eve as Santa Claus (voiced by Earl Hammond) heads off on his annual deliveries, then below him in the Forest of Burzee, we meet the Sound Imp, Tingler (voiced by Bob McFadden), an original character created for the special, but feeling very at home in a Baum-based world. He runs through the Forest to tell the Great Ak, the Master Woodsman of the world (voiced by Alfred Drake), that the leaders of the Immortals are arriving. As Ak prepares to receive them, Queen Zurline (voiced by Lynne Lipton) of the wood nymphs wishes him success. Ak tells her and the audience that if he not successful at convincing them, this will be Santa Claus' last sleigh ride.
And then here comes the song everyone remembers from this: "Ora e Sempre," a surprisingly dark song for a Rankin-Bass production, which uses a line of Latin in a song about being immortal. This plays while Tingler introduces the Immortals, who then gather around a table. Ak makes his his pitch: to bestow on Santa Claus the Mantle of Immortality. To explain why he believes this should happen, he begins telling of the life of the toymaker.
Ak tells how many years ago, he found an abandoned baby and feeling pity for it, gave it to the lioness Shiegra to care for. It then switches to him telling this back then to a group of nymphs. This cut has been criticized because it cuts to a brief scene very similar to the Immortals meeting and it's not clear that this is another time period with a different audience until we see Necile (voiced by Lesley Miller) the wood nymph ask Ak what a child is. After hearing more, she is filled with curiosity and goes to find the baby, deciding to take him with her into the forest, knowing she can care for her trees and the baby.
Ak is surprised that Necile has broken the Law of the Forest, that no mortals may enter. She asks Ak to let her keep the baby. He agrees, deciding that she and Shiegra can share the duties. (In the book and other adaptations, Ak declares that this will be the only time that the Law will be relaxed.) Necile names the baby Claus, meaning "little one" in Burzee's language. With another song sequence, we see Claus grow up into a youth (voiced by J.D. Roth) in the forest.
Ak decides to take Claus on a journey around the world to see how mortals like himself live, Claus being shocked by the scenes of poverty, strife and warfare, especially how children suffer from these. He finally asks Ak why man is born if he must suffer so. Ak tells him he should leave the world a little better than he found it. Upon returning to Burzee, Claus decides to leave to become a friend to the children he can reach. He decides to set up a home in Laughing Valley, not far from Burzee, joined by Tinger and Shiegra. Soon, the Ryls (sprites who care for flowers), Knooks (sprites who care for animals) and nymphs of Burzee build a house for him so he can get straight to his work.
Claus is shown befriending children as he grows older, soon turning into a round and jolly older fellow. One winter's night when he can't leave for the snow, he's whittling at some wood, which he begins to fashion after his cat, Blinkie, a gift from Necile. Hearing a voice from outside, he goes to investigate and finds a boy named Weekum lost in the snow. Bringing him in to get warm, he presents him with the wooden cat he's made before taking him home. The children are delighted with the wooden cat and ask if Claus can make more. He agrees and diversifies the toys he makes, enlisting help from the Ryls and Knooks of Burzee.
Claus is threatened by the Awgwas, a race of creatures who can be invisible, who influence people to do wicked things. Claus' actions directly interfere with them, but Claus keeps making and delivering toys in defiance. They kidnap him, but he's able to call the Knooks for rescue. They resort to stealing the toys whenever he tries to deliver them. Finally, he goes to Ak, who tells the King of the Awgwas (voiced by Earle Hyman) to stop. When they refuse, Ak declares war, and armed with magic and the power of Good on their side, Ak and the nymphs are able to completely wipe out the Awgwas and their allies.
Peter Knook (voiced by Peter Newman) allows Claus to use deer on Christmas Eve to draw a sleigh to carry the toys. When Claus can't enter locked doors, he uses a chimney. When people find their presents on Christmas morning, they believe Claus must be a saint to do what he does, a young child mispronouncing "Saint Claus" as "Santa Claus."
We're now up to the present, where Claus has been delivering for decades. And now, he is soon to die. He even realizes this, making the first Christmas tree as something to be done as a memorial. (This was not the case in the book, in which he makes the first Christmas tree to present gifts to family who lived in tents, suggested to be an indigenous group.) There is a single Mantle of Immortality that can make a mortal being Immortal, and Ak makes the argument that Claus is worthy of it. The matter is put to a vote and all the Immortals vote in agreement. The Mantle descends on Claus, Necile kisses him and welcomes him to wake to a new life.
The special ends with a scene in which Ak has let Claus know what has been done on his behalf. He thanks Ak and says he'll try to be worthy of it, declaring he's committed his work to the children, "for in all this world, there is nothing so beautiful as a happy child."
I'm definitely biased towards this special. But now that I've watched the previous Christmas specials from the same team, this one has a good amount of cohesion. The songs are put to good use, stemming from the plot and they're very short, so they don't feel superfluous. There are no annoying B-plots, and the darker edge made this an ideal cult classic.
This felt like it could have been the start of a new style of Christmas specials for Rankin-Bass, however, it was actually the end.
Well, not exactly the end...
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