The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (TV special)
The Life amp Adventures of Santa Claus is a 1985 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by RankinBass Productions based on the 1902 childrens book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum. The special first aired December 17, 1985 on CBS. This was RankinBasss final Animagic stop motion animated special produced in Japan. Future specials and series would be traditionally animated from this point on.
Screenwriter Julian P. Gardner created a musical production number, Big Surprise as the children at Weekums orphanage plead Santa Claus for more toy cats. Other songs include the chorus Babe in the Woods and the powerful chant, Ora e Sempre Today and Forever representing the immortals. Bernard Hoffer composed the music, as well as setting a quatrain by Baum inspired by Clauss famous laugh. The presentation of the Christmas tree is different Claus, realizing his death is imminent, decorates a tree with ornaments and suggests it should be his memorial.This is the only RankinBass Christmas special without a celebrity narrator. The special now airs on the ABC Family cable network, though it is heavily edited from its original CBS broadcast, along with most of the other RankinBass animated Christmas specials. ........
Source: Wikipedia
