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Santa Claus Photos

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Movie Info

In ancient times, a man named Claus (David Huddleston), who delivers toys in his small village, fulfills his destiny to become Santa Claus after meeting an expert toy-making elf, Patch (Dudley Moore), in the North Pole. In the present day, Santa Claus has become overwhelmed by his workload, and the disgruntled Patch flees the workshop to New York City. There, Patch unknowingly threatens the fate of Christmas by taking a job at a failing toy company run by a scheming businessman (John Lithgow).

Rating:

PG
Genre:

kids and family, other, fantasy
Original Language:

English
Director:

Jeannot Szwarc
Producer:

Ilya Salkind, Pierre Spengler
Writer:

David Newman
Release Date (Streaming):

May 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA):

$23.6M
Runtime:

1h 47m
Production Co:

TriStar Pictures
Sound Mix:

Surround

Cast & Crew

Dudley Moore
Patch

David Huddleston
Santa Claus

John Lithgow
B.Z.

Burgess Meredith
Ancient Elf

Judy Cornwell
Anya Claus

Jeffrey Kramer
Towzer

Show all Cast & Crew

News & Interviews for Santa Claus

7 Christmas Movies So Bad, They’re Bad

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Critic Reviews for Santa Claus

All Critics (20) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (4) | Rotten (16)

A holiday honey of a film for the entire family.

October 22, 2018 | Full Review…

Dolores Barclay
Associated Press
Quote not available.

October 30, 2001 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

BBC.com
Little kids will probably like most of this movie. The weakness is that larger kids and parents, deputized to escort the little ones, are likely to find a lot of it a little thin.

October 30, 2001 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
The sets frequently look chintzy and cheap, with Santa's workshop bringing to mind a prison sweat shop as much as a toy factory.

December 29, 2018 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…

Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Dated '80s holiday movie has smoking, product placement.

October 8, 2013 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Brian Costello
Common Sense Media
One would expect a holiday epic with a title like Santa Claus: The Movie. It implies something definitive, which would therefore put it in the canon of Christmas classics. However, this is definitely not the case.

March 13, 2007 | Full Review…

Ryan Cracknell
Movie Views
Even though some of its special effects are now dated, Santa Claus: The Movie is a touching tale that deserves to be rediscovered by younger generations.

September 27, 2005 | Rating: B | Full Review…

Chuck O'Leary
FulvueDrive-in.com
Quote not available.

August 7, 2005 | Rating: 2/5

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Quote not available.

May 19, 2005 | Rating: 2/5

Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Colorful super spectacle suffers from script, pacing.

October 30, 2004 | Rating: 3/5

Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan
Quote not available.

July 1, 2004 | Rating: 2/5

Randy Shulman
Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)
Here is a Christmas package that should have been left on the shelf.

March 27, 2004 | Rating: 2/5

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality & Practice

View All Critic Reviews (20)

Audience Reviews for Santa Claus

Feb 07, 2015

jon lithglow with hair!!! where's Rudolph? aside from that a traditional & warming take on santa

Sanity Assassin ! Super Reviewer
Dec 13, 2009

Not one of the best Santa Claus Movies but a nice Santa Movie.

Wahida K Super Reviewer
Dec 21, 2008

This is one of the first Christmas movies I saw as a child. There is an evil toy manufacturer who tricks Patch (head elf) to produce toys to eliminate the need for Santa Claus but Santa saves the day. Hooray!

Candy R Super Reviewer
Jan 05, 2008

i thought it was a good chritsmas movie not the best christmas movie ive ever seen but still does the job in keeping you in the festive spirit

Lone W Super Reviewer