The Town That Santa Forgot
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The Town That Santa Forgot is an animated television special produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1993, narrated by Dick Van Dyke and originally broadcast on TNT. It is an adaptation of the poem Jeremy Creek, written by Charmaine Severson. Since then, it was frequently shown in Christmas marathons on Cartoon Network until 2005, when the network's "Holiday Rush" promotion, which was based around the rerun abuse of the newly-made Christmas specials for the network's newer shows, pushed almost all of the network's older Christmas specials off the air. However, it returned in 2006 on In2TV.
[edit] Synopsis
The special opens with a framing device focusing on an old man and his two grandkids. The grandkids are anxious for Santa Claus, thinking only of the toys that he'll bring them. The grandfather sits down and tells them the main story.
The story is of Jeremy Creek, a boy who knows nothing but greed. He throws temper tantrums any time he sees what he wants, and he wants everything he sees. After many complaints and a huge crack in the wall, Jeremy's mother and father inform him that he will get no more toys from them. Jeremy goes to his room and plays with the thousands of toys he already owns. He comes to a realization: If his parents wouldn't get him the toys, then he should ask Santa Claus instead.
With a red crayon and papers taped together to form a list half a mile long, Jeremy writes EVERY toy he can think of on the list. He finishes and mails it in June and waits for Christmas to come. July, August, and September pass, and he remains in his room waiting and waiting. By now, Santa has received the letter and, through his wisdom, believes the half-mile list has to come from a town, for no one boy could possibly want so much. So, looking at a Church-sized map, he and the elves look all over the world for the town of "Jeremy Creek." One elf finds it, and noted it wasn't on his route. Feeling guilty, Santa orders everything on the list, one for each boy and girl in the little forgotten town.
Halloween and Thanksgiving pass, and soon it is Christmas Eve. When night falls, Jeremy goes up on the roof of his house and waits for Santa to arrive. Santa eventually comes, but Jeremy is devastated when Santa passes by him without stopping at his house, and he cries himself to sleep.
When he awakens the next morning, he witnesses a report on television stating that Santa Claus has brought holiday cheer to a swamp town that happens to share the same name as him. At first, Jeremy is resentful that the kids in this town got the toys he wanted, but when the kids on the TV state that they'd like to give a thank-you to whoever wrote to Santa telling him to visit their town, his cold heart melts and he realizes that this accidental good deed of his makes him feel better than any present ever could.
Immediately following Jeremy's newfound change of heart, Santa appears in a small size, telling him that he's come to grant the swamp town's hero whatever he wants. Jeremy replies that he doesn't really want anything, for he has learned that it is better to give than to receive. In the end, Santa makes Jeremy his assistant for helping him deliver Christmas presents, a task he lovingly accepts and continues to perform until he outgrows his seat in Santa's sleigh. Outside of Christmas, Jeremy becomes a more caring boy, sharing his toys with his neighbors.
The special closes with the narrator and his grandkids, who have taken the story to heart and now don't care what they get from Santa. The old man then tells them that every few Christmases, Santa still picks out a little boy or girl to assist him in his annual journey. On the very last shot, some snow falls off of the old man's mailbox to reveal the name "J. Creek".
