| The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Glen Hill |
| Produced by | Mike Young |
| Story by | L. Frank Baum |
| Music by | Misha Segal |
| Release date(s) | October 31, 2000 |
| Running time | 1 hour, 15 minutes |
The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus is a 2000 film created by Universal Studios. It is based on the novel of the same name.It was made available on DVD on October 11, 2011. It is noted as being a faithful adaptation of the original story.
Contents |
In the Forest of Burzee, where many immortals live (such as Knooks, fairies, and nymphs), their leader, Ak the Master Woodsman of the world, finds a human baby abandoned and places him in the care of the lioness, Shiegra. A wood nymph named Necile desires to raise a child of her own, and takes the baby. Although this is forbidden, Ak allows an exception. The baby is named Nicholas. Meanwhile, a shapeshifting pixie named Wisk is catapulted to Burzee over the mountain where the evil Awgwas live.
When Nicholas reaches young adulthood, Ak shows him how mortals live, giving him a magic sash that makes him invisible to the mortals. Nicholas sees that the humans, mostly the children, live cruel and unfair lives, mostly in poverty or child abuse (which is enforced by the Awgwas).
Eventually Nicholas and Wisk move to a spot that is near both Necile and the humans. The Knooks build a house for him, and Necile gives him a cat, whom he names Blinky. Nicholas travels to a village, in which he stops a baby from crying, and a girl named Megan talks for the first time. As he wishes for some way to help the children, Nicholas sees a log that looks similar in appearance to Blinky, and so he carves it into a toy cat. One day, in winter, Ethan the Cripple, a boy from a village he visited once, travels to his house to bring him a leaning stick. He nearly freezes to death, but Nicholas takes him into his house, much to the disappointment of King Mogorb, leader of the Awgwas. When he meets Blinky, Nicholas gives him the toy cat.
Nicholas makes more toys to give to children, mostly cats, which later expands to birds, ponies, and doll figures of Necile. He makes a carving of Shiegra to show her when she is getting old and near the end of her days.
Eventually, Nicholas gets older as well. A Knook named Will gives him his reindeer, Mistletoe and Holly, to pull a sled so he can travel to the villages in winter, telling him to return before daybreak. Leaving many toys for the children, he becomes known as Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus. However, one day he returns after daybreak, so Will tells him their deal is off. While attempting to deliver more toys, Nicholas is attacked by the Awgwas, who steal all his toys, hiding them in their mountain.
The Awgwas continue to steal the toys, and Ak decides that Nicholas should travel to villages once a year, and that this one day should be Christmas. Will agrees to give him eight reindeer for his sled. Unable to tolerate the Awgwas' misdeeds anymore, Ak leads the immortals into battle with them at their mountain. The Awgwas underestimate the superior magic of the immortals; The Knooks turn the Awgwas' dragon into birds with magic catapults; The Awgwas (except for Mogorb and his general, Thog) charge at the fairies, who fly over them, causing them to fall off a cliff; and Nymphs turn their two giants into stone (who fall to the ground and crumble). As Mogorb and Thog attempt to sneak up on Ak, Wisk turns into an Awgwa and breaks the cliff that they are standing on, sending both falling, during which nymphs turn them into small flying insects, leaving them powerless to do any more evil.
The immortals find the toys in Awgwa Mountain and Necile takes them to Nicholas's sled. Every Christmas he makes his trips to the villages, beginning the Christmas Trees by putting some in darker homes, and placing smaller gifts in stockings left up to dry. Some children leave milk and cookies for him, and he is mostly known as "Santa Claus". One day, Santa is getting old, and near the end of his days, as the Angel of Death is coming for him. However, Ak holds an immortals council, telling them that they should make Santa immortal so that he can continue to give people gifts, and by doing so, giving them hope, and preventing the world from falling into hopelessness again. Bo, Master Mariner of the World, is opposed to this and calls for a vote. The vote is in favor of using the Mantle of Immortality on Santa Claus, and Ak tells the Angel of Death not to take him, and places the mantle around him (and Blinky) while he is asleep.
Now immortal, Santa Claus is able to continue giving people gifts on Christmas, the ending sequence showing a Christmas many years in the future.