The Town Santa Forgot
| The Town Santa Forgot | |
|---|---|
| Written by |
Charmaine Severson (story "Jeremy Creek") Glenn Leopold (teleplay) |
| Directed by | Robert Alvarez |
| Voices of |
Dick Van Dyke Miko Hughes Hal Smith Ashley Johnson |
| Music by | John Debney |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | David Kirschner |
| Producer(s) | Davis Doi |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | December 3, 1993 |
The Town Santa Forgot is an animated television special produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1993, narrated by Dick Van Dyke and originally broadcast on NBC. 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, and is still shown annually on Boomerang.
Plot
The film opens to a snowy Christmas Eve, on which a pair of anxious young children eagerly anticipate the arrival of Santa Claus and the gifts that they will be receiving. Taking notice of this, their elderly grandfather narrates a poetic fable with the intentions of educating them in the true nature of the holidays.
The tale details the life of an outrageously overindulged, bratty 5-year old little boy named Jeremy Creek spoiled ridiculously by his inferiorly mild and intimidated parents, flinging himself into destructive, earsplitting, and violent temper tantrums when his requests are not met. After his parents have decided to strengthen their ground by refusing to dote on their child any longer, an infuriated Jeremy, recalling the upcoming Christmas season, decides to devise a humongously lengthy and demanding wish list consisting of all the presents that he has yet to own. However, when Santa Claus notices the massive compilation of toys listed, he concludes that the Christmas list actually was intended for multiple people, and soon makes the discovery of an impoverished swamp town coincidentally named "Jeremy Creek" that he had previously forgotten. On Christmas morning, the selfish Jeremy is crestfallen upon the total absence of gifts intended for him beneath his family's Christmas tree, and catches sight of a news broadcast detailing the joy of the penniless and bedraggled children of the town Jeremy Creek upon receiving the countless presents from Santa Claus. Surprisingly, Jeremy himself is touched by the rejoicement brought to the less fortunate through his own greed inadvertently, and his self-absorption is dissolved upon the realization of the true meaning of Christmas. As a result of Jeremy's newfound selflessness, he is rewarded by Santa with the privilege of assisting him in delivering gifts to children globally on Christmas Eve until, as a teenager, he has outgrown his seat on the sleigh, to the boy's disappointment. As the young children's grandfather concludes the story with the tradition of Santa selecting new assistants every couple of years, they, too, are educated by the tale, and no longer quite as concerned with toys. As the special concludes, the two grandchildren ponder if one of them could be Santa's assistant, and the grandfather ponders if he himself could be Santa's assistant, with an implication that the grandfather is actually Jeremy Creek himself.
Cast
- Dick Van Dyke - Narrator / Old Jeremy Creek
- Miko Hughes - Jeremy Creek
- Troy Davidson - Grandson
- Julie Dees
- Haven Hartman
- Ashley Johnson - Granddaughter
- Melinda Peterson - Mrs. Creek
- Philip Proctor - Mr. Creek
- Neil Ross
- Hal Smith - Santa Claus
- B.J. Ward - Neighbor
- Paul Williams - Pomp the Elf
Crew
- Gordon Hunt - Recording Director
- Jill Ziegenhagen - Talent Coordinator
- Kris Zimmerman - Animation Casting Director
Media Release
The special was released on VHS in 1996 and featured on In2TV in 2006. On July 31, 2012, Warner Home Video released Hanna-Barbera Christmas Classics Collection on DVD in region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the US. This collection features a trilogy of Christmas specials: The Town That Santa Forgot, Casper's First Christmas and A Christmas Story.