Review of The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus

Just for the record, I have never the Rankin-Bass version (never even heard of it until now) but I have a long history with this version. I have also not yet read the original story but I was aware of it due to the book being mentioned in the movie trailers. What else is there to say? This is one of my all-time favourite Christmas stories. The songs are quite lovely, especially alongside the Celtic influenced score. The animation is very lovely too, having a soft warm quality to it perfect for anything relating to Christmas. The characters are also very enchanting and the augua are great villains. It's very touching to see how Santa grew up to become the jolly good fellow we all know and love and to see a Christmas story that celebrates the joy of giving rather than some flashy commercial. Santa is the ward of a wood nymph who breaks all her kind's laws to raise him, and after he grows up makes gifts for the village children on a regular basis until, after being attacked by the augua, he's forced to make a deal with Ril, who is responsible for all deer. Ak the master woodsman explains that there is one night a year where the humans are a little more warmhearted and Santa begins delivering toys on that night with the help of some reindeer lent to him by Ril. The rest of the story is the wonderful story of Santa's travels and it even touches on how he manages to get into houses without chimneys. Overall a very beautiful Christmas movie, one of my favourites.