Der Weihnachtsmann streikt

You really have to wonder what NBC and the creators of this film were thinking adapting the beloved animated special into this live-action film.

Were they hoping to expand the story (adapted from Phyllis McGinley's novel)? Then why is it that the original version accomplished more storytelling in a one-hour special than this movie does in two? This adaptation with a strange credit of teleplay and "television story" by Larry Wilson and Tom Martin goes off on so many tangents and in so many directions it only makes passing reference to the plot of the original novel and Rankin-Bass special it makes one wonder why they bothered to pay royalties to the original creators at all.

Perhaps it was so they could include the famous "I'm Mr. Heat/ Snow Miser" song, but this rare moment of energy in this movie is rather jarring considering that this is not otherwise a musical and the rest of the score is missing.

The cast is excellent across-the-board, though the lovely Delta Burke is way too young for the thankless role of Mrs. Claus, the prime mover of the plot in the original but reduced to looking concerned and expounding exposition here. You know you are in trouble when a film includes John Goodman, Eddie Griffin, Harvey Firestein and Michael McKean (and a scene-stealing Carol Kane) and is still dull.

An almost-complete waste of time and a scouring of a terrific story. Now go and watch the Rankin/ Bass original!

It's too bad that this couldn't have been a year without "The Year Without a Santa Claus" remake.

I'll have a blue Christmas (since I've seen you.) This belongs on the Island of Misfit Remakes. Where's the Burgermeister when you need something burned? Rankin/Bass are probably spinning like the original Snow Miser after this. I let my six-year-old stay up for this...how do I justify letting him stay up past his bedtime for a waste of two hours of his young life. Whoever was approached with this idea should have told the instigator to put one foot in front of the other and walk right out the door.

Not unwatchable, but definitely low budget. The movie had potential, but most of the performances were flat. The only person who remotely kept my interest was Eddie Griffin, playing jingle. It put my kids to sleep in the first hour. I usually like John Goodman, but his acting was almost forced. AS was most of the person's acting in this show. It reminded me of someone simply reading a teleprompter. Chris Kattan was OK, but even he seemed to be holding back from being funny. Harvey Fierstein did play a good Heatmiser and he definitely had the better looking groupees vs those with his brother, Coldmiser! I finished watching it, but won't go out of my way to see it again next year. Believe me, its not a modern classic.

I was actually fortunate enough to watch part of the filming of this movie in Natchitoches, LA and never would have believed how bad it was when it hit the screen. I was sorely disappointed for many reasons including the fact that they filmed this during the hottest time of the year expecting the extra's to wear winter coats, sweaters & other items so hot that many were suffering from heat exhaustion...even Santa. The extra's were not even paid extra's. They wanted 1,000 and I think were lucky to get 100 if that but I know not near as many showed up in the 90-100 degree weather sporting their winter attire.

I had TIVO'd the movie for my grand children to watch around the holidays and ended up deleting it before I even watched it all the way through.

The grand kids weren't disappointed at Christmas because I had recorded many of the "good" Christmas specials for them and didn't make them suffer through this one.

When you watch the original claymation films it's always amazing how much visual impact and story they pack into a relatively short amount of time. This remake had nearly the opposite effect and had the viewer begging to reach the conclusion and put this nightmare behind them. Something tells me this will not be a 'classic' for the entire family to gather around and watch together - year after year.

Delta Burke is a beautiful woman with a gentle spirit and wonderful acting style so it's disappointing to see her grouped with the Zany antics of Carole King and the wanna be sympathetic John Goodman. It may just be me but Mrs. Claus' shy nature and quiet voice almost represented Delta being apologetic for her role in this movie.

The film retells the story of Santa's growing frustration with the commercialization of Christmas and the apparent apathy from children all over the world. Santa decides he's had enough and plans to skip Christmas altogether. Two elves and one reindeer leave the North Pole in search of one child who can sway Santa's heart and reverse his decision. Yada yada yada - eventually all the characters and pieces come together and bring the spirit of Christmas back to life.

This version lacks the charm and timeless wit from the original. The live actors appear to intentionally overact as their feeble attempt to capture the claymation's over-animation. The story has been 'updated' to incorporate a techno-saavy Claus and ELF incorporation - hahaha - wow, that's really clever (pause) NOT. The producers of this film would be smart to bundle the ensuing DVD with the original and offer some kind of bonus features in order to push the 2-pack. I can't imagine too many children or adults wanting to add this to their DVD collection. Next time, remake the little drummer boy - nobody liked that one too much anyway.

In ranking this film we should always start off with a 5 - neutral - then give it 2 pts for costume and effects for a 7, remove 1 point for being a remake for 6 pts and 2 more for remaking a classic, 4 pts, finally lose a point for being absolutely horrible for a 3 out of 10. Why the 3 pts you ask? Because this is so bad that any casual fan of the original claymation/puppet version must watch this for themselves in order to fully appreciate how truly bad this really is. I suppose a live action 'Great Pumpkin' is just around the corner, sad :(