Santa and Pete

I usually look at everything made for Christmas viewing. I wasn't sure what this one was going to be. I have seen many movies that describe themselves as Christmas stories, simply because they take place at Christmas. "One Magic Christmas" is one of that breed. When I saw "Santa and Pete" for the first time, I was hooked. This was a delightful little story of Saint Nicholas and his helper; how he visited the new world for the first time and how he became "modernized". The story held my interest from beginning to end and stayed in my heart and mind much longer than that. Using James Earl Jones as the grandfather relating the story to his grandson for the first time was a stroke of pure genius in casting. The writers could have gone anywhere with this tale, and they wisely chose to tell it as a story of hope, peace, charity, love, and family. Their are many Christmas movies in my collection, and "Santa and Pete" ranks up with the best of them. The sooner this is released on VHS and DVD, the better The ratings That have been given are understandable when I note the demographics connected with them. I urge all who voted and gave somewhat low marks, to see this picture again after a few years and see if their perspective has changed. They may be surprised! God Bless Us - everyone.

The recent passing of one of my favorite actors, Hume Cronyn, made me think of this charming television movie which I saw a few years ago. It is a very lovely story which I hope will be shown more often. Hume Cronyn was the best Santa Claus ever!

I love reading stories to my children. It was great seeing James Earl Jones gently tying the movie together by playing a grandfather telling his grandson this very special story. I was delighted with the setting of early America. The story was filled with a mix of familiar and less heard elements of the Santa Claus traditions. Perhaps this stems from European origins, which fits well with the early American setting. The movie also did well to transcend multi-cultural lines that so many Christmas stories fall short of. My young children love viewing Christmas stories all year around. I am anxious for this to become available on VHS or DVD. "Santa and Pete" is a must see for those of you who love the feelings surrounding the Christmas holidays.

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA.

Grandpa Nicholas is seen decorating a Christmas tree before the arrival of his daughter Cassie with her husband James and son Terence. While decorating the tree together Terence finds an ornament of Santa and a second ornament Grandpa Nicholas says is Pete. Realizing Terence does not know who Pete is Grandpa Nicholas starts telling him the story of Santa and Pete.

When I saw the jacket of this movie it showed "Santa" with a dog. There was never a dog in the movie. I wish that people that designed the DVD cover would of been more honest. If they have I would have seen this film years ago.

The story is basically how Santa came to be and why he has a red suit. It is a great film that that I wish I saw years ago.

This film is available in DVD sets that have more than one film. It sells for about $9.00. If you see it for sale get. Watch it and share it.

Like Cheetos, this movie is dangerously cheesy. But since it's a Christmas movie, I think it can get by with it. It offers a pretty unique take on Santa Claus and I love that the Dutch folk character of Black Pete (or Zwarte Piet) has been turned into an actual helper for Santa rather than his evil opposite that delights in torturing bad children. It's also nice that the racist implications for the Black Pete character have been stripped away by making him a positive black character instead. Also, James Earl Jones is in this movie and I say that's a good reason on its own to see it.

All in all, it's a fun, wholesome family movie and even adults without children can get into the story and characters. An underappreciated Christmas flick.