Sacré Père Noël

A very different kind of mood from its companion piece, THE SNOWMAN, FATHER Christmas is a comic story about the real life of Santa Claus and what he gets up to on the 364 days of the year when he's not at work. Mel Smith has a ball voicing somebody who turns out to be completely irascible and bad tempered, yet endearing at the same time.

The same qualities that apply to the other Raymond Briggs classics are present here; namely, fine animation and a dual appeal to both children and adult viewers alike. Yet the subject matter isn't as sentimental as THE BEAR or THE SNOWMAN and that stops it from being a heartwarming classic like those productions; nevertheless it still makes for an entirely watchable little half hour.

This version of Raymond Brigg's Father Christmas is a Butchered Americanized version. Narrated by an American actor, this version looses all the charm of the English version voiced by Mel Smith, the Original Father Christmas! This is NOT that version! This is a censored chopped version that just doesn't translate well over to American audiences.

In Father Christmas, Santa is not the Politically Correct Santa that prudish Americans would like you to see. He is a cantankerous Santa whom complains, and grumbles all the while that he is doing things. So much so, that he takes a vacation to Scotland, where he drinks at a Pub/bar. Vegas, were he gambles and smokes around bikini clad women. This Santa is shown as a normal person. At a couple times, they even show his butt, to which my God daughters think is the most hilarious thing. It gives a very strong impression that he is a real person. The American version is trying for that rankin/bass whimsical Christmas thing, but it just doesn't work with English Humor. Even the Finally song sung by the American actor shows a more benevolent, Richard Attenburough figure. The Elf-boss (Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer) is more cantankerous than the actor in this one. The original is more like an annoyed Bob Hoskins.

If you can, look for the F.H.E version of this movie online on Ebay. It's well worth it and extremely entertaining for both children and adults. It's no worse than the Grinch (Jim Carey version). Children won't notice some of the slightly more adult scenes that show only long enough for adults to register it. English humor abounds in this version.

To aid you in the search for the original are two ASIN numbers below:

English version number: ASIN: B000006672 Great Version!!!

Americanized Version Number: ASIN: 0767800400 Butchered!!!

This is another animated film from Raymond Briggs, showing the life of 'Father Christmas'. It is almost as full of magic as 'The Snowman' (another classic), but not quite.

There are some people (my sister included) who do not like this film, as it shows Santa to be a fairly normal man, a grumpy man. But to me, it is this that makes the film even more fun. It's nice to think of Santa in this way, and I for one, love it.

The film also ties in well with 'The Snowman' and features the snowman party, where the young boy meets Father Christmas. Overall I would recommend this film to anyone, although it may not be quite to everyone's taste, I give it 9/10.

One of the very best of all Christmas films, notwithstanding, if I may say so under IMDb guidelines, a misjudged return to SNOWMANland and some sovereign-directed sycophancy. The whole idea of Santa Claus - one man delivering presents to all the millions of children in one night; flying reindeers; fat man fitting through chimney - is so full of magic, fantasy, and the sublime: this is a typically English vision, deliberately secular and iconoclastic, that makes the great man understandable and recognisable, a grumbling, narrow-minded worker like the rest of us, a little suburban man, and yet manages to still evoke a considerable sense of wonder.

The film begins rather startlingly, as Father Christmas, voiced by the similarly statured ex-comedian Mel Smith, breaks the air of gentle fantasy conjured up by the title and opening credits, to attack the viewer. He is on the defensive, assuming we judge him a workshy fop who only has to work one night in the year. His life, he assures us, is one of high, banal, dudgeon, and the one time he tried to take a break ended in failure.

This sequence is a brilliantly satiric portrait of the English abroad, parochial, suspicious but essentially up-for-it. First he goes to France, where, to fit in with the locals, he dresses in stereotypical garb (beret, striped pullover etc), and eats to bowel-troubling excess. In permanently lashing Scotland, where the locals are friendly, and the drink flows as freely as the rain, he is attacked by a shark in an isolated tarn. In Las Vegas, a vulgar neo-Roman travesty, Father seems most at home, breakfast in bed, afternoons and cocktails in the pool, until he loses all his money gambling. On each occasion he is forced to leave, not just because of touristy zeal, but because he is recognised as Father Christmas, one stereotype (Father Christmas) displacing the pleasure of another (the Englishman abroad).

The portrait of Father Christmas here is extremely winning, a gruff, whining man in his pleasant terraced house, with his cat and frisky dog, with earthy views and a frank way of expressing himself. You would think that the demythologising of Father Christmas would be complete when we see him deshabille in the bath, running to the toilet after overeating (in a brilliant, disturbing sequence, he passes his own self in the rushes to and fro from camper to lavatory), or shouting 'blooming' all the time.

And when Christmas finally arrives, with the millions of letters blocking up his doorstep, the sled a bit creaky, and weighed down by the amount of presents, the grumbling continues. But the real Father Christmas cannot escape the magic of his calling, and the animation, which had been as smartly inventive and sassily ironic as an American short, takes on a shimmering, ethereal quality, juxtaposed with our hero's very real difficulties with chimnies, and you find yourself gasping at how they achieved such a smooth change of tone.

"Father Christmas" is an unconventional Christmas cartoon. Why? Because it shows Santa in many ways you wouldn't expect...plus there is no Mrs. Claus, no elves and only two reindeer! But despite this, it is charming and well worth seeing.

The story begins just after Christmas and Santa is in need of a vacation...so he heads to France, Scotland and, finally, Las Vegas. But someone always recognizes him, so he returns home to prepare for the upcoming Christmas.

The artwork in this film is simply lovely...which isn't surprising since it was made by some of the same folks who made "The Snowman"...a gorgeously animated film from 1982. In fact, this same snowman makes an appearance near the end!

As for the story, it's odd to see a VERY folksy British version of Santa...but it's still sweet and cute and well worth seeing. I tend to be a tad cynical about Christmas films, but I thought this one and "The Snowman" are just lovely family films.