Starring Emeric Chapuis, Karen Cheryl, Armand Meffre, and Alexia Haudot
Directed by Christian Gion
Music by Francis Lai; Lyrics by Pierre-Andre Dousset
We travel across time and Europe from 1865 Holland to 1984 France for our next holiday movie. I first ran across this one on a dusty video I picked up when the local grocery store cleared out their tapes. I'd never heard of it before, and it wasn't online at that point. Now that it's on Tubi, I figured the time is right to finally share one of the strangest holiday movies I've ever seen. How bizarre is the story of a boy who asks Santa to find his missing parents for Christmas? Let's start with Simon (Chapuis) in the school yard and find out...
The Story: The only thing Simon wants for Christmas is for his parents, who are political prisoners in Africa, to come home. He writes a letter to Santa (Meffre) and sends it via his teacher (Cheryl). During a field trip to an airport, he and his best friend Elodie (Haudot) manage to sneak onto a plane and travel to Lapland to make sure Santa got the letter.
Santa can't find Simon's parents alone. He recruits the Christmas fairy Maryellen (Cheryl) to help him convince the African guerrillas to release them. Meanwhile, Simon and Elodie wander in the woods and are captured by the nasty ogre (Dominique Hulin) who eats little children and looks an awful lot like the mean janitor who locked Simon in the closet when another child claimed he broke something and he didn't. When Santa and Maryellen return from Africa, they end up rescuing the two children, too.
The Song and Dance: Very unique French fantasy makes copious use of its European and African settings. It really was filmed in a small town in France and in the real Africa, and those are actual African locals playing the freedom fighters and people Santa asks directions from. Love the cinematography, especially the shots of cold, icy Lapland and wide open shots of desolate Africa.
I also enjoy seeing holiday customs from France. I've never heard of a fairy helping Santa instead of Mrs. Claus, for instance. Kids put out their shoes for Santa instead of stockings, and Simon and Elodie help Santa cover presents in garland instead of wrapping paper. Everyone in the town goes to a midnight mass when the kids return. Some of the simple songs are real earworms, too. I can't get "'Cause There's a Father Christmas" out of my head for days after I watch this.
Favorite Number: Our first number is "Getting Ready for Christmas" as the kids write notes to Santa and the teacher helps them prepare their class for the holiday. The incredibly catchy "'Cause There's a Father Christmas" is the teacher's number with the kids as they take the bus to the airport. The kids are taken to "The Toy Factory" after they arrive in Lapland, where the see Santa's elves make the toys and Maryellen supervise. "Land of the Midnight Sun" is Maryellen's number when, dressed in a peasant outfit and cape, she travels through Lapland to rescue Simon and Elodie from the ogre. The kids join the teacher and their town at Midnight Mass for the carol "Christmas, a Child."
Trivia: The African scenes were filmed on location in Senegal.
My original New World Pictures video from 1985 was titled Here Comes Santa Claus.
What I Don't Like: Did I mention how weird this is? Very bizarre and low-budget. There are plot holes big enough to drive Santa's sleigh through. As far as I can tell, this isn't played as "it was all a dream." While I appreciate them not going for the cliche, it doesn't explain how they get away with sneaking off to Lapland without a single adult realizing something's wrong, or how Maryellen and the ogre look like the teacher and the janitor. There's also the janitor abusing Simon and locking him in the closet in the opening. Nowadays, he'd be brought up on abuse and assault charges, not just ignored or merely suspected of doing harm. Not to mention, Maryellen's magic seems to work at the writer's whim.
The directing is so awkward, "Christmas, a Child" and "Land of the Midnight Sun" are cut off abruptly. The synchronization is terrible, too. The lips frequently don't match the words on the English dub. Santa and Maryellen do have some amusing banter in Africa...but fairies and Santa and ogres really don't belong in a story about political prisoners who want to return to their son. The African guerrillas are not played for laughs. The whole thing with the ogre gets pretty dark, too, including him actually eating a puppy (off-camera, but it's insinuated that he did).
The Big Finale: The catchy Euro-pop music and unique story makes this one of my favorite holiday guilty pleasures, but it's definitely not for everyone. This one is best for true lovers of 80's cheese and older kids who'll appreciate something seriously weird in their Christmas viewing and still be able to ignore the plot holes and technical bobbles.
Home Media: The DVD is hard to find and expensive when it does appear. You're better off streaming this one. Tubi and Amazon Prime currently have it for free with ads.
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