Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrelated English folkloric tradition. The recognisably modern figure of the English Father Christmas developed in the late Victorian period, but Christmas had been personified for centuries before then.
The reindeer or caribou is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only representative of the genus Rangifer. More recent studies suggest the splitting of reindeer and caribou into six distinct species over their range.
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols, may employ lyrics about the nativity of Jesus Christ, traditions such as gift-giving and merrymaking, cultural figures such as Santa Claus, or other topics. Many songs simply have a winter or seasonal theme, or have been adopted into the canon for other reasons.
Brenda Mae Tarpley, known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Primarily performing rockabilly, pop, country and Christmas music, she achieved her first Billboard hit aged 12 in 1957 and was given the nickname "Little Miss Dynamite". Some of Lee's most successful songs include "Sweet Nothin's", "I'm Sorry", "I Want to Be Wanted", "Speak to Me Pretty", "All Alone Am I" and "Losing You". Her festive song "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", recorded in 1958, topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 2023, making Lee the oldest artist ever to top the chart and breaking several chart records.
Cynthia Rothrock is an American martial artist and actress best known for her martial arts films. She holds black belt rankings in seven styles of martial arts and was a high-level competitor in martial arts before becoming an actress. In 2014, she was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame. In 2016, Martial Arts History Museum bestowed Rothrock the official title of The Queen Of Martial Arts.
Ded Moroz, or Morozko, is a legendary figure similar to Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, and Santa Claus who has his roots in Slavic mythology. The tradition of Ded Moroz is mostly spread in East Slavic countries and is a significant part of Russian culture. At the beginning of the Soviet era, communist authorities banned Ded Moroz. However, the ban was lifted and he soon became a significant part of Soviet culture. The literal translation of DedMoroz is Old Man Frost, but traditionally the name is translated as Father Frost.
Eek! The Cat is an animated series, created by Savage Steve Holland and Bill Kopp, produced by Fox Kids, Savage Studios and Nelvana, it is outsourced by Wang Film Productions. Broadcast from 1992 to 1997 on Fox's former Saturday Morning children's block Fox Kids, it aired in Canada on YTV from 1992 to 1998.
David William Huddleston was an American actor. An Emmy Award nominee, Huddleston had a prolific television career, and appeared in many films, including Rio Lobo, Blazing Saddles, Crime Busters, Santa Claus: The Movie, and The Big Lebowski.
Kenneth Waller was an English actor. He was known for portraying Grandad in Bread and Old Mr. Grace in Are You Being Served?
"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" is a novelty Christmas song. Written by Randy Brooks, the song was originally performed by Elmo Shropshire in 1979 under the brand of Elmo and Patsy, the double act Shropshire had with his then-wife Patsy Trigg.
George Buza is an American and Canadian actor who is best known for voicing Beast in X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men '97.
Santa Claus is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christmas Eve. He is said to accomplish this with the aid of Christmas elves, who make the toys in his workshop, and with the aid of flying reindeer who pull his sleigh through the air.
Jonathan Kydd is a British actor, voice-over artist, narrator, writer, producer and podcaster, and the son of the late actor Sam Kydd. He has been on many TV shows but has been very successful as a voice actor, voicing video games, advertisements, corporates, documentaries and cartoons and being a regular in comedy episodes for BBC Radio 4. He has fronted many comedy bands and sings and writes for The Rudy Vees. He podcasts on the Chelsea FanCast every week, talking about Chelsea F.C. and doing the Chelsea Fanbite for the FanCast.
The British Academy Children's Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). They have been awarded annually since 1996, before which time they were a part of the main British Academy Television Awards. It currently includes categories for television productions, feature films and video games.
Calon is the trading name of Mount Stuart Media Ltd., a British animation television production company based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, which primarily produced Welsh animated series for S4C. The company was formerly known as Siriol Animation and Siriol Productions.
Events in 1956 in animation.
D.N. Ace is a Canadian animated television series created by Matthew Wexler and produced by Nelvana for Teletoon. The series focuses on the life of Ace Ripley, a 12-year-old boy who gains the power to create DNA by using the Dscram to manipulate the Scrammers, alongside his lovable best friend Sloane Plunderman and an immortal squirrel named Mendel.