Thomas Nast immortalized Santa Claus with an illustration for the January 3, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly. The first Santa Claus appeared as a small part of a large illustration titled "A Christmas Furlough" in which Nast set aside his regular news and political coverage to do a Santa Claus drawing. This Santa was a man dressed up handing out gifts to Union soldiers.
There exists a wide range of secular Christmas stories, told in popular music, on television, and in the cinema, that are told about the Christianholiday of Christmas, that may be based on or allegorize the biblical Christian mythology of Christmas, as the birth of Jesus, but not necessarily. The stories may also have newer interpretations and introduce new characters (such as Rudolph the reindeer). These secular Christmas stories could be classified as mythopoeia (invented mythology), or Christian allegories.
In popular music, on television, and in the cinema
Santa Claus is the English name for the Christian Saint Nicholas, secularized in 1789 popular culture as an old man with supernatural powers living at the North Pole or at the Khachaturian, Finland (Europeans tend to believe that Santa lives in Finland. While Americans, Canadians, English etc. say that he lives in the North Pole) - much like magic and powerful characters in mythology: Santa Claus has supernatural powers and uses them to magnanimously deliver gifts to children around the world. Santa was based on the legends of Saint Nicholas. Santa was given an amplified mythological identity in the Clement Moore poem A Visit from St. Nicholas (the title of which is often misidentified as Twas The Night Before Christmas.) Comparative mythologies have also noted the ancient Germanic myths of Thor driving a cart led by goats in the sky (which led to the folklore of the Yule Goat) is like Santa driving a sleigh led by reindeer in the sky, so they think Santa may stem from both Christian and pre-Christian Germanic mythology.
In the 1950s, several Christmas cartoons emerged that deliberately adopted elements of Christian stories to convey the "true meaning of Christmas" in allegorical terms.
An early film, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (based on a Gene Augury song), involved a rejected and mocked reindeer that ends up leading the other reindeer through the help of a misfit elf and misfit toys.
Similarly, Frosty the Snowman contains several Christian motifs, is the story of a snowman who comes to life for a time, melts (dies) but also reassures his childlike followers that he will "be back again some day." The television special developed from this song invents the concept of Frosty being made from "Christmas snow" which entails that he can never completely melt away and thus has an eternal essence.
Following these early television Christmas specials, there have been countless other Christmas TV specials and movies produced for the "holiday season" that are not explicitly Christian but seek to describe true spirit of Christmas beliefs, such as "togetherness," "being with family," charitable acts, and belief that even bad people or situations can be redeemed. While many sundry examples of Christmas films exist, examples of films with Christian mythical elements include: How the Grinch Stole Christmas!,A Charlie Brown Christmas, and various adaptations of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Every Christmas Day from 2005 to 2017, Doctor Who aired a Christmas special. Stories include the Doctor attempting to sway a cruel old man by pretending to be the Ghost of Christmas Past, carnivorous snowmen, and the Doctor saving a World War I soldier by moving him a few hours forward to the Christmas Armistice, among others.
These conceptions of the true meaning of Christmas are also sung about in Christmas albums.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert Lewis May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. Though he initially receives ridicule for his nose as a fawn, the brightness of his nose is so powerful that it illuminates the team's path through harsh winter weather. Ronald D. Lankford, Jr., described Rudolph's story as "the fantasy story made to order for American children: each child has the need to express and receive approval for his or her individuality and/or special qualities. Rudolph's story embodies the American Dream for the child, written large because of the cultural significance of Christmas."
John David “Johnny” Marks was an American songwriter. He specialized in Christmas songs and wrote many holiday standards, including "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", "A Holly Jolly Christmas", "Silver and Gold", "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", and "Run Rudolph Run".
Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment was an American production company located in New York, New York, and known for its seasonal television specials, usually done in stop motion animation. Rankin/Bass' stop-motion productions are recognizable by their visual style of doll-like characters with spheroid body parts and ubiquitous powdery snow using an animation technique called "Animagic". Often, traditional cel animation scenes of falling snow would be projected over the action to create the effect of a snowfall.
"Frosty the Snowman" is a popular Christmas song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950 and later recorded by Jimmy Durante. It was written after the success of Autry's recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" the previous year; Rollins and Nelson shopped the new song to Autry, who recorded "Frosty" in search of another seasonal hit. Like "Rudolph", "Frosty" was subsequently adapted to other media including a popular television special.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a 1964 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Videocraft International, Ltd. and currently distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios. It first aired Sunday, December 6, 1964, on the NBC television network in the United States and was sponsored by General Electric under the umbrella title of The General Electric Fantasy Hour. The special was based on the Johnny Marks song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which was itself based on the poem of the same name written in 1939 by Marks' brother-in-law, Robert L. May. Since 1972, the special has aired on CBS; the network unveiled a high-definition, digitally remastered version of the program in 2005.
Mrs. Claus is the legendary wife of Santa Claus, the Christmas gift-bringer in Western Christmas tradition. She is known for making cookies with the elves, caring for the reindeer, and preparing toys with her husband.
Romeo Earl Muller, Jr. was an American screenwriter and actor most remembered for his screenplays for the Rankin/Bass holiday specials including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Little Drummer Boy, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus is Coming to Town.
In traditional festive legend and popular culture, Santa Claus's reindeer are said to pull a sleigh through the night sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children on Christmas Eve.
Arthur Gardner Rankin Jr. was an American director, producer and writer, who mostly worked in animation. Co-creator of Rankin/Bass Productions with his friend Jules Bass, he created stop-motion animation features such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and the 1977 cartoon special of The Hobbit. He is credited on over 1,000 television programs.
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town is a 1970 stop motion Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions in New York, New York. The film stars the voices of Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn, Robie Lester, Joan Gardner, and Paul Frees, as well as an assistant song performance by the Westminster Children's Choir. The film tells the story of how Santa Claus and several Claus-related Christmas traditions came to be. It is based on the hit Christmas song "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", which was written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie for Leo Feist, Inc. and introduced on radio by Eddie Cantor in 1934, and the story of Saint Nicholas.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys is a 2001 American-Canadian Christmas computer-animated adventure musical film directed by Bill Kowalchuk for GoodTimes Entertainment. It was released on VHS and DVD on October 30, 2001. The film takes place after the events of the original special. The film thus revisits classic characters like Yukon Cornelius, Hermey the Elf and Rudolph, who is now famous in the Arctic tundra.
Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 American animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It is the first television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman. The special first aired on December 7, 1969, on the CBS television network in the United States; it has aired annually for the network's Christmas and holiday season every year since. The special was based on the Walter E. Rollins and Steve Nelson song of the same name. It featured the voices of comedians Jimmy Durante as the film's narrator, Billy De Wolfe as Professor Hinkle, and Jackie Vernon as Frosty.
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July is an American-Japanese Christmas/Independence Day television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, featuring characters from the company's holiday specials Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) and Frosty the Snowman (1969), among others. It was filmed in Japan using the company's trademark "Animagic" stop-motion animation style. The film premiered in the US on November 25, 1979, on ABC.
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary character originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts on Christmas Eve of toys and candy to well-behaved children, and either coal or nothing to naughty children. He is said to accomplish this with the aid of Christmas elves, who make the toys in his workshop at the North Pole, and flying reindeer who pull his sleigh through the air.
Rated X Mas is a Christmas music parody album by Matt Rogers. The songs on the album are parodies of popular Christmas songs, but with graphic and sexual lyrics.
Maury Laws was an American television and film composer from Burlington, North Carolina.
In English-speaking cultures, a Christmas elf is a diminutive elf that lives with Santa Claus at the North Pole and acts as his helper. Christmas elves are usually depicted as green- or red-clad, with large, pointy ears and wearing pointy hats. They are most often depicted as humanoids, but sometimes as furry mammals with tails. Santa's elves are often said to make the toys in Santa's workshop and take care of his reindeer, among other tasks.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a soundtrack album to the 1964 Rankin/Bass television special of the same name. The original cast recordings from the TV special are supplemented with instrumental versions recorded by the Decca Concert Orchestra. All songs used in the television special were written by Johnny Marks.
Best Christmas Ever is a seasonal program block on AMC, an American cable and satellite network. The block, launched in 2018, airs Christmas-themed television specials and feature films from late November until the day after Christmas.
The Misfit Elephant is a fictional character introduced in the 1964 television Christmas stop motion film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He is a plush toy elephant who resided on the Island of Misfit Toys. The Misfit Elephant was voiced by Carl Banas and created by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Romeo Muller. He has been easily recognized as one of the more popular Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer characters, although not a significant one in the overall story. In the 1964 film, the Misfit Elephant is a inhabitant of the Island of Misfit Toys. He resides on the island because no child wants to play with him due to the apparent visibility of polka-dots on his body.
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