The Great Santa Claus Switch

Last updated
The Great Santa Claus Switch
Written by Jerry Juhl
Directed by John Moffitt
Starring Art Carney
Muppet performers:
Jim Henson
Fran Brill
Richard Hunt
John Lovelady
Jerry Nelson
Frank Oz
Danny Seagren
Narrated by Ed Sullivan
Music by Joe Raposo
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerBob Precht
EditorKen Champin
Production company Sullivan Productions, Inc.
Release
Original network CBS
Original releaseDecember 20, 1970 (1970-12-20)

The Great Santa Claus Switch is a musical Christmas special featuring Jim Henson's Muppets. It first aired on CBS on December 20, 1970, as an episode of The Ed Sullivan Show . [1] It was directed by John Moffitt, written by Jerry Juhl, with music by Joe Raposo and puppets by Don Sahlin.

Contents

Plot

The special, narrated by Ed Sullivan, begins at the North Pole with Santa Claus and his Christmas Elves getting ready for another Christmas. However, Cosmo Scam has hatched a plan to kidnap Santa and take his place. As part of the plan, Cosmo plans to abduct Santa's Christmas Elves one by one and replace them with his evil henchmen.

Cast

Muppet performers

Additional Muppets performed by Cary Antebi, John Byrum, Marilyn Sokol, and Byron Whiting.

Songs

  1. "We're Happy Little Christmas Elves"
  2. "I Want to Help"
  3. "It's Christmas Time"
  4. "Rock Music"
  5. "It's Christmas Time (Reprise)"

Related Research Articles

<i>Elf</i> (film) 2003 American Christmas comedy film

Elf is a 2003 American Christmas comedy film directed by Jon Favreau and written by David Berenbaum. It stars Will Ferrell as Buddy, a human raised by Santa's elves, who learns about his origins and heads to New York City to meet his biological father. James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Edward Asner, and Bob Newhart appear in supporting roles.

<i>Its a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie</i> 2002 American fantasy comedy television film

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie is a 2002 American musical fantasy comedy television film directed by Kirk R. Thatcher and written by Tom Martin and Jim Lewis. The film premiered November 29, 2002 on NBC and the first film to be made for television for The Muppets franchise.

<i>A Muppet Family Christmas</i> 1987 Christmas television special featuring the Muppets

A Muppet Family Christmas is a Christmas television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets. It first aired on December 16, 1987, on the ABC television network in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Goelz</span> American puppeteer

David Charles Goelz is an American puppeteer and puppet builder known for his work with the Muppets. As part of the Muppets' performing cast, Goelz performs Gonzo the Great, as well as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Waldorf, Zoot and Beauregard, originating on The Muppet Show. Goelz's puppeteering roles also included in Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. Outside of puppeteering work, he was also the voice of Figment in the Journey into Imagination with Figment attraction at Epcot.

<i>Santa Claus: The Movie</i> 1985 film by Jeannot Szwarc

Santa Claus: The Movie is a 1985 Christmas film starring Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, and David Huddleston. It depicts the origin of Santa Claus, and his modern-day adventure to save one of his elves (Moore) who has been manipulated by an unscrupulous toy company executive (Lithgow). It was directed by Jeannot Szwarc and was the last major fantasy film produced by the Paris-based father-and-son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind.

Elmo Saves Christmas is a Sesame Street musical fantasy comedy television special released on PBS on December 2, 1996. It was released to VHS that same year. Inspired by the 1892 short story "Christmas Every Day" by William Dean Howells, Elmo wishes for Christmas to occur every day, only to be taken to the future to learn the adverse consequences of his wish. The program was filmed in Sesame Street's usual home, the Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York City. Footage from the film It's a Wonderful Life also appears in the program and after the credits.

<i>Santa vs. the Snowman 3D</i> American TV special

Santa vs. the Snowman is a 1997 American computer-animated Christmas comedy television special created by Steve Oedekerk and produced by O Entertainment. It originally aired on ABC on December 12, 1997 following The Online Adventures of Ozzie the Elf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Claus in film</span> Movie depictions of Santa Claus

Motion pictures featuring Santa Claus constitute their own subgenre of the Christmas film genre. Early films of Santa revolve around similar simple plots of Santa's Christmas Eve visit to children. In 1897, in a short film called Santa Claus Filling Stockings, Santa Claus is simply filling stockings from his pack of toys. Another film called Santa Claus and the Children was made in 1898. A year later, a film directed by George Albert Smith titled Santa Claus was created. In this picture, Santa Claus enters the room from the fireplace and proceeds to trim the tree. He then fills the stockings that were previously hung on the mantle by the children. After walking backward and surveying his work, he suddenly darts at the fireplace and disappears up the chimney.

<i>The Christmas That Almost Wasnt</i> 1966 American film

The Christmas That Almost Wasn't is a 1966 American-Italian film that stars Rossano Brazzi and Paul Tripp, and was originally released by Childhood Productions Inc.

Elmo's Christmas Countdown is a 2007 television Christmas film, featuring the characters from Sesame Street. It was first aired on December 23, 2007, on ABC, and had starred Ben Stiller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas elf</span> Western folklore creature

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.

<i>A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa</i> American TV series or program

A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa is a 2008 NBC television special directed by Kirk R. Thatcher featuring The Muppets in a Christmas mission to personally deliver three letters to Santa Claus, accidentally diverted by Gonzo, to the North Pole. The special, shot in Brooklyn and Midtown Manhattan, was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on DVD.

<i>Arthur Christmas</i> 2011 animated film

Arthur Christmas is a 2011 computer-animated Christmas science fantasy comedy film co-produced by Sony Pictures Animation and Aardman Animations. The film is Aardman's second entirely computer-animated feature film after 2006's Flushed Away. It was directed by Sarah Smith, co-directed by Barry Cook, and written by Smith and Peter Baynham. Featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, and Ashley Jensen, the film is set on Christmas Eve, and centres on Arthur Claus, the clumsy but well-meaning son of Santa Claus, who discovers that his father's high-tech ship has failed to deliver one girl's present. Accompanied only by his free-spirited and reckless grandfather, an enthusiastic young Christmas elf obsessed with wrapping gifts for children, and a team of reindeer, he embarks on a mission to deliver the girl's present personally.

<i>The Story of Santa Claus</i> 1996 American TV series or program

The Story of Santa Claus is a 1996 CBS animated television special directed by Toby Bluth. It features the voices of Ed Asner, Betty White, and Tim Curry.

<i>A Fairly Odd Christmas</i> 2012 television film directed by Steve Holland

A Fairly Odd Christmas is a 2012 live-action/animated Christmas comedy television film. It is the sequel to the 2011 live-action TV film A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! and the second live-action adaptation of the Nickelodeon animated television series The Fairly OddParents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gonzo (Muppet)</span> Muppet character

Gonzo, also known as The Great Gonzo or Gonzo the Great, is a Muppet character known for his eccentric passion for stunt performance. Aside from his trademark enthusiasm for performance art, another defining trait of Gonzo is the ambiguity of his species, which has become a running gag in the franchise. He has been considered to be of various origins, including a Frackle, in his debut appearance in The Great Santa Claus Switch; extraterrestrial in Muppets from Space; or avian creature.

<i>Elf: Buddys Musical Christmas</i> American TV series or program

Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas is a 2014 American stop-motion animated Christmas musical television special produced by Warner Bros. Animation, directed by Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh and written by Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan. It is based on the 2003 film Elf and the Broadway theatre musical Elf: The Musical. While Ed Asner reprises his role of Santa Claus from the film, the rest of the cast consists of Jim Parsons, Mark Hamill, Kate Micucci, Max Charles, and Rachael MacFarlane. The special premiered on December 16, 2014, on NBC.

<i>Alien Xmas</i> 2020 American stop-motion animated film

Alien Xmas is a 2020 American stop-motion animated Christmas film directed by Stephen Chiodo. Based on the 2006 book of the same name by Chiodo and Jim Strain, the film features the voices of Keythe Farley, Dee Bradley Baker, Kaliayh Rhambo, Michelle Deco, and Barbara Goodson. The film's plot centers on X, an extraterrestrial belonging to a race of thieving aliens known as Klepts, who is sent to the North Pole on a mission to eliminate Earth's gravity.

References

  1. "Secret Santa". 25 December 2004.