“March of the Elves” is more jazzy and upbeat, with a comedic Carl Stalling/Milt Franklin quality to it in the way the music has a buoyant sense of fluidity and movement, like a musical onomatopoeia. There are echoes of Mancini’s other 1985 score, Lifeforce, in some of the woodwind writing in “Arrival of the Elves,” a piece which begins with a sense of hesitation and mystery, but has a feeling of wonderment in its second half due to the prominent use of harp glissandi, mischievous little pizzicato rhythmic sections, and staccato flute parts.
#SANTA CLAUS MOVIE FULL#
A sweeping, emotional theme for the full orchestra, it contains a pretty central melody that passes between strings and woodwinds, and even segues into a Tchaikovsky-esque little scherzo full of sparkling whimsy. The main theme, “Santa’s Theme,” appears in the second half of the opening cue, and is one of the loveliest pieces of Mancini’s film career – which is saying something for the man who wrote “Moon River”. The score for Santa Claus was by veteran composer and conductor Henry Mancini, who contributed an appropriately wintry and seasonal musical element to the film. The film was directed by Jeannot Szwarc from a screenplay by Superman writers David Newman and Leslie Newman, and starred David Huddleston, Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, and Burgess Meredith, but unfortunately was a critical misfire, with many commentators at the time referencing the film’s weak plot, overly-garish production design, and blatant product placement.
#SANTA CLAUS MOVIE PATCH#
At the same time, the film also tells a contemporary story set in modern day New York, in which Patch – one of Santa’s elves – decides to strike out on his own and set up his own toy-making business, but unwittingly joins forces with an unscrupulous millionaire who wants to “take over” Christmas for himself.
Magically transported to the North Pole, the woodcutter and his wife are greeted by elves, who convince the man that it is his destiny to deliver toys to the children of the world every Christmas Eve, which the elves will make in their large workshops.
#SANTA CLAUS MOVIE MOVIE#
However, instead of actually going into the history of the Turkish bishop Saint Nicholas, the Sinterklaas story from traditional Dutch folklore, and how the two were blended with elements of Norse and Pagan mythology, and Clement Clarke Moore’s classic poem ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ to create the contemporary Christmas icon – a movie I would actually like to see, for real! – the film invents an original story about a kind-hearted 14th century woodcutter and his wife, who are caught in a blizzard while delivering toys to local children. The winter of 1985 saw the release of one of the strangest holiday films of all time: Santa Claus: The Movie, which purportedly told the ‘real’ story of the origin of the Santa Claus legend.
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