The best and the worst Santa in cinema

Just like there are comedies, police or sci-fi, Christmas movies is a sub-genre in itself. Each year, new titles appear in an attempt to make the most of the Christian holiday. And his icon, Santa Claus, hits the big screen in versions for all tastes.

Here is a ranking with three of the best and three of the worst that have been in theaters over the past forty years, and now, mostly reincarnated on streaming platforms.

THE BEST

Santa’s bear from “It’s Christmas All Year” (2018)

Available in Qubit

Among the various pests that Christmas brings are the Christmas movies. But here is the exception that proves the rule: Nestor Frenkel filmed one of the few that is worth it, because it shows the seams of this imposed joy. And he does it by deconstructing one of his greatest symbols: Santa Claus.

Almost all fat (though there are some skinny ones), almost all with gray hair and long beards (although there is a bald, hairless man), these men dedicate their December to taking pictures with children in shopping malls, neighborhood clubs, squares. As in a big Christmas backstage, Frenkel interviews them in their own habitats and in a studio that does not hide their artifice. And discover wonderful characters.

There is the ceramist, who sells miniature papanoeles (“Father Christmas with a companion was the one who struck the most”). The one dedicated to wide brush painting, reflexology and acupressure. The Goblin Devotee (“They told me ‘you have to make this character'”). Whoever was an activist, a shop steward, and now disguises himself for the boys in a soup kitchen. The one who acts like a living statue (“Didn’t it occur to you to bring Santa Claus to statism?” Asks Frenkel).

Among all, there remains the one who takes care of his beard and mane at the hairdresser and is a member of a bear club. But there is such a colorful gallery that each viewer will be able to choose their own Santa Claus.

Richard Attenborough in Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

Available on Disney +

In this remake of the 1947 classic directed by Les Mayfield, Sir Richard Attenborough brings one of the best versions of Santa to life. From a physical point of view, he conquers us: a sweet smile, a kind gaze and an appearance of good humor like any Santa Claus worthy of the name should have.

He’s an old man who says his name is Kris Kringle and is hired by a New York department store to play Santa Claus in November and December. He sets two conditions: first, he can only work until Christmas Eve, because he has to work Christmas Eve; the other, to be able to wear his own costume, which turns out to be a piece of textile craftsmanship made of fine fabrics and precious metal buttons.

Susan (Mara Wilson, the Mathilde), a six-year-old girl who doesn’t believe in the existence of Santa Claus, will find in this mysterious man a reason to believe in the magic of Christmas again.

Ed Asner in Elf the Goblin (2003)

Available on HBO Go and Movistar Play

In this comedy directed by Jon Favreau (who is now a celebrity thanks to having created The Mandalorian), Ed Asner plays a cheerful and somewhat distracted Santa Claus. He is very lovable in his role as adoptive father to Buddy, the baby who enters Santa’s bag on Christmas Eve when the boy with the red belly goes to an orphanage to drop off his presents.

At the North Pole, the boy is taken by an elf and grows up in Santa’s workshop until he becomes a tall human played by Will Ferrell. As an adult, Buddy travels to New York City with the intention of reuniting with his real family. There, he finds out that his father, Walter (James Caan), is a work and money addicted children’s book publisher who is blacklisted by Santa Claus.

THE WORST

Billy Bob Thornton in A Not-So-Holy Saint (2003)

This Santa Claus played by Billy Bob Thornton is perhaps the most controversial in history. Divide the waters: there are those who love him and those who hate him. There is no middle ground. This comedy was highly regarded by most of the critics, but aroused the fury of many viewers who went to the movies guided by the specialists.

Womanizer, alcoholic and thief, this Santa Claus is the opposite of what the real Santa Claus is supposed to be. Willie Soke is a con artist who is hired at a mall to work as a good-natured fat man. In reality, his real goal is to steal the place with a small henchman who plays an elf. In 2016, he had a sequel, Bad Santa 2.

Tim Allen in Santa Clause (1994)

Available on Disney +

In this supposed comedy, Tim Allen is Scott Calvin, the divorced father of a boy named Charlie. The relationship between them has become unbearable, but on Christmas Eve it turns out that Santa Claus dies after falling from the roof of his house. With Charlie’s help, Scott can replace him temporarily.

The plot may work, but it turns out that Allen isn’t funny. To make matters worse, we see that despite everything he did well at the box office, because he had the opportunity to play his unhappy Santa Claus in two sequels: Holy clause 2 (2002) and Santa Clause 3: Land at the North Pole (2006).

Robert Brian Wilson in Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

He has to be one of the most ruthless Santa Claus ever seen on the big screen. Billy is a five-year-old boy who is warned by his grandfather, who has senile dementia, that Santa Claus punishes boys who misbehave. Soon after, Billy witnesses the murder of his parents by a man dressed as Santa Claus.

Cut: the action passes thirteen years after that tragic night. Billy is already 18 and leaves the orphanage with the sole aim of becoming a murderous Santa himself. Robert Brian Wilson is the unknown actor who brought this bloody Saint Nicholas to life