When Oz and Christmas Collided

 People love the holidays, and people love Oz. So what if they met? Well, they have. Many ways, in fact. So, let's look at some examples. However, it has to be a notable connection between the two, or either their Oz connection or Christmas contribution has to be notable. Thanks to the many stage and film productions of Oz, and the insane glut of Christmas productions, if we were to talk about every person who's played an Oz role or covered an Oz song and also been in a Christmas production sometime, we'd be here forever.

L. Frank Baum and Santa Claus

L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its first several sequels, loved making a good Christmas for his sons. If he could make Christmas morning a production, he did. One of his sons recalled one year when he had set up four Christmas trees, one for each of them. And he loved incorporating Santa Claus into it.

Reportedly, when Christmas 1900 rolled around, Baum didn't have money to buy his family presents. As he'd published some new books that year—including The Wonderful Wizard of Oz—he went to the publisher to ask for an advance on his royalties. Instead, they cut a check for royalties owed so far on Oz. The Baum family story (always of dubious authenticity, but a good story) says that he didn't look at the check before heading home. His wife, Maud, was ironing a shirt when he got home and handed her the check. She was surprised to find it was for $1,423.98 (in today's money, that's comparable to about $40,000) and burned a hole in the shirt.

I'm sure Baum had to have written some holiday themed items for his boyhood newspapers, The Roselawn Home Journal and The Empire. However, I don't believe a complete record of these exists, and the little of what remains hasn't been reprinted much. There were also Christmas-themed entries of "Our Landlady" for The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer.

I've written extensively about Baum's works featuring Santa Claus over the years (I set up a tag for it), but I'll give you a sum up. Santa Claus, in Baum's fiction, first appeared in "Little Bun Rabbit," the last story in his first published children's book, Mother Goose in Prose. The same book also featured a story about "Little Jack Horner" and why he was so good that he remarked about it when he pulled a plum out of his Christmas pie.

Then 1902 brought The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a novel-length biography about Santa Claus' life which would introduce the Forest of Burzee into his fairy tales, and offered the first time two of his works crossed over, as it's mentioned that Santa Claus gets the candy he delivers from Phunnyland, the setting of A New Wonderland, which would later be revised into The Magical Monarch of Mo. (In Outsiders from Oz, I reaffirmed that this is still the case with a nice little explanation.) Baum's Santa differs from the general lore that's sprung up since, as he lives in Laughing Valley, which is near Burzee. As Baum's fairy tales developed, this put him across the desert from the Land of Oz. His first reindeer did not share the names given in the classic "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" poem by Clement C. Moore. The book has been adapted for television, stage and audio many times.

Baum's Santa Claus would reappear in the short story "A Kidnapped Santa Claus" and in one of the entries of Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz. Finally, he crossed over to Oz properly in The Road to Oz when he attends Ozma's birthday party with a company of ryls and knooks. Later, he helps the Wizard send all the guests return home in bubbles, including himself, as he knows where everyone lives.

In 1905, Baum's publishers, Reilly & Britton published a set of classic children's stories titled The Christmas Stocking Series. In each volume was a short piece by Baum about the history of the Christmas stocking.

W.W. Denslow

Denslow, the original illustrator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and joint copyright owner, of course turned out holiday themed work in his illustration work. But there's a couple that directly crossed over with Oz. Denslow put out his own newspaper page, Denslow's Scarecrow and Tin-Man, which told adventures of the pair (and often the Cowardly Lion as well). The first entry was titled "Dorothy's Christmas Tree," telling of when Dorothy was stuck in Oz and it was Christmas time.

Later, in  Denslow's The Night Before Christmas, his picture book edition of the famous poem, a toy Tin Woodman was seen peeking out of Santa's sack.

The Other Royal Historians

"Santa Claus is one of the most beautiful things that can come into a child's life." — Ruth Plumly Thompson

Scanned and provided by Marcus Mebes

 While working for the Philadelphia Public Ledger, Thompson wrote many Christmas pieces for children. While working there, she established "The Santa Claus Club," which would help get toys to needy children.

While Santa Claus didn't cross over into Thompson's Oz books, she did write a poem in which Santa relaxes after his Christmas travels in the Emerald City and later an original poem in a 1966 Baum Bugle contained a Christmas Oz poem by her. References to Christmas appear in Jack Pumpkinhead in Oz, Captain Salt in Oz and Speedy in Oz. (Thanks, Nathan DeHoff!) She also wrote a book titled The Curious Cruise of Captain Santa in which a Santa who lives in the North Pole goes on a seabound voyage to discover new Christmas presents. The book was illustrated by John R. Neill, illustrator of over thirty of the Oz books and author of three of them, and published by Reilly & Lee, the official publishers of the Oz books after The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Reilly & Britton, Baum's publishers (they changed the name to Reilly & Lee in 1919), issued many reprints of classic works in their early catalog and had John R. Neill illustrate them. Two little books Neill illustrated were The Night Before Christmas and an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. (Thanks, David Maxine, for reminding me of the first one.)

While it's hard to think of any more notable Christmas work by Neill, given his extensive work in illustration, I'm very sure he must have turned out many Christmas pieces over time. Jack Snow, however, wrote at least two Christmas stories, "The Magic Sled" and "The Animals Christmas Tree." Rachel Cosgrove Payes and Eloise Jarvis McGraw would occasionally used Christmas in their works, but don't seem to have written stories that were themed around Christmas. (If I'm wrong, I welcome correction, the comments are open.)

Oz has a Christmas favorite cousin.

Babes in Toyland might not have begun as a Christmas show, but it quickly became associated with the holiday in its many incarnations on stage, screen, print and eventually radio and audio. The thing is, its original stage incarnation was launched by Fred Hamlin and Julian Mitchell, looking for their next big hit after their famous stage adaptation of The Wizard of Oz that became the musical version until the MGM film adaptation. Just about every screen adaptation of Babes in Toyland would have some Oz connection, from Oz fans in the cast, or actors who'd played Oz characters before, such as Oliver Hardy and Ray Bolger, or, in the case of 1985's TV version, shamelessly stealing the "it was all a dream brought about by an accident" device of the MGM film, complete with cast members doubling as characters in the young female protagonist's everyday life and characters in Toyland.

Judy

Of course, MGM's choice for Dorothy Gale, Judy Garland, sang many Christmas songs over her career. In fact, it's said her first performance was none other than a performance of "Jingle Bells."

However, there's two I want to highlight right now. The first is the song "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," which she introduced in 1943's Meet Me In St. Louis. In the scene, her character is trying to cheer up her little sister (played by Margaret O'Brien), who doesn't want to move away from their St. Louis home. Reportedly, Judy found a number of the song's lyrics depressing and with a co-star and director on her side, got the lyrics revised, notably changing "Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last; next year we may all be living in the past" to "Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light; next year all our troubles will be out of sight." Reportedly, Judy had said, "I'm not singing that to little Margaret O'Brien!" And that's how Judy Garland used her star power to make a song from a movie into a Christmas mainstay.

The other song is her cover of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" with Bing Crosby. With additional lyrics and scatting, this version is more fun and livelier than most versions. And by the way, who wouldn't want to see Judy as Dorothy and Bing as perhaps the Wizard doing a music video for this?

In addition, in 1950, Judy appeared on Lux Radio Theater to star in their adaptation of MGM's The Wizard of Oz, the only time she revisited the role of Dorothy Gale. The air date? December 25, Christmas Day.

The Animated Special

Dorothy in the Land of Oz isn't exactly a Christmas special, but the last song in it is prompted when Dorothy tells the villainous Tyrone the Terrible Toy Tinkerer that he could spread happiness with his toys instead of being a villain, pointing out that Christmas is soon, and he also lives in Oz. "Toys? Christmas? Oz? I don't get the connection," he mutters, and Dorothy launches into the sweet little ditty "Christmas, Toys and Oz." During the song, a snowy take on Oz is seen as well as Oz children opening presents.

The special was written and produced by Romeo Muller, who had written many specials for Rankin-Bass, including their first two specials in 1964, Return to Oz and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The production was made under the seemingly short-lived Romeo Muller Productions. Rankin-Bass produced a stop-motion adaptation of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, but Jules Bass wrote the script for it under the pseudonym Julian P. Gardner.

Oz fans generally use the title Dorothy in the Land of Oz because it's available on DVD under that title, but over the years, the title was switched out for a variety of other titles and a few edits were made. A book adaptation was titled Dorothy and the Green Gobbler of Oz. The original version, which is the one on DVD, is more of a Thanksgiving special.

Santa Claus is Oz canon!

Oz fans haven't ignored that Santa Claus is Oz canon, and new Oz stories have had some connection to it, such as Robin Hess' Christmas in Oz, Richard Capwell's Santa Claus in Oz or Nathan DeHoff's "Jinnicky Saves Christmas," and Sarah Crowther reminded me that Santa Claus officiates the wedding of the Scarecrow and the Patchwork Girl in The Patchwork Bride of Oz by Gilbert M. Sprague. This is but just four examples with more short fiction and fan-written books having Christmas themes or using Santa Claus or lore from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.

So, are there Oz and Christmas connections I missed? Are there Oz memories from Christmas time you want to share? Sound off in the comments!

Podcast catchups!

 So, this year, we have no less than four new adaptations of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus to enjoy.

First off is one I had a little hand in from The OzConnection, the YouTube channel of OzCon International. The OzConnection presents videos about Oz as well as other fun videos for Oz fans, many in connection with its Zoom hangouts that have served as a temporary substitute for Oz conventions. Some OzCon presentations have even been revived on The OzConnection as videos.

In this adaptation, Raymond Wohl—who previously presented a one man show about L. Frank Baum—prepared and performed a one-man abridgement of Baum's Santa Claus novel, now told through the POV of Claus himself. In the abridgement, however, the story of the Awgwas was dropped. My involvement was helping to promote it when it was streamed live over Zoom, as well as finding scans of the color plates from the Mary Cowles Clark illustrations, which are used to illustrate the story. Raymond Wohl makes for a jolly Santa Claus. The YouTube version is presented in six parts.

Another adaptation is through Lifeline on the Air's podcast, which adapts the story with a full cast, borrowing the adaptation angle taken in the Rankin-Bass adaptation with the Immortals' deliberations to grant Claus the Mantle of Immortality becoming the framing story. It also omits the Awgwas. The

One I haven't listened to yet is from The Empty Space, which offers their adaptation for $10. Listed as an "Audioventure," it seems the Awgwas here become the "Gorpoks."

Finally, Aron Toman released his adaptation of the story as part of The Chronicles of Oz in his Crossover Adventure Productions podcast. It's a largely faithful adaptation, hitting most of the highlights of the book's story, just now tying it closer to Oz. Just as we've come to expect from the first three seasons of The Chronicles of Oz, there's a few twists and turns to keep the purist guessing! There was one point where I expected one twist to happen, and wound up getting another one.

I did get involved with this one as I actually have a cameo in it! The link says who. There's also my dear OzCon friend Erica Olivera. It's a well-produced adaptation with a cinematic-worthy sound design and even features an original song.

In other podcast happenings, Tara and Em Kay of Down the Yellow Brick Pod have concluded their first season, as they read through The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, one chapter a week. The two are not Oz historians, but do turn to some good sources about the work and offer their own commentary on the story and W.W. Denslow's original illustration. Their energetic nature makes the podcast a delightful listen. I'd recommend it even to seasoned Oz fans as it may inspire them to think about Oz in ways they haven't before.

In addition to their commentary about the work, they talk to other Oz fans in special episodes, as well as present the monthly "Yellow Brick Crossroads" episodes in which they talk about their interactions with their listeners. A major way to interact is on their Instagram, in which they post several different illustrations, as well as offer recaps in their stories. They have also launched a Patreon page, which will offer more ways to interact in return for some cash to keep the podcast running. They'll launch their second season soon, which will look at musical adaptations of the story, especially the MGM film.

The Adventures of Young Santa

Typically, every December, in some form or another, I write about L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, but after running the Royal Blog of Oz for so long, I have trouble finding anything new to say about it. (Especially after 2009, when I examined the book, Baum's further Santa Claus stories, the adaptations, and any other Santa Claus tales by the Royal Historians, though I was unaware of Jack Snow's "The Animal's Christmas Tree" at the time.)

However, this year, I can finally look at one of the other adaptations I couldn't look at before: the 24-episode anime series 少年サンタの大冒険 (pronounced Shounen Santa no daibôken), translated to English as The Adventures of Young Santa. Some other Oz bloggers and fans and I were finally able to locate a very good copy of the anime in its original Japanese. It seems an English dub was made, but it's taken us long enough to find any version of the series at all!

Left to right: Necile, unidentified snow leopard and owl, reindeer
(Flossie or Glossie), bear, chipmunk, Claus, Blinkie, Shiegra, unidentified
rabbit and squirrel, other reindeer, Peter Knook

The version we managed to obtain appears to possibly be from the original masters. As the series aired in 1994, one would expect that it had been preserved on VHS and then transferred to DVD (which we got it on), but this shows no sign of being transferred from VHS, the picture quality being very clear and sharp. In addition, these are the complete episodes, with full opening and end titles on each episode, "next time" trailers, even tiny spots that were shown during commercial breaks to remind you what show you're watching.

Although my knowledge of Japanese is limited (like... nonexistent), I've still been able to pick up on what's going on. The plot is a highly expanded adaptation of what's in Baum's book, rather akin to Peter Jackson's version of The Hobbit. Ak, Zurline, Necile, Shiegra, Peter Knook, Flossie, Glossie and especially Blinkie are all present, but so are many new characters. An owl, bear, leopard, squirrels and rabbits join the Burzee cast, and a character named Mary is a close friend of Claus. I can't tell if she's a fairy, a Ryl, or another wood-nymph, though.

The difference between Claus and the Immortals of Burzee are actually made pretty clear in the opening credits: the Immortals can all fly, while Claus can only get around on his feet. A difference is made in the anime from Baum's text: the animals of Burzee can speak, and the Immortals can be seen by humans. (It is implied that Claus is an exception to that rule in Baum's book.)

As of right now, I've watched the first 14 episodes. Having heard about there being a battle over the Mantle of Immortality, I was under the impression that the Immortals and the Awgwas would figure very heavily in this series. However, it has mainly focused on Claus. Surprisingly early in the series, he leaves Burzee to build his own home closer to humanity, and a little girl named May becomes a frequent visitor. I was also very glad that shortly after this, there are less plots in which Claus' life is put in definite peril.

However, the presence of evil beings hasn't been absent. In the second episode, Mary is tending to flowers, but when Claus accidentally messes up her work, a being that is likely a Gadgol comes in. The Mantle of Immortality is glimpsed briefly in the first episode, so the writers of the series definitely had things all plotted out, even if plots are sometimes created from a sentence or two in the book.

In its expanded form, though, Baum's story is definitely still there, even if we have side stories where Claus meets a man who might be his father and a tale of a rich lad wanting to buy Blinkie from Claus.

Although one of the other bloggers is looking into a creation of a fan dub or an English subtitle, it is fun to watch these without any knowledge of what's being said and invent new dialogue on the spot. Last we knew, the opening and ending titles were uploaded to YouTube, but were later taken down due to a copyright claim from the owner, so if anything comes of this attempt to create a fan dub or subtitled version, it probably won't be there unfortunately.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! To celebrate the season, Sam has put together a new video using the original color plates by Mary Cowles Clark for the original edition of L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. Enjoy!

Speculations on Santa Claus

Last week, I did my annual re-reading of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a Baum book I blogged about so much, I eventually ran out of things to say about it. (Check the Santa Claus tag.)

For our new blog readers who haven't seen those blogs, basically, this book tells Baum's own unique take on the Santa Claus mythos. He has no ties to St. Nicholas and would likely denounce the title "Father Christmas." Baum's Santa Claus is actually named Claus and "Santa" is just a form of the word "saint." (Likely intended to be how a child mispronounced it.)

Baum's Claus was raised by the immortal Wood-Nymphs of the Forest of Burzee, a forest later revealed to be south of the Land of Oz. When Claus grew up, he committed himself to bringing joy to children's lives, first by being their friend, and later by giving them gifts of toys he'd make from wood and clay and later other materials. Eventually, the Immortals decide to give him the Mantle of Immortality so he may continue his giving gifts (which has been limited to Christmas Eve) forever.

The book's tone is unique in Baum's juvenile work. When discussing the Immortals, Baum evokes a mystical tone, telling us much about how they live, but it feels more like he is letting us in on a wonderful secret.

The tone changes when discussing the life of Claus: suddenly here is the Baum we know, here's his classic fairy tale style, just now he's giving us a biography instead of his adventure or journey stories.

Something I did think of while reading it this time is that Claus' first toys are made of carved wood. Baum himself did woodwork, making a bit of furniture for his summer cottage in Macatawa Park, Michigan. He also carved the sign for his cottage that he called "The Sign of the Goose," which featured a wooden goose standing in a circle.

I almost wonder if one of Baum's sons (likely one of his latter two) saw him making the sign and asked if that was how Santa Claus made toys, and from that question came the spark of inspiration for this book.

Baum himself must have identified quite a bit with Santa Claus, and I almost feel as if Baum's Claus is Baum putting what he hoped were his best traits into a character. Quite likely, they were exaggerated. One of Baum's sons remembered how one year they had four Christmas trees, one for each of the four boys.

The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus (2000) DVD review

I'm glad to announce that the fully animated adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus that was released in 2000 is now available on DVD.

DVD cover

I just got my copy. There's no special features, but then, what could they add? (There's a small trailer that was on some other Universal VHS releases about that time, but it's hardly worth watching when you have the entire movie.)

Subtitles are on the disc in English and French, and there's also an alternate Spanish language track. The menus are static, and while designed for the title, are rather plain and silent. They are not animated.

The video quality is very clear, as is to be expected. Here's a comparision between my VHS transfer from a few years ago and the new DVD. (Note: VHS has a lower image resolution than DVD, and VHS image quality degrades with age.)

VHS transfer

DVD

As you can see, the image is clearer and the colors are vibrant.

As for the feature itself, I reviewed it in 2009. Please refer to that blog entry.

At the top of the blog is a scan of the cover art, using some of the same artwork as the original VHS release.

VHS cover

The case is a standard white case. While I noted the "recycling" logo inside, instead of having holes in the case, these designs show thinner spots in the casing plastic.

So, if I was rating this DVD by content alone:
Video: 5/5
Audio: 5/5
Language features: 5/5
Special Features: 0/5
Menus - navigation: 5/5
Menus - design 3/5
Package: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
While the menus could have been prettier and while they could have thrown extra features on the disc, overall, it's not necessary.

Baum fans should pick it up.

Santa Claus: Baum vs. Everyone Else

Santa Claus has many forms all over the world, but the most popular version is how he's evolved in the United States. Our version is an amalgamation of many worldwide traditions. The popular image of Santa Claus was established by the end of the 19th Century, mainly by Clement C. Moore's famous poem, "The Night Before Christmas" and the the drawings of Thomas Nast.

America's Santa Claus lives in the North Pole where he spends the year making toys for good children, assisted by Elves (normally depicted as brownie-type beings) and, sometimes, Mrs. Claus. Every year on Christmas Eve, Santa visits the homes of children to deliver gifts. Some maintain that Santa keeps track of which children have been good and which ones have not, these traditions being that only good children get toys while bad children get coal, switches for their parents to spank them with, or nothing. Santa makes his visits by night, carried by eight reindeer (or nine, for those who add Rudolph) on an airborne sleigh.

Santa Claus normally wears red and is a chubby fellow (some depict him as stocky built, some make him obese), and makes his entrance in people's homes by descending through chimneys.

It seems that one Lyman Frank Baum didn't go for this. Baum never had that Santa in his fantasies. The first time Baum wrote about Santa Claus was in the story "Little Bun Rabbit," the last entry in Mother Goose in Prose, his first published children's book.

I described the story in full on this blog two years ago. In it, no mention is made of Santa neglecting naughty children. Santa lives in a castle on a hill with Mother Hubbard, his only assistant. As the rabbit in the story says he can run home from Santa's workshop, it appears Santa lives somewhere in America. In fact, only ground travel is implied.

Later, Baum gave Santa Claus a complete overhaul in The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, quite possibly one of the oddest fantasies he ever penned. Most of his fantasies were linear stories, while Santa Claus is a history with many sections told in detail, which is unusual for a biography.

I've blogged about the book many times in the past, but I'll sum it up here. The book features Immortal beings, one of whom is Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World, who finds an abandoned baby on the outskirts of the Forest of Burzee. The child is raised by a wood-nymph and is named Claus, and later, he is taken by Ak to see the sufferings of his fellow humans. Feeling compassion for children, Claus determines to bring joy to their lives while he can, becoming a friend to all the children he meets.

Claus goes to live in Laughing Valley, where the Immortals build him a home. He visits children until winter, when the weather forces him to stay home. He makes his first toy, a wooden image of a cat and soon realizes that children like these to play with and begins making many more to give away.

One winter night, two reindeer offer to help Claus deliver toys by pulling a sledge he quickly fashions. It is at this time he begins his nocturnal visits and going down chimneys and leaving toys in stockings to save time. He is allowed to use ten reindeer to make an annual visit to children, assisted in making toys by ryls and knooks, fairies of nature that Baum created. For his visits, Claus is called a saint, which, over time, turned into "Santa Claus."

One little bit flies in the face of an established Santa Claus tradition:

...when a child was naughty or disobedient, its mother would say:

"You must pray to the good Santa Claus for forgiveness. He does not like naughty children, and, unless you repent, he will bring you no more pretty toys."

But Santa Claus himself would not have approved this speech. He brought toys to the children because they were little and helpless, and because he loved them. He knew that the best of children were sometimes naughty, and that the naughty ones were often good. It is the way with children, the world over, and he would not have changed their natures had he possessed the power to do so.

Baum himself did not approve of punishing children severely, believing that kindness was a more powerful alternative. One of Baum's sons reported that his mother had made his father spank him as a punishment, but Baum was troubled at this and later apologized to his son and vowed never to spank any of the boys again, a vow he kept. Thus, Baum's dismissal of the rule that "naughty children don't get toys" makes sense for his outlook on life.

Later, when Santa Claus is about to die, the Immortals quickly meet and vote to extend his life indefinitely by giving him the Mantle of Immortality. The biography ends with an explanation of Santa Claus' deputies among the Immortals and even parents.

Surprisingly, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus has proved popular, especially in adaptation. (Having uploaded clips from the most prominent adaptations to YouTube, I've noted they have received many fond comments.) However, Baum's Santa Claus—which dismissed Mrs. Claus, Elves, the North Pole, and the rule of only eight reindeer—has yet to become the more popular version. Perhaps the appeal of the story is how simply novel it is to have a Santa Claus that still delivers toys in a reindeer-pulled sleigh on Christmas but yet shares no connection to any other version.


For me, I simply love that Baum gave Claus a background. Some criticize his Santa for having no defining character traits, but that's to be expected given that he's raised in Burzee, which is more or less a fantasy Garden of Eden. He had no evil influences in his life so that when he did come across them, he could resist them easily. It actually makes sense for his character.

Anyway, if you're an Oz fan, Laughing Valley is right beyond the Deadly Desert. In fact, Baum's Santa Claus visits the Emerald City in The Road to Oz with some ryls and knooks. So we know Baum's Santa Claus has to be real. Are we going to say Ozma isn't real either?

Santa Claus in Oz

Merry Christmas! (2009 Santa Claus index)

Well, here it is Christmas day. I hope you've enjoyed our blogs about how Santa Claus was handled by the Royal Historians, and if you didn't get to read them, here is an index of all the blogs.

The stories
Little Bun Rabbit
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (Jared's blog) (Sam's blog)
A Kidnapped Santa Claus
How the Woggle-Bug and His Friends Visited Santa Claus (Podcast)
The Curious Cruise of Captain Santa
The Magic Sled

The Adaptations of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
The 1985 Rankin-Bass version (Jared's blog) (Sam's blog)
The 1992 graphic novel by Mike Ploog
The 1994 anime version
The 1996 video The Oz Kids: Who Stole Santa?
The 2000 animated version from Glen Hill (Jared's blog) (Sam's blog)

And here's an index to the blogs I've written in previous years:
A Holiday Tradition
The Tradition Is Shared!
Santa Talks
Ranking of Fairies?
More On Santa And The Immortals

Santa Claus Y2K

The year 2000 brought another adaptation of Baum's Santa Claus mythos. This time, it was fully animated with traditional animation, and released direct-to-video, though Cartoon Network showed it on television for a few years.

The movie is narrated by Ak, who introduces the Forest of Burzee, the Immortal people (ryls, knooks, wood nymphs), and then we go to the celebration of Spring in Burzee, where Necile presents Ak with the first nectar. Ak's tasting predicts that the year will be very significant, and there will be a new source of joy.

That night, Ak tells the wood nymphs of the sufferings of humanity, and tells them of how he found a baby outside of Burzee. Realizing it had a strange life force, he left it in the keeping of Shiegra the lioness, and ordered that the baby should not be harmed. Necile takes interest and goes to see the baby. Taking it with her, Shiegra warns Necile that she should not try to hide the baby from Ak and tell him. While Ak seems to be upset that one of his laws was broken, he allows Necile to keep the baby.

As Necile and the wood nymphs care for the baby, they are joined by the pixie Wisk, who has just escaped from some Awgawas. (No, not a typo, there's an extra "a" here.) Noticing the baby, he asks of the name. At first, the baby is named Claus, then Neciloclaus, but Wisk, finding that hard to pronounce, suggests the name Nicholas. (This is based on a footnote in the book that explains that Claus' longer name Neclaus was often mistaken as Nicholas.)

As Nicholas grows up, he realizes he is different from the other residents of Burzee, and finally, Ak takes him on a trip to see humanity, giving him a sash that makes him invisible. Claus feels compassion for the children, and decides he will move out of Burzee so he can help humanity. His visits to befriend children are successful in making them happy.

When winter comes, Nicholas cannot make his visits. He hears a cry for help, and finds Ethan, a crippled boy he befriended, who wanted to bring him a "leaning stick," or a crutch. As Ethan recovers from the cold, Wisk notices a piece of firewood that bears a resemblance to the cat Blinkie, so Nicholas carves it into a wooden cat as a return gift for Ethan. Noticing how much Ethan likes it, Nicholas makes more wooden cats to give to children. Soon, Nicholas' range of toys expand to wooden animals, dolls based on Necile, and more. (However, an incident where a carved image of the late Shiegra scares children teaches him to only make toys of gentle animals.) When a rich girl named Natalie visits, Necile advises Nicholas that even rich children need happiness.

The happiness Nicholas brings angers the Awgawas, so they try to kidnap him and send him to a far-off jungle, but the Ryls there are able to send him home. Nicholas, in his older age, cannot travel during winter, and borrows reindeer from the Knooks and uses them to make deliveries by night. But when he returns late, he is forced to travel by foot again, but he is attacked by Awgawas who steal his toys. When an adult Natalie visits, she is attacked by Awgawas who scare her horse and almost injures her. She gives Nicholas her first toy, asking him to pass it on to another needy child.

Touched by Natalie's goodwill and angered by the attack of the Awgawas, Nicholas goes to Ak and tells him that he needs the reindeer to make deliveries. Will Knook agrees that Nicholas can use the reindeer one night a year, and Ak suggests Christmas Eve as the night. While Nicholas and Wisk go to make more toys, Ak and the Ryls and Knooks prepare to fight the Awgawas. Using their magic powers, they defeat the Awgawas and their allies, and then the wood-nymphs look for the stolen toys. They find them and bring them to Nicholas, so he can make his first Christmas Eve deliveries.

However, Nicholas grows even older, and Wisk is concerned about how much longer he will live. Going to talk with Necile, he sees the Angel of Death coming for Nicholas. However, it seems Ak foresaw Wisk's request and has the Immortals gather and they vote to make Nicholas immortal. Ak and Necile give the Mantle of Immortality to Nicholas just as the Angel of Death is about to take him. (Seemingly, this also affects Blinkie.) Feeling reinvigorated, Nicholas gets back to making toys and continues his work as usual.

This version has recieved a lot of flack since it debuted. Some compare it unfavorably with the Rankin-Bass version, though the obscurity of that adaptation seems to make it unlikely that it was in the minds of the creators of this one. Others tend to point out where it strayed from the book, especially changing Claus to Nicholas, and adding an extra "a" to the Awgwas. To be sure, there are some rather thematic changes from the book. There, Claus knows that the Immortals would prefer that mortals do not know of them, but Nicholas tells children of them quite freely. In the Rankin-Bass adaptation, Claus is aware that Ak is fighting the Awgwas, while in the book, Baum notes that he was making toys at the time, but is told the Awgwas perished. Here, Necile tells Ak that Nicholas shouldn't know, and Ak says it is best that he doesn't know of the Immortal's powers, though it is odd that he wouldn't know, since he grew up with them. Nicholas just assumes that Ak and Necile reasoned with the Awgawas. Also, many names are changed from the book: Ethan was originally Weekum, Flossie and Glossie the reindeer are now Mistletoe and Holly. In both the book and the Rankin-Bass adaptation, Claus is aware of the Mantle of Immortality, while here, Nicholas has no idea why he is living on, and he doesn't seem to care.

Like the Rankin-Bass adaptation, Nicholas has an immortal helper. Rankin-Bass created the sound imp Tingler and also made Shiegra immortal, in this, he has Wisk, who is one of Claus' helpers from the end of the book. (Neither includes all three helpers.) Also, this version has songs, but much less than Rankin-Bass' adaptation. Necile sings "In The World To Come" over a montage of Nicholas growing from baby to young man, and there is another song sequence, "Building A House," as the ryls, knooks, and wood nymphs build a house for Nicholas. Finally, Santa Claus sings a song called "Santa's First Annual Christmas Sleigh Ride" as he makes his first annual Christmas ... well, that sums it up. Most of the music is very Celtic-inspired, and works very well.

I've always been one to be open to multiple adaptations, and as we've seen, changing story elements for an adaptation isn't exactly a bad thing. (Remember Ploog's graphic novel.) I enjoy this adaptation, despite its changes.

Sadly, the movie is no longer available new. It was never released on DVD, and seeing as it was only a couple years after that format began to pick up, I thought it was surprising that a DVD was not simulataneously released with the VHS. It is not aired on television, so only video captures that people have shared online remain the only way outside of VHS for people to see this excellent adaptation of Baum's tale.

EDIT: 12/2011 - It is now on DVD!

Ploog's Claus

1992 brought a graphic novel adaptation of Baum's The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus by Michael Ploog, who had previously had a brush with Baum in doing concept artwork for Disney's Return to Oz. (I would love to interview this guy on my podcast...)

***Major spoilers***

Opening the book, even those familiar with Baum's book will know they are in for some surprises. The Master Woodsman Ark (Ark? Yep...) leads a procession of Immortals to the mountain of the Gnome King, to beg that Santa Claus, who is unconscious with them, be made immortal. The Gnome King is upset that the Immortals have dealt with a mortal, when he has forbidden all Immortals to deal with mortals. Ark explains how they came to be involved with Claus.

The story goes into flashback, narrated by Ark. He is walking to the Forest of Burzee when he finds human footprints, and in a hollow log, an abandoned baby. He leaves it in the care of the lioness Shiegra, ordering her not to harm the baby. Ark continues into Burzee, where it is revealed that soon Zurline will give her throne as Queen of the Wood Nymphs to Necile. (A little confusingly, only two Nymphs are shown at a time, almost leading one to think there are only two: Necile and Zurline. However, more careful examination shows there are indeed more.) During the ceremony and party, Ark tells of his finding of the baby. Necile sneaks out and takes the baby back to Burzee with her. All the Ryls, Knooks, and even Ark object to this defiance of the Gnome King's law, but eventually, they decide to let Necile raise the baby in Burzee.

While Ark says he will consult with the Gnome King, he is struck by the idea that perhaps the baby, who Necile names Claus, will help the Immortals understand mortals. Claus grows up in Burzee, and is soon given a pet by Pogan the Knook: a little monkey named Toy. Soon, Ark takes Claus to see humanity. On the journey back, they are attacked by the Awgwas, who are led by Swine. Claus use's Ark's axe to chop off Swine's tail, and this makes them stop.

Ark explains that the Awgwas spread "demon seed" to mankind to make them do evil. It is because of this that Claus decides he must take part in humanity somehow. He moves to the Laughing Valley, where the Immortals build him a home. As it is winter, he waits until Spring, and takes to making small images of the nymphs and animals as gifts for his friends in Burzee. He makes one of Toy that works like a jumping jack. But when he finds a lost child in the snow, he gives the toy Toy to the child, and the child is so pleased, Claus brings a large load of toys and food back to the child's home. He begins to give out the other toy and even decides, when approached by a baron, that even rich children need toys as much as poor ones. This upsets the Awgwas, for now the children are promising to be good.

The wood elves (who are mentioned to have just finished working in the Emerald City) are offered to help Claus make his toys for the children. To go faster, Shosta the deer pulls a sleigh of toys to children in a nearby village. However, when Claus attempts another journey, the Awgwas attack and steal the toys. When Claus is not swayed, he makes another, but returns to find the toys and Toy stolen, and his home burned down.

Ark tries to reason with the Awgwas, but they defy him, so war is declared. Ark, Claus, and the Immortals manage to cut the leaders of the opposing armies from their respective armies. Claus himself dispatches Swine, leaving the Awgwas without a leader. The Wood Nymphs and Pogan find Toy with the toys, but sadly, it seems the little monkey has starved to death. Toy is buried in Laughing Valley, a Christmas tree as his memorial. Claus decides to go back to Burzee.

Finally, Claus returns to the Laughing Valley, building a better workshop, and soon refines his travel plans. One delivery, he arrives late at night and uses chimneys to deliver the toys, which makes the people call him a Saint at his determination, giving him the title Santa Claus. Deciding this may be the best way to work, Pogan lets Claus use more deer (Clement C. Moore's eight), and the Wind Demon allows them to use a wind to fly on, limiting Claus to deliver one night on Christmas Eve.

After many years, the Angel of Death appears, and the Elves beg that it lets Claus live the few more days he is allotted. This brings the Immortals to the Gnome King.

Ark convinces the Gnome King that mankind can do good, but they are mighty, and need someone to keep them respectful of the Immortals. The Gnome King is convinced that, if made immortal, Santa Claus could be the one they need.

Honestly, though Ploog loosely adapted Baum's book, it wasn't a case where I'd find the purist in me throwing the book into a corner. Rather, in cases like this, it feels respectful to the source to change the story so. The story is organic, so it can change and grow into a story that will work in another medium. And really, most of the book's story and it's alterations does feel like Baum's story.

And this week, we'll look at some other adaptations of the tale.

Snow's Magic Sled

Just the year before he died, Jack Snow published a Christmas story in a magazine called "Inside AHS." Snow is mainly remembered for his two Oz novels The Magical Mimics in Oz and The Shaggy Man of Oz, as well as Who's Who In Oz. It is rumored that he had a third Oz story in the works. However, he wrote a wide variety of tales, some rather horrific and disturbing, and some very whimsical.

Such a tale is The Magic Sled, originally published in Inside AHS, it was most recently made available in Oz-Story #5 in 1999 with illustrations by Eric Shanower.

In the story, a little boy named Bobby gets a sled for his birthday, which happens to fall on Christmas Eve. That night, he is visited by Santa Claus, who tells him that the sled is magical, being made with wood from a tree in the Forest of Burzee. Santa Claus must take the sled back, but he gives Bobby a ride on it. Tying it to the back of the sleigh, Bobby flies through the sky with Santa Claus. Finally, he must return home, so Santa Claus cuts the cord, promising that Bobby will find a replacement sled just like the magic one. Bobby lands and awakens in his bed on a snowy Christmas morning.

The story has to be one of the most beautifully done stories I've ever read, and even better, it seems to tie in with Baum's Santa Claus mythos. Or does it? While Santa Claus mentions the Forest of Burzee, he has eight reindeer, while in The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, he has ten. In addition, Snow names six of the eight reindeer: Dancer, Prancer, Donner, Blitzen, Comet, and Vixen, names from The Night Before Christmas. Perhaps the other two are Flossie and Glossie, or Dasher and Cupid. We could guess that Santa has had to change out deer since he started making his annual Christmas deliveries, but that doesn't explain why he decided he needed two less reindeer.

Another idea is that it is very possible that Bobby's journey is just a dream he had. He goes to sleep, then awakes when he sees Santa Claus, and when he leaves the sleigh, he ends up in his bed. This makes me think it is a dream, and thus may explain why some of the details about the Santa Claus mythos (either from Moore or Baum) are a little mixed. Story-wise, that is. I believe I read that Snow had to sell off a lot of his Oz and Baum collection, so I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't read Baum's Santa Claus tale in awhile.

All the same, I think this story has been largely overlooked and should be a true Christmas classic, just like it deserves to be.

Thompson's Claus

In 1926, Ruth Plumly Thompson published The Curious Cruise of Captain Santa. About half the size of one of her Oz books, it was illustrated by the wonderful John R. Neill.

Whether or not Thompson was aware of Baum's The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus is no issue, as Thompson did not tie her take on Santa Claus to Oz at all. Santa lives at the North Pole, with a boy he took in named Jimmy Christmas, a penguin named Penny (never mind that penguins live in the South Pole), the brownies who make the toys, and they have a friend at Snowshoe Mountain, Huggerumbo, a polar bear.

Santa builds a ship called the Chimneypot and with Hugger, Jim, and Penny, sets sail to tropical islands to find new Christmas presents, and they even go beyond the sunset, where there are live toys.

And honestly, that's the plot.

I just want to say that I don't feel this book should be counted in the same continuity as the Oz books. Thompson doesn't mention Oz, and her Santa is very different from Baum's Claus. Thompson's Santa is lively, spontaneous, and a little light-headed. Baum's Claus is wise, solemn, and quiet. While both Santa and Claus are fun to read about and both are excellent characters, I think Baum's Claus is the Santa Claus for Oz, as Baum, who created Oz, directly tied his version with Oz. Thompson never did, although John R. Neill had a barrel-bird (who help Santa load the Chimneypot) appear in Lucky Bucky in Oz. Whether barrel-birds also exist in Oz or somehow it crossed over is for individual readers to decide.

But all the same, I did enjoy Thompson's book, and can suggest that Oz fans would enjoy it. It's available in an inexpensive paperback from the International Wizard of Oz Club.

Next time, Jack Snow's short Santa story.

Santa Claus 2009

L. Frank Baum's The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus. If you're into Baum's interconnected fantasy world that centered on Oz, this book is always a treat. As usual, I've re-read around Christmastime, but unusually this year, I re-read it again afterward.

Here, the author of the Oz books drops his usual storytelling and creates a myth for Santa Claus, and by connecting it to Oz later, reveals the hierarchy of Immortal beings who could also exist in Oz.

There be spoilers ahead!

The book opens by introducing the Forest of Burzee, which Baum would use in later novels and short stories. (And by association, all of these would be connected to Oz.) Maps of Oz show it to be just across the Deadly Desert from the Quadling Country, so perhaps Glinda is familiar with some of the Immortals there?

Now, we begin meeting the Immortals: we have the nymphs, who care for trees, Ryls, who care for plants, especially flowers, then the Knooks who care for animals.

We focus on one nymph in particular: Necile. Having the responsibility of caring for certain trees in Burzee has grown tiresome for her, as her trees are now strong and need little protection. Now that she has little to do, Necile begins to long for something new to do.

The Great Ak, Master Woodsman of the World, visits Burzee for Budding Day and tells the nymphs about the lives of humans. He tells them how neglected children are and mentions he had found a baby just outside of Burzee. Leaving it with Shiegra the lioness, he commanded that no animal harm it.

Necile is fascinated by the story and goes to see the baby. She feels compassion for it and brings it back to Burzee with her. Ak eventually decides to let Necile care for the baby, who she names Claus, meaning "Little One."

Baum created with Ak and Necile and the Nymph Queen Zurline (not to be confused with Lurline) almost like gods from mythology, except now, they actually have compassion for mankind. Instead of interfering and causing pain for mankind, they help when they choose to (Ak tells about how he started a small bonfire to keep some freezing children warm until their parents returned home).

Claus' life in Burzee is related briefly, until he gets to be a responsible age. Then Ak takes him on a journey around the world so he can see his own kind first hand. Claus feels compassion for children and mankind in general, and the deepest conversation in all of Baum's fantasies ensues:

"Then why, if man must perish, is he born?" demanded the boy.

"Everything perishes except the world itself and its keepers," answered Ak. "But while life lasts everything on earth has its use. The wise seek ways to be helpful to the world, for the helpful ones are sure to live again."

After this journey, Claus determines to bring happiness to children. All the Immortals pledge their aid to him, and Ak guides him to the Laughing Valley, where he decides to make his home. However, being a friend of the Immortals has its benefits, for while Claus sleeps, they build him a home from logs he collected, and bring him food when he needs it so he can focus on what he has determined to do.

Claus visits nearby towns and plays with children. The joy he brings to children brings joy to their parents.

However, winter prevents Claus from making more visits, so he spends it at home with his cat, Blinkie. To pass the time, Claus begins whittling at a piece of wood and it ends up turning into an image of Blinkie.

Shortly afterward, Claus hears a cry for help outside, and finds a young boy in the snow. He brings him home and nurses him back to health. The boy, Weekum, wants to play with Blinkie, but Blinkie isn't a playful cat. So Claus lets him play with the wooden cat, and then lets him keep it. Seeing how much Weekum liked the cat, Claus decides to make more for children everywhere. The Ryls, when they visit, decide to give Claus paint to color the wooden cats with.

The toy cats become popular with the children, and Claus makes more. Shiegra the lioness visits in her old age (a reminder that Baum drops that mortal beings do grow old and die), and Claus carves a special image of her, looking fierce and proud. When he tries to give this to two children, they are scared and run, so he resolves only to make toys of friendly animals. Later, when a rich lord's daughter visits him, he realizes that even children in rich families were no happier than the poor, so he makes a doll of clay based on Necile for her. This gives Claus more toys to make, and the children become happier.

By protecting and aiding Claus, the Immortals have made him almost one of them. It is now Claus who will visibly assist mankind.

Now, Baum gives us the antagonists, which he states he wishes he could overlook. The Awgwas, cruel beings that are not immortal, and cannot be seen by humans, but they can influence them to do wrong. Claus' work with the children breaks their hold over them, and the Awgwas are not happy at all.

The Awgwas start interfering with Claus, and send him to a distant country. However, using the secret words of the Ryls, he is transported back home. He is kidnapped again and hidden in the mountains of the Awgwas (which are not depicted on any map, but I'd imagine them being a bit south of the Laughing Valley, near the shore; I later thought that maybe now certain Jackdaws make their home there), but again the fairies rescue him. So, they attack Claus when he attempts to visit children and steal the toys. Finally, Claus stays at home and makes toys and fills his shelves with them, but when the shelves are full, Claus becomes sad and visits Ak.

Ak tells the Awgwas to leave Claus alone, but they refuse, so Ak declares war. The Nymphs, Ryls, Knooks, and Fairies join Ak against the Awgwas, the Three-Eyed Giants of Tatary, Asiatic Dragons, Black Demons, and Goozzle-Goblins. Despite Ak's army being outnumbered, they win, because it is a law that the powers of Evil cannot withstand Good. Thus, Ak is happy to assure Claus (and likewise, Baum his readers) that Awgwas are dead and are no longer to be feared.

Once again, Claus is unable to visit children during winter, but when he notices how easily Flossie and Glossie the deer can walk over frozen snow, he sends them to ask Will Knook for permission to draw a sledge so they might carry Claus to homes of children. Peter agrees, only if the delivery is made at night and the deer return to the forest by day. On his journey, Claus finds doors locked, so he uses chimneys to enter.

When people find the toys, they call Claus a saint, which is how "Santa" became prefixed to his name. (Santa Claus, by Baum, means "Saint of Little One.") Will Knook, however, notices that his deer were exactly one minute late in returning, so Claus begs Ak that the deer not be punished. The Nymphs, Ryls, and Fairies offer gifts to any deer that will assist Claus if Will and the King of the Knooks will allow the deer to continue to assist Claus. They agree, on condition that Claus makes one annual trip, and they set it on Christmas Eve.

Claus attempts to make more toys in time for Christmas Eve, but cannot make many, but fortunately, the Fairies find the toys the Awgwas stole and bring them to Claus so he can distribute them.

In building his new sledge, Claus trades with the Gnome King (whether or not he is the same Nome King of Ozma of Oz is a matter of debate) for runners and strings of bells for the deer. The Fairies get candies and fruits to fill stockings with and to decorate Christmas trees with (both traditions get set up in the story).

And here, Baum did his first crossover. The Fairies bring the candy from Phunnyland, which Baum later re-wrote into the Valley of Mo. (Or maybe, in the terms of the fictional world, they changed their name.) When Oz became linked with Baum's version of Santa Claus (in Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz and The Road to Oz), so did Mo. (So was Queen Zixi of Ix.)

Claus continues his work for many years, until he ages and tires, and one day, he goes to lie down, and the Immortals realize he is about to die. Quickly calling all the Immortals, Ak proposes that Claus be given the Mantle of Immortality, which will make him Immortal. After a short conversation, all the Immortals agree, and they use the Mantle to drive the Spirit of Death away from him forever.

As Claus lives on, the world changes, and he finds chimneys have changed. Confused by stove chimneys, he brings along his three Immortal assistants, Kilter, Nuter, and Wisk, who'd been helping him make toys. They help him get into the homes of everyone, and soon, Santa must deputize every parent to help him.

So, to lighten his task, which was fast becoming very difficult indeed, old Santa decided to ask the parents to assist him.

"Get your Christmas trees all ready for my coming," he said to them; "and then I shall be able to leave the presents without loss of time, and you can put them on the trees when I am gone."

And to others he said: "See that the children's stockings are hung up in readiness for my coming, and then I can fill them as quick as a wink."

And often, when parents were kind and good-natured, Santa Claus would simply fling down his package of gifts and leave the fathers and mothers to fill the stockings after he had darted away in his sledge.

"I will make all loving parents my deputies!" cried the jolly old fellow, "and they shall help me do my work. For in this way I shall save many precious minutes and few children need be neglected for lack of time to visit them."

There are increasingly more children, but Santa doesn't mind as long as he has help.

"In all this world there is nothing so beautiful as a happy child," says good old Santa Claus...

Some critics have pointed out that for the titular character, Claus doesn't do much. Admittedly, this is true. It is the life of someone who took on a mighty task and how he accomplished it, and who assisted him. Rather than write thrilling adventures for Santa, Baum chose instead to build a mythology around the character and the symbols connected with him. Baum's pseudonymous work shows he was capable of thrilling adventures, but he decided to go for a quieter tale that felt magical.

And in the end, it works. Aside from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Marvelous Land of Oz, it is probably the most often-adapted book by Baum. There's been a television special, an anime television series, two animated movies on video, a graphic novel, and even this year an abridgement with new illustrations.

Baum made Santa Claus his own character, a kind man who took delight in pleasing children, a description that best fits this wonderful character, and the man who wrote the biography.