Santa Claus: The Movie

A lumberjack named Claus and his wife Anya bring toys to the children of their village, and after a snowstorm the elves take the couple to the North Pole, where Claus takes on the role of Santa Claus. Generations later, an elf named Patch tries to speed up toy production at the workshop, but his methods fail and he leaves for New York City. There he goes to work for B.Z., a businessman whose toy company is struggling, and whose schemes put Christmas at risk while Santa searches for his missing helper.

Jeannot Szwarc directed the film, his fifth feature after Bug, Jaws 2, Somewhere in Time and Supergirl. David Newman wrote the screenplay, and Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler produced. Dudley Moore plays Patch, John Lithgow plays B.Z., David Huddleston plays Santa Claus, and Burgess Meredith, Judy Cornwell and Jeffrey Kramer appear among the thirty-five credited cast members.

The production carried a budget of 50 million dollars and returned 24 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.3 out of 10 from around 17,000 votes, and on TMDB a rating of 6.3 out of 10 from roughly 295 votes. A critics' rating of 4.6 out of 10 from 23 reviews sits below the audience scores. It runs 108 minutes and belongs to the adventure, family and fantasy genres.