Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970)

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town is a 1970 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The film stars Fred Astaire as the narrator S.D. Kluger, Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle/Santa Claus, Keenan Wynn as the Winter Warlock, and Paul Frees in various roles. The film tells the story of how Santa Claus and several Claus-related Christmas traditions came to be. It is based on the hit Christmas song Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, which was introduced on radio by Eddie Cantor in 1934, and the story of Saint Nicholas.

Plot
A mailman tells the story about the origins of Santa Claus.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) This movie gives a great example of what Christmas is all about.
 * 2) The stop-motion is very appealing to look at.
 * 3) Catchy and unforgettable songs such as The First Toymakers to the King, One Foot In Front of the Other, and of course, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.
 * 4) Decent voice-acting, Mickey Rooney was great as Kris Kringle/Santa Claus.
 * 5) Fred Astaire was great as the narrator, S.D. Kluger.
 * 6) S.D. Kluger's wonderful message at the end about the true lesson of Santa Claus. You can see it for yourself in the middle of this clip

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Sometimes the stop-motion animation gets creepy.
 * 2) In some ways, it gives us the idea that Christmas is about toys, even though that's not the main message.