Do you like archive footage of monkeys in a short Christmas film? If not, then it's a definite shortcoming! The live action b&w film starts out with narration from, The Night before Christmas. So far, so good. Then we see a boy and girl all snug in their beds. A dog(terrier) is on hand as well. Santa comes down the chimney and greets Virginia and Jackie. Virginia asks for a story. Monkeys must have been big at the time, so Mr. Claus relates some interesting tales about monkeys getting dressed up, at a zoo, building a house, and decorating a Christmas tree. The 2nd story is what sets this brief movie apart. The Yes Virginia story has exploded in the media since 1970, but before that there wasn't much more than readings, plus newspaper and pamphlet reprints. So here in a film, Santa gives a good, abbreviated reading of the Yes Virginia Christmas story. We see the children playing with their toys under the tree while Santa reads. And that's about it. Christmas music is interspersed throughout. It's a shame that Castle Films removed the credits.
4 Reviews
Santa Claus' monkey Christmas story
Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki25 December 2015
Grimy looking Santa plops down the chimney, as the two kids sleeping in the house wake up to his maniacal laughter. They approach this soot-covered degenerate-looking stranger in their living room, sit on his lap, as he tells them "a story you'll always remember", a monkey Christmas. Monkeys swimming in a small pool, building houses, getting haircuts and manicures, hot foot baths before bed, bobbing for apples, while the two kids (and the few people watching this thing) try to figure what this all has to do with Christmas?
"Don't believe in Santa Claus? You might as well not believe in fairies" he tells the kids. Oooookay. After eight minutes of this, the kids look noticeably bored, so it's off to bed for the little dimbulbs to have probably the oddest dreams of their young lives. The film ends with another shot of Santa's creepy ass cackling, as he glares intently at the camera.
The film appears to be silent footage, with voices dubbed in later, and some canned Christmas music scattered throughout. No technical credits (aside from the title) and no credited cast.
"Don't believe in Santa Claus? You might as well not believe in fairies" he tells the kids. Oooookay. After eight minutes of this, the kids look noticeably bored, so it's off to bed for the little dimbulbs to have probably the oddest dreams of their young lives. The film ends with another shot of Santa's creepy ass cackling, as he glares intently at the camera.
The film appears to be silent footage, with voices dubbed in later, and some canned Christmas music scattered throughout. No technical credits (aside from the title) and no credited cast.
Huh?! Who thought ANY kid would enjoy watching this?!
planktonrules27 December 2023
This and many other short films about Christmas have recently been cobbled together and repackaged as "Vintage Christmas Classics". Now the term 'vintage' used to mean old AND good...but in this case, it only means old and awful!
In this film, a super-creepy Santa arrives in a family's home and he's apparently deranged, as he laughs and laughs for no apparent reason. Not surprisingly, the kids awaken because of his racket. He then tells them a story called "A Monkey's Christmas"...complete with a hand puppet and lots of stock footage which seems to have almost nothing to do with his story.
Although the film is bad, at least they didn't take an old Army training film or a film about VD and try to turn it into a story. Instead, it's monkeys and chimps in irrelevant footage...all narrated by Santa. The film is terrible. The ape footage is perplexing and pointless...and is more apt to terrify kids than please them. Using Santa and some kids to tie all this together is perplexing.
Overall, this is a godawful mess...which means it fits in perfectly with the rest of the films in this collection. The only reason I could see showing this is if your kids have been terrible all year and you want to punish them.
In this film, a super-creepy Santa arrives in a family's home and he's apparently deranged, as he laughs and laughs for no apparent reason. Not surprisingly, the kids awaken because of his racket. He then tells them a story called "A Monkey's Christmas"...complete with a hand puppet and lots of stock footage which seems to have almost nothing to do with his story.
Although the film is bad, at least they didn't take an old Army training film or a film about VD and try to turn it into a story. Instead, it's monkeys and chimps in irrelevant footage...all narrated by Santa. The film is terrible. The ape footage is perplexing and pointless...and is more apt to terrify kids than please them. Using Santa and some kids to tie all this together is perplexing.
Overall, this is a godawful mess...which means it fits in perfectly with the rest of the films in this collection. The only reason I could see showing this is if your kids have been terrible all year and you want to punish them.
This simian documentary reveals many facts about . . .
pixrox121 October 2023
. . . primates concerning which most if not all Americans are totally in the dark. For instance, the narrator reveals that Monkeys usually live in trees, or on Monkey Islands." Regardless of which of these habitats is selected, chimps will flock to their local primate haberdashery for seasonal dress, whether it's a scary Halloween costume or a gauche sweater perfect for sipping eggnog by a Yule Time fire. When dealing with a sick simian, medical personnel simply pop their feet into a tub of hot water. This nearly always does the trick of bringing roses back to their cheeks. However, the production value on this picture is fairly low. That's why there was no editor around to notice that the film lab had separated the opening credits from the rest of the story. Therefore, FAST TIMES ON MONKEY ISLAND became SANTA CLAUS STORY due to a mistaken splice.
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