The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

Did You Know?

• The Forest of Burzee is populated by fairies, nymphs, gnomes, pixies, ryls, knooks, and gigans.
• An audio drama adaptation by Aron Thomas' The Chronicles of Oz series added Princess Azkedelia and had Claus mortally wounded at the climax.

Plot

As a baby, Santa Claus is found in the Forest of Burzee by Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World, and placed in the care of the lioness Shiegra, then adopted by the wood nymph Necile. Upon reaching young adulthood, Claus is introduced by Ak to human society, where he sees war, poverty, and child neglect. He settles in the nearby Laughing Valley of Hohaho, where immortals assist him and Peter Knook gives him a cat named Blinky. Claus becomes known for kindness toward children. When his neighbor's son Weekum visits, Claus gives him a carved image of Blinky, the first toy. Immortals help him produce more carvings; the Ryls bring pigments to paint toys. He makes a clay figure reminiscent of Necile, calling it a 'dolly' (later shortened to 'doll'), and gives the first to Bessie Blithesome. The awgwas, evil invisible beings, steal the toys to encourage misbehavior. They try to kill Claus; when his immortal friends rescue him, they prevent his deliveries. Ak declares war on the awgwas. With allies including Asiatic dragons, three-eyed giants of Tartary, goozzle-goblins, and black demons from Patalonia, the awgwas are destroyed; Ak kills their king. Claus is not present for the battle and is told the awgwas have perished.

Adaptations

A graphic novel adaptation was published by Tundra Publishing Ltd. in 1992, illustrated by Mike Ploog. An animated stop-motion special by Rankin-Bass aired on CBS on December 17, 1985. It truncates the story and uses a frame story about the Mantle of Immortality. Shiegra accompanies Claus to the Laughing Valley, which is always winter. Claus has eight unnamed reindeer. Peter Knook replaces most other Knooks and declares 'only on Christmas Eve' for the reindeer. A new character, Tingler the Sound Imp, accompanies Claus. Earle Hyman voiced the King of the Awgwas, Leslie Miller played Necile, and other voices were performed by Peter Newman and Lynne Lipton. Larry Kenney played the Commander of the Wind Demons. Another animated version by Mike Young Productions, directed by Glen Hill, was released in 2000. The book also inspired the anime series Shōnen Santa no Daibôken (1994) and The Oz Kids video Who Stole Santa? (1996).

Unproduced films

A planned animated film based on the book was set for a 2010 holiday release, co-produced by Hyde Park Entertainment, Toonz Entertainment, and Gang of 7 Animation. Tom Tataranowicz and Mark Edward Edens wrote the script, with Tataranowicz, Dick Sebast, and Rich Arons directing. Production was scheduled to start in November 2008 at Toonz Animation Studio in India, but the project was later canceled. In March 2014, Sony purchased the script for a different Santa origin story, Winter's Knight, for $1 million. Jake Thornton and Ben Lustig wrote that script, with Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg attached to direct.

Sequel

In Baum's newspaper series Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz, the December 18, 1904 entry 'How the Woggle-Bug and His Friends Visited Santa Claus' has the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Jack Pumpkinhead, and H. M. Woggle-Bug, T. E. make toys based on themselves and the Sawhorse, bringing them to Claus. A 1904 short story 'A Kidnapped Santa Claus' by Baum, illustrated by Frederick Richardson, involves Claus's kidnapping by the Daemons of the caves. In Baum's 1909 Oz book The Road to Oz, Santa Claus is a guest at Princess Ozma's birthday party, bringing Ryls and Knooks, and they return to the Laughing Valley in giant soap bubbles created by the Wizard of Oz.