Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Plot

The Martians Momar and Kimar worry that their children Girmar and Bomar watch too much Earth television, especially an interview with Santa Claus at his North Pole workshop. The 800-year-old sage Chochem explains that Martian children are distracted because their society is too rigid: from infancy, education is fed into their brains through machines, and they are not allowed individuality or freedom of thought. He says the only way to help them is to allow freedom and fun, and that Mars needs a Santa Claus figure.

The Martian leaders decide to abduct Santa from Earth. After struggling to distinguish between Santa impersonators, they kidnap two Earth children to find the real one. One Martian, Voldar, opposes the idea and repeatedly tries to kill Santa. On Mars, Santa and the children build a toy factory, but Voldar and his assistants sabotage it.

Meanwhile, Dropo, Kimar's assistant, puts on a spare Santa suit and is mistaken for the real Santa and kidnapped. When Santa and the children return, they discover the tampered machines. Voldar and Stobo come to make a deal but realize their plan is foiled. Dropo escapes from a cave, and Kimar arrests Voldar, Stobo, and Shim.

Santa suggests Dropo would make a good Martian Santa Claus, and Kimar agrees, sending Santa and the children back to Earth.

Production

Producer Paul Jacobson, who worked in video production, conceived the film and hired writer Glenville Mareth and director Nicholas Webster. Jacobson made the film through his own Jalor Productions, calling it a "yuletide science fiction fantasy" and citing a gap in the market for children's films outside Disney. He sold distribution rights to Joseph E. Levine. Filming took place over two weeks from July to August 1964 at the Michael Myerberg Studios on Long Island.

Jacobson noted that with a cooperative crew and a low budget, they achieved production value, shooting in color for picturesque effects. Cast members John Call and Victor Stiles were appearing on stage in Oliver!, while Donna Conforti was in Here's Love on Broadway. In 1966, Levine said he made 15 "family type pictures" in 18 months, noting that families talk about them but don't go to see them, yet he made them for television protection.

Release

First released for Christmas 1964, the film played at matinees around the holidays for years afterward. Because it fell into the public domain in the U.S., it turned up on numerous cheap labels. StudioCanal still controls some ancillary rights. Comedy Central aired the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version on December 21, 1991, and Rhino Home Video put it on DVD as part of MST3K: The Essentials on August 31, 2004.

Mill Creek Entertainment included it in their Holiday Family Collection DVD set in 2006. Cinematic Titanic released a riffed DVD in November 2008. Apprehensive Films issued the Cinema Insomnia version as part of their Slime Line series. The film also appears as bonus content on the Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale DVD.

E1 Entertainment’s version from Elvira’s Movie Macabre came out on DVD on December 6, 2011. Kino Lorber planned a special edition Blu-ray and DVD for October 30, 2012, but the discs used a truncated 69-minute master; a corrected full-length version followed on December 4, 2012. RiffTrax performed a live riff of the film on December 5, 2013, later released as a digital download on August 1, 2014, and on DVD on November 24, 2015, and paired with Christmas Shorts-stravaganza! on December 1, 2016. It is also part of Weird Christmas on Fandor.

Legacy

The film's theme song, recorded by Milton Delugg and the Little Eskimos, came out as a single on Four Corners Records in November 1964 but failed to chart. Trumpeter Al Hirt also released his own version that year, backed with "White Christmas." Dell Comics published a single-issue comic book adaptation and read-along in March 1966. The movie was later featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1991.

A stage musical adaptation premiered in Chicago in 1993. Rumors of a remake surfaced in February 1998, with David Zucker producing and Jim Carrey in talks to play Dropo, aiming for a 2002 release, but the project stalled. As of December 2020, IMDb listed a remake directed by Cynthia Webster, the original director's daughter, with a projected 2021 date. A novelization by Lou Harry came out in 2005, packaged with a DVD and told from the perspective of an adult Girmar speaking in valley girl slang.

Another theatrical version debuted in Fullerton, California, in 2006 and became a yearly holiday tradition, with a tenth-anniversary run in 2015. A third stage adaptation premiered in Marysville, Washington, in 2016. The Indiana punk band Sloppy Seconds covered the theme song in 1992. The 2026 horror film Backrooms includes a scene where the main character watches this movie on television.