Santa Who?

Plot

While flying his sleigh, Santa feels sick and steps out for air, but bad weather causes him to fall into Los Angeles with no memory of who he is. A TV reporter named Peter spots him and uses the lost old man to raise his ratings, asking the public to find his family. Santa takes a job at a mall, and Peter’s girlfriend’s son keeps insisting he is the real Santa, though no adult believes him.

Santa still knows certain facts about Christmas but cannot remember why, a classic case of source amnesia. Meanwhile, his elves search for him, and a couple who see him on TV claim he is their missing grandfather. As Santa starts to remember his true identity, Peter finds redemption by finally admitting Santa is real.

Announced remake

In July 2021, Lionsgate, which holds rights to this film as owner of the Hearst Entertainment library, announced plans to remake it alongside several other Hearst titles. The remakes will be produced with MarVista Entertainment, which will work with Lionsgate in distributing the films to an undetermined streaming service. Neither studio released details about these remakes.

Did You Know?

• Christopher Null of Filmcritic.com gave Santa Who? 2 out of 5 stars.
• Perry Seibert of AllMovie gave the film 3 stars out of 5.
• Laura Fries of Variety wrote that the film is 'about as rewarding as a lump of coal in your stocking'.