Sure it's uneven and too superhero like for a Santa Claus movie. However, it's magical and well acted. David Huddleston especially is great as Santa. Santa’s workshop and costumes are probably better than any Christmas movie to this day.

8/10 What a great movie from My childhood and up there as a GOAT Christmas movie. It's a great feel good movie that actually has a cool story unlike any other movie of this type, It had a Tom Hank's "BIG" Charm about it. Good performances all round to create a very Endearing story.

a pleasant origin story starr. John Lithgow as the main villain; hard to believe that John Carpenter was supposedly the original director but was rejected, I would've loved to see how it would turn out

This is a movie in two phases. The "origin" of Santa Claus at the North Pole was delightful. Then it gets caught up in Dudley Moore's elf character and John Lithgow's horrible toy maker character...and it falls apart. Too bad, because it started so strong.

Nice film, I found enough enjoyment with it. Probably not as deep or creative as it could've been, but I do like the plot of 'Santa Claus: The Movie' as it starts off at the embryonic stages of Santa. It ends up turning into a run-of-the-mill good v. bad thing, but that cause is helped by the casting of John Lithgow - who is entertaining. Lithgow isn't the only positive cast, as Dudley Moore and David Huddleston do solid things too. It's interesting to see that Lithgow doesn't rate this, as well as the fact that it's apparently popular in the UK; though I, as a Englishman, had never heard about this before this year to be honest. There are, at least in my opinion, many better festive films out there, but this 1985 flick is a satisfying Xmas watch. It's cheesy and features some questionable special effects, but does have pleasant-looking reindeer and has charm.