Good example! the children in Narnia, however, were always explicitly mentioned as quasi-grown-up (teenagers in an adult context owing to medieval conditions? perhaps) so that Lewis would not have to candy-sweet the whole affair. So yes, they get weapons for their fight for adult-ish values, and Lucy gets a magic healing cordial that proves very useful - not a child's toy at all either. (Cf. Lewis' references, rather slighting, to the 'values' of modern teenagerhood. Which are rather of a piece with this interpretation.)
"santa claus, or as he's known here, sandy claws, gets kidnapped by a well-meaning idiot who uses his position of authority to impose his mid-life crisis, willing or no, onto the denizens of both his polity and of a sovereign foreign nation." i need this to be this movie's description on netflix/hulu/amazon/etc from now until the end of time.
It’s giving “A girl travels to a magical land, kills the first person she encounters, and teams up with three strange men to kill her sister” description of Wizard of Oz.
I love that her description of Jack and his actions is completely cynical, absolutely accurate, and totally hilarious, without making me like the movie one bit less.
To answer a likely rhetorical question: the tooth fairy in The Rise of the Guardians is possibly portrayed as a hummingbird because hummingbirds are seen by many as the real life equivalent of fairies. They are small, sparkly, bejeweled, beautiful, fast-moving somewhat mysterious creatures. So the interpretation could be more related to the "fairyness" of a hummingbird, not the "toothiness".
Speaking of Jack Skellington, it's a shame you don't have enough material to make an episode on Jack O Lantern. There's a holiday figure that deserves a lot more attention in the media. He was an Irish thief in the middle ages who tricked the devil up a tree so he could negotiate his way out of Hell when he died. He succeeded but because he already couldn't go to heaven he was cursed to wander the earth as a lost spirit, the Devil giving him a turnip lantern (their version of a pumpkin lantern back then) powered by Hellfire to light his way. He's believed to be the very first Will-O-The-Wisp. Why the hell hasn't this guy been adopted as a pop culture figure yet? That's metal as shit!
I think the Rankin/Bass special where we see Santa grow up and such is probably my fave, since Mickey Rooney did a really good job voicing him. Plus the song One Foot in Front of the Other is pretty cute. Also the Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, based on a book by L. Frank Baum , in which it's like Santa Claus myth meets Lord of the Rings, with wizards and fairies and stuff, was pretty great as well.
What kinda confused me in Rise of the Guardians' Santa is his Russian motif. It's cool, yeah, but Santa wasn't really part of Russian culture. There was Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), who was connected to Christmas for sometimes, but since USSR he is not. Modern russian holiday traditions centers around New Year Eve, rather than Christmas Eve, but at the same time it's really similar to Western Christmas traditions. But it's still different holiday, so... So it't weird, yeah.
my guess is because we americans have an image in our heads of russia as perpetually covered in snow; basically looking like the north pole but with actual cities built there
if you can find the books and read them, you find out that their "santa" began his life as a russian swordsman and treasure hunter named Nicholas St.North who got caught up in an adventure with a wizard and learned magic while trying to save a village from the nightmare king and all that good "selfish-vagabond-turns-hero" stuff. a lot of people forget that there was an entire collection of books before and after the movie came out that are becoming increasingly hard to find that tell a lot of the stories that nothing is even mentioned about of the characters in the movie.
In Finland we used to have this tradition where on the 13th of January people used to go around houses dressed in furs and wearing horns on their head. This tradition has died out but it's legacy is that we call Santa "Christmas Goat" (Joulupukki).
Little to say about Frost, though: beyond the old fairy tale, some myths, and a handful of mostly godawful films, there's not much to him, or his history. It was just a way to explain winter, and why people died from exposure. Tooth Fairy turned into The Rock briefly, so there's that, I guess.
I'm having a pretty sad Christmas (in a foreign country, without family or friends) so this is a very welcome distraction. Thanks for this video, Lindsay! Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it and happy holidays to everyone else!
I would've mentioned Weird Al's "The Night Santa Went Crazy", a beautiful metaphor for your childhood innocense crashing and burning in an explosion of awesomness and hilarity.
About "The Polar Express", she used the WORST moment in the movie, and that moment only lasts for 15 seconds, so the rest of the movie is pretty bearable. Also, I'm surprised Lindsay didn't cover "Arthur Christmas", an animated family film by Aardman and SONY Animation about the title of Santa being a moniker passed down to future family generations. This results in the movie having a current working Santa who's turning senile and is on his way to retirement, his 2 sons vying to be the next in line, and their crazy old grandpa who misses the days when being Santa was simpler.
we don't have a chimney. so one year we decided to lock all the doors to see if we can keep Santa Claus out. We were never ones to belive in Santa, but you know. Just in case
rmeddy1 I was honestly shocked she didn't mention Arthur Christmas, that's a movie almost entirely about Santa and what he means to individual people, it seemed perfect for this type of thing
I've been to the actual original rays. It's in New Jersey because they had to move and it's AMAZING. If you don't like New York slices, you probably haven't been to the right place. It literally is the birthplace of American pizza, so if you like pizza, that's what's to like.
What with Odin being the patron god of wealthy lords and army leaders, I doubt he'd be very interested in giving anything except a spear to the gut. Frey/Frö would be a slightly more likely candidate, what with being a harvest and prosperity deity so I'd be more inclined to believe that he got bored one winter and decided to go out giving gifts when giving good crops wasn't in season.
Helena Nilsson Not necessarily. He valued sacred hospitality and had walked around disguised as an old peasant, rewarding those that would share what they could to a seemingly physically feeble old man.
I had always heard santa used to wear green and it was the coca cola company that changed it to red in a marketing campaign. I like that he got his classic look from an illustrated children's book a lot better
Can Doodle I heard that too, maybe it's an urban myth spread by Coca-Cola to make them seem more powerful than they actually are. I'm from the UK and I remember my Nan telling me Santa used to wear green, she grew up in the 30's.
It's an over-simplification at best. In Sweden, Santa (called "tomten" then and still now, although the concept of him has changed entirely) was short (think gnome), wore gray and watch over the animals at your farm and if you mistreated them he might play you a prank or something. He still had a beard though.
There isn't a huge amount of difference between the figure in the UK and the US. It used to be more common to call him Father Christmas but now we call him Santa as well (presumably due to Hollywood). Also we don't leave cookies and milk at night but Brandy, mince pies (sweet, which don't contain real mince anymore) and carrots for the reindeer.
viljamtheninja, note that those "pranks" could go as far as to kill all the animals on the farm as retribution, depending on what the humans had done. And they could be very petty. There's a popular tale of how the tomte thought that the humans had forgotten to put a knob of butter on his offering of porridge so he killed their best milk cow. When he moments later noticed that he had made a mistake (the butter was further down in the bowl) he replaced the dead cow with one he stole from the neighbours. Not exactly a saintly figure in other words.
I actually love the Rankin Bass specials. Like, I watch them all year around. And yea, I acknowledge that their not great, but they've got a kind of folksy, whimsical charm. That being said, I think my favorite Rankin Bass Santa is the one in Santa Clause is Coming to Town. I don't know why, but that one seems particularly human and likable. All in all tho, this video was very informative. Happy holidays!
I'm so happy someone finally pointed out that Jack is the ANTAGONIST of Nightmare Before Christmas. You're suppose to feel sorry for him, not root for him. I'm tired of fan girls forgetting that and thinking him being shot out the sky wasn't true retribution.
Of course that may also be one of the reasons for why I'm all "noooo don't diss on JackxSally!" I find them ending up together pivotal to the story. Sally ends up with the thing she didn't think was good enough for, while Jack learns to notice someone other than himself, namely that of the person who's always been there for him the whole time.... Oh no I'm tumblr rambling! I'm so sorry for leaving this on your vid Lindsay. D:>
Last time I checked an antagonist is a person/obstacle in a story who causes conflict, intentionally or otherwise. They are not always a villain or actively evil person. Jack fills that role, I think.
The antagonist has to be opposing someone though. Particularly, the protagonist, which is Jack. I guess you could say that Jack is his own antagonist but that would be a stretch. I prefer to say the movie has no antagonist, 'cept for Oogie Boogie in the last few minutes.
The odd thing about this from a non-US perspective is that I didn't know some of the references. At 5:30 when Lindsay talks about Yukon Cornelius and the Bumble, and Spencer's Gifts, I don't know any of that. This is only notable because usually American references are kinda universal. It's always a bit jarring to find out there are things that haven't left America's shores.
I applaud your ability to edit this down to 17 minutes and 24 seconds. The choice of media must've been enormous, so even the pre-selection was probably pretty difficult. Loosely ordering them by theme was probably the sensible thing to do. Thanks! What I took away from the "transgression" theme: We want to have it both ways. We want to have the feeling of "Oooohh, we're so adult and cynical and not naive, we know how awful the world *really* is!" but we also want the fuzzy warm feeling of a hopeful happy ending at the same time. Good insight. What a lesson for Christmas Eve. ;)
Finland actually has this tv show that comes out every year on christmas eve where children can call Santa and it's all done live. The show is called Joulupukin kuuma linja (Santa's Hotline) and it's a tradition in some (if not most) families to watch it while decorating the christmas tree (in Finland we celebrate christmas mostly on the 24th). Just thought that's something people could be interested in.
Much like Jack The Ripper, interpretations of Santa Claus only get weirder once you delve into video games... Here's a few examples: -Duke Nukem (yes, him again) did battle with St. Nick in Nuclear Winter, a terrible third-party expansion for Duke Nukem 3D. The conceit is that the aliens have brainwashed Santa to their cause and you have to snap him out of it by nearly killing him. Easier said than done as the modders made Santa the fastest enemy in the game and has every weapon you do. -Clayfighter 63 1/3 introduces Sumo Santa to act as the rival to the series' mascot, Bad Mr. Frosty. His primary method of attack is, of course, throwing his morbid obesity at you and making bad X-Mas pins. -Daze Before Christmas is a European exclusive platformer that is mostly notable for the fact that drinking coffee powers up Santa into a blue-drabbed demon version of himself. -Saints Row IV's DLC expansion, How The Saints Save Christmas, may be the strangest example of Santa in a game ever. Jane Austin narrates (strap in, it only gets weirder from here) that after conquering the alien empire that destroyed the Earth, your gang try to celebrate Christmas, much to your player character's chagrin... Suddenly, a future version of your gang lieutenants warps in to warn you about the impending threat of an Evil Santa. The only way to stop this is to rescue Santa from a Matrix-like Personal Hell simulation before he goes criminally insane, through the time-tested methods of committing good deeds and shooting evil gingerbread men with weaponized dubstep...
I've played this fun on-rails shooter for the DS called Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ where as the title implies, you shoot the undead as Little Red Riding Hood. Most of the bosses are zombie versions of fairy tale characters (Three Little Pigs, Sleeping Beauty etc.) but one of them is a zombie Santa Claus that throws explosive presents.
Mr Sacks. from Fallen London is probably the weirdest, and best, alternate version of Santa Claus that I have ever seen in a video game. Much like the other masters of the Bazaar, he is a hooded figure (with a red cloak with white fur trim). But instead of a jolly old fellow, he creeps into your house at night and demands you give him _something_ (the first gift usually being a pail of snow... yes, there is snow underground, but it's not made of water) over a period of 12 nights (1 gift for each night). For example, his helpers are young urchins who gave him their ability to age.
Lindsay, I would love to see a Loose Canon video focusing on Jekyll and Hyde. It's one of my favorite books, and there's a TON of adaptations to explore: the novel, stage play, films, TV shows (loosely adapted or new straightforward interpretations), the musical, and the whole superhero genre that makes use of the double life/secret identity archetype. Just a suggestion. I'm sure you have a long list of other videos you're putting together. :)
I'm beginning to wonder if Anakin Skywalker deserves a Loose Canon episode. Sure, he's owned by one company, and hasn't really gone through franchise reboots, but as far as Star Wars characters go, he's wildly inconsistent. Sure, most of it can be chalked to character development, but still, some changes seem a bit unnatural.
My favorite MST3k Christmas episode is the one with Mexican Santa fighting Satan, with the help of terrifying robot reindeer! "At last, a full tilt battle between pure evil and Santa Claus in our own home!"
As you mentioned, you can't cover every adaptation of Santa, because oh damn, but I'm surprised that Arthur Christmas didn't get included in this. It's got 4 simultaneous Santas in it and each represents a different era or ideal about Christmas. Practically a Loose Canon episode in one movie.
The miracle on 34th street santa feels like the best versions of superman and captain america. You know for sure that his important actions are the moral ones but we get in his head enough that he still feels like a real person
To be exact "Christkindl" is derrived from southern germany and austria. Northern Germany has also a kind of Santa Clause figure called "Weihnachtsmann", which translates to "Christmas Man" (I know Northern germans are not the most creative. XD
Gawd, it must've been hard to choose what to cut down to. Honestly I would've divided it into Literature, Movies, TV, and then divide TV into Live Action and Animation, and then maybe by network? Not all at once, but maybe one category each year.
The Attenborough Miracle is also great for the scene with the deaf girl...it just make so much sense it it's worth a watch knowing she was really deaf and he surprise her with sign language he learned before filming...it gives the scene a great authenticity to the character !!
Lindsay, would you ever do a Loose Canon series dedicated to fairytales and their many adaptations? I would love to see one for Beauty and the Beast after the 2017 film comes out.
It is incumbent upon parents to instill in their children a belief in Santa Claus and and the magic of the holiday season. After all, our shattered dreams and disenchantment with life has to begin somewhere.
I'm 31 years old, as of Dec.22nd and I STILL have my child-like innocence and belief. Because to me, being a "mature adult" is overrated. True, you must be able to be mature enough to take responsibility (when the time comes.) But people like a certain "legally chosen" president elect have proven not all adults are that mature
Child-like belief is probably not a great thing to have as an adult. I mean, I believed in _dragons_ when I was a little kid. Lots of kids believe in the tooth fairy and Santa. I still feel the child-like sense of joy in learning new things if that's the sort of feeling you mean, but kids are generally really gullible so I wouldn't compare my sense of "belief" to theirs.
Master Markus What I mean is there is so much about the world, the universe and the idea of what is real/existent we have yet to understand. We shouldn't follow science, faith or logic blindly
The Mystery Science Theater version of Santa Claus Conquers The Martians is a seasonal tradition in my home. Great video. You’re cool, Lindsay. - - Merry Christmas!
While in a physical sense, he "isn't real." He IS real as the symbolic image of the goodness found in Christmas. Kindness, love, hope, generosity and goodwill toward others. When one (in some cases) takes up the identity of Santa. They carry with them those ideals and inspire the ideas of goodwill in children. So, in a way; Santa IS as real as Christ is (for those of us who follow the faith.) But that's just how I look at it
I'd recommended taking a look at Terry Pratchett's The Hogfather. While technically not Santa, and while the movie is less about the titular Hogfather than it is about Death, it's an interesting take on the concept nonetheless.
Considering she mentioned Grim in the loose canon on Death, I'm also surprised she didn't mention the Billy and Mandy episode where Santa gets turned into a vampire. LOL XDDD
Elyse Walker - yeah but with the Billy And Mandy episode she was discussing the Grimm Reaper, who is a main character . If she was going to include every cameo appearance of Santa in every tv show ever the video would be 20 times longer XD. But films and shows were Santa is the main character should be included, which is why I'm surprised Arthur Christmas and Father Christmas were not included.
I always liked Raymond Briggs version of Farther Christmas. A grumpy old man who loves his job, but also complains about everything. I also like that it also addresses how Christmas is becoming this large thing.
In Iceland we have the Yule Lads. They bring candy, toys and various trinkets to good boys and girls for the 13 days leading up to Christmas. They leave their gifts in shoes which are placed in windows, if you are bad you get a potato. There are 13 of them and each one has it's own gimmick usually related to being a nuisance or a petty criminal. Stekkjastaur has wooden legs and suckles other people's sheep, Gáttaþefur has a huge nose that he uses to sniff out and steal food, Kertasníkir eats candles, Gluggagægir is a peeping tom, Hurðaskellir slams doors in the middle of the night, Stúfur is a midget that licks your pans etc. etc. They were once used to scare children into obedience but have softened up in the last few decades and become increasingly more Santa like in their clothing and behavior. Switching out their old rags and sheepskin for red Santa Clause outfits and easing off on the crime a bit. Although unlike the saintly and wise Santa Clause they are always portrayed as being dumb, clumsy, and a bit greedy although they usually have a heart of gold. Their mother is a ogress called Grýla who eats naughty children and whose name is synonymous with "bogeyman". There are records of belief in Grýla dating back to the 13th century and some folklorists have theorized that she is a bastardization of a ancient Celtic deity. Their cat is gigantic and eats all the people who don't get any clothes for Yule.
I was a little disappointed that Arthur Christmas wasn't on this list, since it's an extremely overlooked and quality animated movie, but I can understand why you didn't. That initial list of Santa's to choose from must've been huge.
Fun fact. Or useless trivia. Santa's Slay stars Bill Goldberg (one of possibly less than a half a dozen Jewish pro wrestlers in history, I swear this is a thing) and co-stars his future wife...one of the strippers Santa straight up murders.
Great fun movie, and the fact that he is a demon forced to do good by a bet, until this year, where he comes top kill with symbols, and a lot of jewish symbols.
So glad to see another Loose Canon! Can't wait for the next one. Kind of surprised that you didn't mention what a son of a bitch the Rankin Bass Santa is, but oh well.
Here in Sweden it began with the christmas buck and then slowly the finnish figure called the "Juolopukki" (not sure abt spelling), an old character or spirit possibly who came out of the woods each winter. It mixed with the "yard gnome" eventually and then the german traditions wandered in and we got the christmas tree..
The christmas tree originated in germany though. Seeing how nothern germany, the netherlands, denmark, sweden and norway shared a lot of culture, ancient religion and values before the christianization of europe I could see germany having some long forgotten version of the Joulpukki, maybe?
This is the first video on Santa Claus that mentioned our Christ Kind. There's also a tradition of young girls dressing up as the Christkind and opening the Christmasmarket and stuff. It's actually a really big thing in Nuremberg. I grew up there and I think there wasn't one girl in my kindergarten that didn't dream of becoming the Christkind when she was older.
Well, I mean its not feminism.... The story is very weak and the main character has no arc. While the Disney version made it better, it really is just about a girl who is willing to literally give up her soul for a guy she didn't even know for 60 seconds...
No. You have it backwards. The mermaid specifically wanted to be human so that she could be with the prince, who she had fallen in love with when she saved him. That prompted her to question her mother/grandmother about whether or not humans could live forever like merpeople. She wanted a human soul so that she could be with him, not the other way around.
I agree, but her complaint about not having an arc seems to be specific to the Disney version, i'd say the original story does have an arc, albeit a small one (in that she'd rather the prince live happily with another woman than kill him to save herself and then being rewarded for it). Anyway, the Disney version doesn't have an arc. Ariel doesn't learn a lesson, she doesn't lose anything, and she doesn't grow as a character. In the original little mermaid the mermaid was not interested in the human world, she was interested in the prince. That was only in the Disney version that they made her interested prior to meeting him. And yea, we have done stupid things for crushes, I have never physically mutilated myself, given up my family, friends, and life, all for a person I don't know.
In the 'original' story, the mermaid wanted an immortal soul, it wasn't JUST about getting the prince. In that version, mermaids lived for hundreds of years but when they died that was it, while humans didn't live as long but their souls lived on forever. She makes a deal with the sea witch, gets legs and becomes human (which is painful as part of the deal means every step she takes will feel like walking on knives), falls in love with the prince who likes her as a friend and falls in love with someone else (someone who is NOT the witch, but a nice woman who treats the mermaid like a sister), which will mean death for the mermaid (with no immortal soul), her sisters sell their hair to the witch to save her. She can live as a mermaid again if she stabs and murders her prince and his fiancé with a dagger provided by the witch but the mermaid can't bring herself to do it. She dies and is rewarded for her sacrifice with an immortal soul becoming a Daughter of the Air.
He knew however he ruled it would adversely affect him. His grandkids hated him for putting Santa on trial. Either way he ruled would have ruined his political career
Santa's existence depends on how you look at him. Some like me, see him as a symbol; a figure that embodies goodwill, kindness and charity. For us, he is the personification of those ideals; much like how Christ is the personification of God's pure love. Anyone can put on the suit, hat, belt, boots and beard and call themselves Santa. But it all comes down to how you go about exhibiting what he represents. With that in mind, I believe he DOES exist (in a sense.) That being said, some factions of the media have given us some rather poor versions of Santa; most of which behave rather sadistically. Examples include American Dad's, Futurama's and of course, Family Guy's version. But it's an honest tie between Family Guy and American Dad, for me. With the former, he's the result of humanity's reprehensible greed during the holiday season; a message to tell us not to ask so much from him during Christmas. With the latter, he takes pride in SPOILING kids rather than inspiring goodwill into them. With both examples in mind, I can't help but think that Seth MacFarlane seems to hate Christmas...for one reason or another
is it bad growing up now I hate the Santa Clause? it just seemed sickish that one has to give up his identity to keep the spirit of corporate pandering alive. I mean I know i'm thinking too hard, like Lindsay says at the end, but I think Family Guy had the most accurate depiction of what being santa is truly like.
How about being forced into an arrangement that you knew nothing about before getting into it? That's pretty damn dumb. "You killed Santa, so now you are Santa." "I never agreed to that!" "It's right here in this contract." "Well I don't recognize it's authority!" End movie.
I actually did a fan fic involving a young woman getting the suit and when they went to read the contract to her, it disappears and is replaced with "Whoever has the suite makes the rules." That I think would be an entertaining movie and actually bring up important questions like "What defines Christmas and what are the real important things about it?" I mean you kind of sorta get that with some of the side-archs but it still doesn't change the elephant of the room of something called the status quo.
@@cartooningfanart Oh man I thought it was all just a tactic to get kids to behave. "You better be good or Santa won't give you any presents!" Now there's an Elf on a Shelf that is literally supposed to be watching you, that's practically just setting kids up to be okay with being watched all the time by government and corporations.
"Sexy Jack Frost" ... Well said. I loved North as a badass Santa, but I do keep rewatching for Jack. But, back to the original topic, North might be my favourite Santa ever, with Richard Attenborough's Kris Kringle (Miracle on 34th Street remake) and Nightmare Before Christmas's Santa close seconds.
I'm incredibly aware of this, I never said he wasn't. I also know Tooth's origin and I never called her a hummingbird. I've read the books, and seen the film. In said film, North serves as Santa, and thus my comment pertains to him in that capacity. Lindsay discussed the film, not the books, thus I only commented on the screen Santas I liked. Don't try to get all pretentious, because that's how you sound. Just because I didn't address the books doesn't mean I didn't read them, I am simply able to stay on topic and address just the medium at hand.
Great video as always. You're the film teacher I wish I'd had! out of curiosity, why do you think you don't put childhood on a pedestal as much as others do? I have all sorts of mental health crap that can be summarised by "I want my childhood back adulthood sucks" so all these movies about growing up or letting go of childhood strike a chord with me. it's one of the reasons why I love The Polar Express, despite its many flaws. I've written whole essays about my love hate relationship with that film. Do you not think of childhood as this precious separate thing but more as just another bit of life? or do you not have much of a taste for whimsical nostalgia? It would be interesting to hear your thoughts.
My parents tried to introduce the whole jolly mystical being swiftly delivering gifts in the gentle sleep of night to me when I was little, but all I heard was, "A large strange man is going to break into our house tonight and we're totally okay with that" and it genuinely terrified me, they had to let me know he wasn't real just so I'd sleep at night. Even as a kid I was a total wet blanket. :p Great video, Merry Christmas, internet peoples!
The Santa that gives weapons to children from Chronicles of Narnia, is my favorite Santa.
Good example! the children in Narnia, however, were always explicitly mentioned as quasi-grown-up (teenagers in an adult context owing to medieval conditions? perhaps) so that Lewis would not have to candy-sweet the whole affair. So yes, they get weapons for their fight for adult-ish values, and Lucy gets a magic healing cordial that proves very useful - not a child's toy at all either. (Cf. Lewis' references, rather slighting, to the 'values' of modern teenagerhood. Which are rather of a piece with this interpretation.)
You might like the book 'Hogfather' by Terry Pratchett ;-)
Wait so that wasn't a weird dream I had?
@@trishapellis Death Santa!
Honest Red Facts
"santa claus, or as he's known here, sandy claws, gets kidnapped by a well-meaning idiot who uses his position of authority to impose his mid-life crisis, willing or no, onto the denizens of both his polity and of a sovereign foreign nation."
i need this to be this movie's description on netflix/hulu/amazon/etc from now until the end of time.
This was ghost written by Seth MacFarlane.
She's not wrong with that statement
It’s giving “A girl travels to a magical land, kills the first person she encounters, and teams up with three strange men to kill her sister” description of Wizard of Oz.
I love that her description of Jack and his actions is completely cynical, absolutely accurate, and totally hilarious, without making me like the movie one bit less.
"You've all been very naughty! Except for you Dr. Zoidberg, here's a nice something."
"A POGO STICK!!!"
Hooray!
He deserves it.
To answer a likely rhetorical question: the tooth fairy in The Rise of the Guardians is possibly portrayed as a hummingbird because hummingbirds are seen by many as the real life equivalent of fairies. They are small, sparkly, bejeweled, beautiful, fast-moving somewhat mysterious creatures. So the interpretation could be more related to the "fairyness" of a hummingbird, not the "toothiness".
Speaking of Jack Skellington, it's a shame you don't have enough material to make an episode on Jack O Lantern. There's a holiday figure that deserves a lot more attention in the media. He was an Irish thief in the middle ages who tricked the devil up a tree so he could negotiate his way out of Hell when he died. He succeeded but because he already couldn't go to heaven he was cursed to wander the earth as a lost spirit, the Devil giving him a turnip lantern (their version of a pumpkin lantern back then) powered by Hellfire to light his way. He's believed to be the very first Will-O-The-Wisp. Why the hell hasn't this guy been adopted as a pop culture figure yet? That's metal as shit!
It is super meta
It's too metals, Standard audiences aren't ready for love
Yeah--humming birds don't have teeth. Hence why the tooth fairy collects them from others.
By that logic, the Exoskeleton Fairy is a human.
@@KaitlynMutt thank you for this comment.
Tooth lust isn't talked about enough. We all have ways to try and fill the emptiness inside.
@@KaitlynMuttbrand new sentence
Love your jab at Jack Skellington. Love the movie, but yeah, I can totally see why one would interpret the song that way.
I think the Rankin/Bass special where we see Santa grow up and such is probably my fave, since Mickey Rooney did a really good job voicing him. Plus the song One Foot in Front of the Other is pretty cute. Also the Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, based on a book by L. Frank Baum , in which it's like Santa Claus myth meets Lord of the Rings, with wizards and fairies and stuff, was pretty great as well.
“You keep what you kill”- quote followed by Santa 🎅 falling of the roof, was honestly priceless 💯😂😂😂
I cracked up at the description of Jack Skellington as a "well-meaning idiot" and all that followed. I mean.. you're not wrong.
What kinda confused me in Rise of the Guardians' Santa is his Russian motif. It's cool, yeah, but Santa wasn't really part of Russian culture. There was Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), who was connected to Christmas for sometimes, but since USSR he is not. Modern russian holiday traditions centers around New Year Eve, rather than Christmas Eve, but at the same time it's really similar to Western Christmas traditions. But it's still different holiday, so...
So it't weird, yeah.
my guess is because we americans have an image in our heads of russia as perpetually covered in snow; basically looking like the north pole but with actual cities built there
Canada and Russia both have territory in the arctic circle meaning you could have also had a Canadian Santa Claus.
Just made him more badass lol
Yeah, maybe he should've been Scandinavian.
if you can find the books and read them, you find out that their "santa" began his life as a russian swordsman and treasure hunter named Nicholas St.North who got caught up in an adventure with a wizard and learned magic while trying to save a village from the nightmare king and all that good "selfish-vagabond-turns-hero" stuff. a lot of people forget that there was an entire collection of books before and after the movie came out that are becoming increasingly hard to find that tell a lot of the stories that nothing is even mentioned about of the characters in the movie.
In Finland we used to have this tradition where on the 13th of January people used to go around houses dressed in furs and wearing horns on their head. This tradition has died out but it's legacy is that we call Santa "Christmas Goat" (Joulupukki).
Joulupukki - pukeista parhain!
I'm guessing the"goat"part doesn't translate as acronym from Finn 2 Engrish
"greatest of all time!"
Teemu Pukki is the GOAT
Now I want to see a Loose Canon for Jack Frost and the Tooth Fairy.
Little to say about Frost, though: beyond the old fairy tale, some myths, and a handful of mostly godawful films, there's not much to him, or his history. It was just a way to explain winter, and why people died from exposure.
Tooth Fairy turned into The Rock briefly, so there's that, I guess.
I'm having a pretty sad Christmas (in a foreign country, without family or friends) so this is a very welcome distraction. Thanks for this video, Lindsay! Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it and happy holidays to everyone else!
Hey, for whatever this is worth, Merry Christmas. Sorry to hear it's gonna be a lonely one.
Philippe Parle Peu Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas and stay strong! :)
Merry Christmas ❤❤ Feel free to look to me as an ear to talk to.
Thank you so much, everyone! :'-)
I honestly find these loose canon videos more enjoyable than NC reviews
I would've mentioned Weird Al's "The Night Santa Went Crazy", a beautiful metaphor for your childhood innocense crashing and burning in an explosion of awesomness and hilarity.
About "The Polar Express", she used the WORST moment in the movie, and that moment only lasts for 15 seconds, so the rest of the movie is pretty bearable.
Also, I'm surprised Lindsay didn't cover "Arthur Christmas", an animated family film by Aardman and SONY Animation about the title of Santa being a moniker passed down to future family generations. This results in the movie having a current working Santa who's turning senile and is on his way to retirement, his 2 sons vying to be the next in line, and their crazy old grandpa who misses the days when being Santa was simpler.
andrewkful one of my new favorite christmas animated films.
@@Torthrodhel Same. I hate uncanny valleyness but Polar Express didn't feel like uncanny valley. It's my favorite Christmas film.
"A horror comedy from 2005 and also the worst thing to happen to mankind "
we don't have a chimney. so one year we decided to lock all the doors to see if we can keep Santa Claus out. We were never ones to belive in Santa, but you know. Just in case
Melissa What also helps dogs and shotguns
that's why the tooth fairy is so into teeth to the extent of collecting them, because she has none of her own!
This was great but it needs a part 2, because there are so many great versions out there, like Arthur Christmas
rmeddy1 I was honestly shocked she didn't mention Arthur Christmas, that's a movie almost entirely about Santa and what he means to individual people, it seemed perfect for this type of thing
Yeah I almost shouted out "what no Arthur Christmas" after watching this.
rmeddy1 I really wanted her to talk about Arthur Christmas. It's by far my favorite Christmas movie and interprets Santa in a really cute way.
"New York pizza's actually really overrated!" Truer words have rarely been spoken.
LIAR!!!
I've been to the actual original rays. It's in New Jersey because they had to move and it's AMAZING. If you don't like New York slices, you probably haven't been to the right place. It literally is the birthplace of American pizza, so if you like pizza, that's what's to like.
Oh, no Santa as Odin? I've seen that at least twice.
Peteman12 good children get gifts, but bad children face GUNGNIR!
I assume you've seen the latest xkcd?
(xkcd.com/1776/ for future reference)
Three times.
What with Odin being the patron god of wealthy lords and army leaders, I doubt he'd be very interested in giving anything except a spear to the gut. Frey/Frö would be a slightly more likely candidate, what with being a harvest and prosperity deity so I'd be more inclined to believe that he got bored one winter and decided to go out giving gifts when giving good crops wasn't in season.
Helena Nilsson Not necessarily. He valued sacred hospitality and had walked around disguised as an old peasant, rewarding those that would share what they could to a seemingly physically feeble old man.
honestly don't care what Lindsay is talking about in any video ever, i just like listening to her talk.
I had always heard santa used to wear green and it was the coca cola company that changed it to red in a marketing campaign. I like that he got his classic look from an illustrated children's book a lot better
Can Doodle I heard that too, maybe it's an urban myth spread by Coca-Cola to make them seem more powerful than they actually are. I'm from the UK and I remember my Nan telling me Santa used to wear green, she grew up in the 30's.
Santa Claus's red coat is likely derived from the red robes of bishops.
It's an over-simplification at best. In Sweden, Santa (called "tomten" then and still now, although the concept of him has changed entirely) was short (think gnome), wore gray and watch over the animals at your farm and if you mistreated them he might play you a prank or something.
He still had a beard though.
There isn't a huge amount of difference between the figure in the UK and the US. It used to be more common to call him Father Christmas but now we call him Santa as well (presumably due to Hollywood). Also we don't leave cookies and milk at night but Brandy, mince pies (sweet, which don't contain real mince anymore) and carrots for the reindeer.
viljamtheninja, note that those "pranks" could go as far as to kill all the animals on the farm as retribution, depending on what the humans had done. And they could be very petty. There's a popular tale of how the tomte thought that the humans had forgotten to put a knob of butter on his offering of porridge so he killed their best milk cow. When he moments later noticed that he had made a mistake (the butter was further down in the bowl) he replaced the dead cow with one he stole from the neighbours. Not exactly a saintly figure in other words.
I actually love the Rankin Bass specials. Like, I watch them all year around. And yea, I acknowledge that their not great, but they've got a kind of folksy, whimsical charm. That being said, I think my favorite Rankin Bass Santa is the one in Santa Clause is Coming to Town. I don't know why, but that one seems particularly human and likable.
All in all tho, this video was very informative. Happy holidays!
*gets cozy*
noms whiskey and marshmellows.
*puts down his drink* Wait santa isnt real?
*wailing sobbing sounds*
I'm so happy someone finally pointed out that Jack is the ANTAGONIST of Nightmare Before Christmas. You're suppose to feel sorry for him, not root for him. I'm tired of fan girls forgetting that and thinking him being shot out the sky wasn't true retribution.
Of course that may also be one of the reasons for why I'm all "noooo don't diss on JackxSally!" I find them ending up together pivotal to the story. Sally ends up with the thing she didn't think was good enough for, while Jack learns to notice someone other than himself, namely that of the person who's always been there for him the whole time....
Oh no I'm tumblr rambling!
I'm so sorry for leaving this on your vid Lindsay. D:>
That's not what antagonist means.
Last time I checked an antagonist is a person/obstacle in a story who causes conflict, intentionally or otherwise. They are not always a villain or actively evil person. Jack fills that role, I think.
The antagonist has to be opposing someone though. Particularly, the protagonist, which is Jack. I guess you could say that Jack is his own antagonist but that would be a stretch. I prefer to say the movie has no antagonist, 'cept for Oogie Boogie in the last few minutes.
Well, he's the well meaning idiot who has to fix his own mess. That's what I got out of it
"the real protagonist here is sexy jack frost" well you arent wrong
it's true, but she shouldn't say it
The odd thing about this from a non-US perspective is that I didn't know some of the references. At 5:30 when Lindsay talks about Yukon Cornelius and the Bumble, and Spencer's Gifts, I don't know any of that. This is only notable because usually American references are kinda universal. It's always a bit jarring to find out there are things that haven't left America's shores.
Does this mean. You're going to do. Loose Canon: Jesus Christ. For Easter???
JONNOG88 Well considering she's American and most Americans associate easter with the "Easter bunny" that is more likely
JONNOG88 I would LOVE that. Regardless of your religious beliefs, seeing the varying interpretations of Jesus in media is fascinating.
That and being American, she'll have Hell to pay if she does Jesus (pun intended).
Jesus was the other option for this one, but when we started trying to compile it, it was like... yeah no, Jesus could have his very own webseries.
***** Well now that you've said it, YOU have to make that web series, Lindsay.
I applaud your ability to edit this down to 17 minutes and 24 seconds. The choice of media must've been enormous, so even the pre-selection was probably pretty difficult. Loosely ordering them by theme was probably the sensible thing to do. Thanks!
What I took away from the "transgression" theme: We want to have it both ways. We want to have the feeling of "Oooohh, we're so adult and cynical and not naive, we know how awful the world *really* is!" but we also want the fuzzy warm feeling of a hopeful happy ending at the same time. Good insight. What a lesson for Christmas Eve. ;)
funny enough, my christmas wish was a loose canon video on santa!
Ellen Squidhelm hey 0-3 sad onions ;))
Finland actually has this tv show that comes out every year on christmas eve where children can call Santa and it's all done live. The show is called Joulupukin kuuma linja (Santa's Hotline) and it's a tradition in some (if not most) families to watch it while decorating the christmas tree (in Finland we celebrate christmas mostly on the 24th).
Just thought that's something people could be interested in.
Much like Jack The Ripper, interpretations of Santa Claus only get weirder once you delve into video games...
Here's a few examples:
-Duke Nukem (yes, him again) did battle with St. Nick in Nuclear Winter, a terrible third-party expansion for Duke Nukem 3D. The conceit is that the aliens have brainwashed Santa to their cause and you have to snap him out of it by nearly killing him. Easier said than done as the modders made Santa the fastest enemy in the game and has every weapon you do.
-Clayfighter 63 1/3 introduces Sumo Santa to act as the rival to the series' mascot, Bad Mr. Frosty. His primary method of attack is, of course, throwing his morbid obesity at you and making bad X-Mas pins.
-Daze Before Christmas is a European exclusive platformer that is mostly notable for the fact that drinking coffee powers up Santa into a blue-drabbed demon version of himself.
-Saints Row IV's DLC expansion, How The Saints Save Christmas, may be the strangest example of Santa in a game ever. Jane Austin narrates (strap in, it only gets weirder from here) that after conquering the alien empire that destroyed the Earth, your gang try to celebrate Christmas, much to your player character's chagrin... Suddenly, a future version of your gang lieutenants warps in to warn you about the impending threat of an Evil Santa. The only way to stop this is to rescue Santa from a Matrix-like Personal Hell simulation before he goes criminally insane, through the time-tested methods of committing good deeds and shooting evil gingerbread men with weaponized dubstep...
Sumo Santa was my favorite. I could hear him go "Jingle THIS all the way" forever.
I've played this fun on-rails shooter for the DS called Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ where as the title implies, you shoot the undead as Little Red Riding Hood. Most of the bosses are zombie versions of fairy tale characters (Three Little Pigs, Sleeping Beauty etc.) but one of them is a zombie Santa Claus that throws explosive presents.
Mr Sacks. from Fallen London is probably the weirdest, and best, alternate version of Santa Claus that I have ever seen in a video game. Much like the other masters of the Bazaar, he is a hooded figure (with a red cloak with white fur trim). But instead of a jolly old fellow, he creeps into your house at night and demands you give him _something_ (the first gift usually being a pail of snow... yes, there is snow underground, but it's not made of water) over a period of 12 nights (1 gift for each night). For example, his helpers are young urchins who gave him their ability to age.
just stumbled on this series and channel, and both are GENIUS.
Or for a more recent example of Santa Clause's rules: Tim Allen paid the iron price.
Scuse you A Year Without A Santa Claus is EVERYTHING!!!!
Lindsay, I would love to see a Loose Canon video focusing on Jekyll and Hyde. It's one of my favorite books, and there's a TON of adaptations to explore: the novel, stage play, films, TV shows (loosely adapted or new straightforward interpretations), the musical, and the whole superhero genre that makes use of the double life/secret identity archetype. Just a suggestion. I'm sure you have a long list of other videos you're putting together. :)
This may have been said before, but Hebrew Hammer has a delightful interpretation of Santa and his son, Damien.
I'm beginning to wonder if Anakin Skywalker deserves a Loose Canon episode. Sure, he's owned by one company, and hasn't really gone through franchise reboots, but as far as Star Wars characters go, he's wildly inconsistent. Sure, most of it can be chalked to character development, but still, some changes seem a bit unnatural.
Servo Augusta I’m pretty sure what Ender means is Luke Skywalker’s representation in the extended canon
I would love to see episodes on both Luke and Anakin!
Agreed
I had no idea Krampus was real folklore, I though it was just made up by American Dad.
You'd be surprised how often False Equivalency wins cases.
Or maybe you wouldn't.
My favorite MST3k Christmas episode is the one with Mexican Santa fighting Satan, with the help of terrifying robot reindeer!
"At last, a full tilt battle between pure evil and Santa Claus in our own home!"
As you mentioned, you can't cover every adaptation of Santa, because oh damn, but I'm surprised that Arthur Christmas didn't get included in this. It's got 4 simultaneous Santas in it and each represents a different era or ideal about Christmas. Practically a Loose Canon episode in one movie.
The true miracle of Christmas is how that 1898 film is still around.
Greetings from Amsterdam. To me it's funny to hear you say Sinterklaas. Glad to see you back Lindsay
The miracle on 34th street santa feels like the best versions of superman and captain america. You know for sure that his important actions are the moral ones but we get in his head enough that he still feels like a real person
This is a beautiful sentiment that I am 100% behind.
Can we get a mini-canon on Krampus?
To be exact "Christkindl" is derrived from southern germany and austria. Northern Germany has also a kind of Santa Clause figure called "Weihnachtsmann", which translates to "Christmas Man" (I know Northern germans are not the most creative. XD
Gawd, it must've been hard to choose what to cut down to. Honestly I would've divided it into Literature, Movies, TV, and then divide TV into Live Action and Animation, and then maybe by network? Not all at once, but maybe one category each year.
Scott Sandler An awful lot of fourthought That's the next five years of Christmas Videos right there.
ajmrowland On Fairly OddParents Santa is a fairy. There are some shows and movies where I'm sure Santa is an alien. There's possibility
I cannot adequately express my happiness with this new installment through the written word. Please imagine a fireworks display in leu of a comment.
Why no Mara Wilson input on Miracle on 34th Street (yes I know she isn't fond of it and prefers the classic)
The Attenborough Miracle is also great for the scene with the deaf girl...it just make so much sense it it's worth a watch knowing she was really deaf and he surprise her with sign language he learned before filming...it gives the scene a great authenticity to the character !!
...I actually liked Santa's Slay. Also, I'm shocked you didn't mention the Hogfather from Discworld, as that would been totally perfect for this ep.
Alexandre Martins yes a very good one actually, you can find it on TH-cam I believe.
I think because it’s not really Santa, and because she covered it for the Death Loose Canon.
another great shot out the cannon. May Love, Joy and Peace be yours this Holiday season.
Lindsay, would you ever do a Loose Canon series dedicated to fairytales and their many adaptations? I would love to see one for Beauty and the Beast after the 2017 film comes out.
Your wish came true! I may remark. Ho Ho Hooo!
It is incumbent upon parents to instill in their children a belief in Santa Claus and and the magic of the holiday season.
After all, our shattered dreams and disenchantment with life has to begin somewhere.
I'm 31 years old, as of Dec.22nd and I STILL have my child-like innocence and belief.
Because to me, being a "mature adult" is overrated. True, you must be able to be mature enough to take responsibility (when the time comes.)
But people like a certain "legally chosen" president elect have proven not all adults are that mature
Forget about him, what about all the people who voted for him? That's the real scary part.
Child-like belief is probably not a great thing to have as an adult. I mean, I believed in _dragons_ when I was a little kid. Lots of kids believe in the tooth fairy and Santa.
I still feel the child-like sense of joy in learning new things if that's the sort of feeling you mean, but kids are generally really gullible so I wouldn't compare my sense of "belief" to theirs.
Master Markus
All I'm saying is nothing is what it seems
sadlobster1
I definitely wouldn't say _nothing_. We know what the sky is, for example.
Master Markus
What I mean is there is so much about the world, the universe and the idea of what is real/existent we have yet to understand.
We shouldn't follow science, faith or logic blindly
The Mystery Science Theater version of Santa Claus Conquers The Martians is a seasonal tradition in my home. Great video. You’re cool, Lindsay. - - Merry Christmas!
While in a physical sense, he "isn't real." He IS real as the symbolic image of the goodness found in Christmas.
Kindness, love, hope, generosity and goodwill toward others. When one (in some cases) takes up the identity of Santa.
They carry with them those ideals and inspire the ideas of goodwill in children. So, in a way; Santa IS as real as Christ is (for those of us who follow the faith.)
But that's just how I look at it
The power of myth, in short
I know this comment is years old bit i gotta say -- that's a really nice sentiment!
@@TheSneezingAnouki Thank you
No silent night deadly Night? Hm
Need more loose santa canon!
I'd recommended taking a look at Terry Pratchett's The Hogfather. While technically not Santa, and while the movie is less about the titular Hogfather than it is about Death, it's an interesting take on the concept nonetheless.
Nice Xmas surprise! Thanks Lindsay--enjoy your holidays!
Surprised you didn't mention Arthur Christmas
Me too! Or the Raymond Briggs Father Christmas, a film I think would have been right up her alley with a more gruff and cynical Santa figure.
Considering she mentioned Grim in the loose canon on Death, I'm also surprised she didn't mention the Billy and Mandy episode where Santa gets turned into a vampire. LOL XDDD
Thank you!
I assume it was probably since that movie wasn't THAT well liked, can't help but wonder if it just wasn't well advertised also.
Elyse Walker - yeah but with the Billy And Mandy episode she was discussing the Grimm Reaper, who is a main character . If she was going to include every cameo appearance of Santa in every tv show ever the video would be 20 times longer XD. But films and shows were Santa is the main character should be included, which is why I'm surprised Arthur Christmas and Father Christmas were not included.
I always liked Raymond Briggs version of Farther Christmas. A grumpy old man who loves his job, but also complains about everything. I also like that it also addresses how Christmas is becoming this large thing.
In Iceland we have the Yule Lads. They bring candy, toys and various trinkets to good boys and girls for the 13 days leading up to Christmas. They leave their gifts in shoes which are placed in windows, if you are bad you get a potato. There are 13 of them and each one has it's own gimmick usually related to being a nuisance or a petty criminal. Stekkjastaur has wooden legs and suckles other people's sheep, Gáttaþefur has a huge nose that he uses to sniff out and steal food, Kertasníkir eats candles, Gluggagægir is a peeping tom, Hurðaskellir slams doors in the middle of the night, Stúfur is a midget that licks your pans etc. etc. They were once used to scare children into obedience but have softened up in the last few decades and become increasingly more Santa like in their clothing and behavior. Switching out their old rags and sheepskin for red Santa Clause outfits and easing off on the crime a bit. Although unlike the saintly and wise Santa Clause they are always portrayed as being dumb, clumsy, and a bit greedy although they usually have a heart of gold.
Their mother is a ogress called Grýla who eats naughty children and whose name is synonymous with "bogeyman". There are records of belief in Grýla dating back to the 13th century and some folklorists have theorized that she is a bastardization of a ancient Celtic deity. Their cat is gigantic and eats all the people who don't get any clothes for Yule.
Aww, you missed Bruce Campbell’s turn as Santa in The Librarians. He’s hilarious.
*Talks about the history of Santa Claus*
*Doesn’t mention Coca-Cola*
Lindsay spoiled Santa for someone out there. I love it. lol
I was a little disappointed that Arthur Christmas wasn't on this list, since it's an extremely overlooked and quality animated movie, but I can understand why you didn't. That initial list of Santa's to choose from must've been huge.
Lindsay's description of Nightmare is the greatest thing ever
Fun fact. Or useless trivia. Santa's Slay stars Bill Goldberg (one of possibly less than a half a dozen Jewish pro wrestlers in history, I swear this is a thing) and co-stars his future wife...one of the strippers Santa straight up murders.
Great fun movie, and the fact that he is a demon forced to do good by a bet, until this year, where he comes top kill with symbols, and a lot of jewish symbols.
With Christmas coming soon, time to watch.
So glad to see another Loose Canon! Can't wait for the next one.
Kind of surprised that you didn't mention what a son of a bitch the Rankin Bass Santa is, but oh well.
Just in Rudolph. In all the other specials he's okay.
Fun fact, the guy who plays Santa in Santa's Slay is professional wrestler, Bill Goldberg, who is also Jewish.
Here in Sweden it began with the christmas buck and then slowly the finnish figure called the "Juolopukki" (not sure abt spelling), an old character or spirit possibly who came out of the woods each winter. It mixed with the "yard gnome" eventually and then the german traditions wandered in and we got the christmas tree..
Joulupukki
Thank you for the correct spelling. 😊
The christmas tree originated in germany though. Seeing how nothern germany, the netherlands, denmark, sweden and norway shared a lot of culture, ancient religion and values before the christianization of europe I could see germany having some long forgotten version of the Joulpukki, maybe?
I never thought a brief deconstruction of “Nightmare Before Christmas would make me chuckle so much 😂
I was so excited to see this in my subs.
This is the first video on Santa Claus that mentioned our Christ Kind.
There's also a tradition of young girls dressing up as the Christkind and opening the Christmasmarket and stuff. It's actually a really big thing in Nuremberg. I grew up there and I think there wasn't one girl in my kindergarten that didn't dream of becoming the Christkind when she was older.
I'm surprised you didn't talk about Arthur's Christmas which also uses a passing of the torch troupe.
Jack Skellington *is* an imperialistic, well-meaning idiot who makes his mid-death crisis the problem of three entire worlds and I love him for it
do more of these. how about loose canon: the little mermaid
Well, I mean its not feminism.... The story is very weak and the main character has no arc. While the Disney version made it better, it really is just about a girl who is willing to literally give up her soul for a guy she didn't even know for 60 seconds...
No, the little mermaid *wanted* a soul, but the only way she knew to get one was by marrying a human,
No. You have it backwards. The mermaid specifically wanted to be human so that she could be with the prince, who she had fallen in love with when she saved him. That prompted her to question her mother/grandmother about whether or not humans could live forever like merpeople. She wanted a human soul so that she could be with him, not the other way around.
I agree, but her complaint about not having an arc seems to be specific to the Disney version, i'd say the original story does have an arc, albeit a small one (in that she'd rather the prince live happily with another woman than kill him to save herself and then being rewarded for it). Anyway, the Disney version doesn't have an arc. Ariel doesn't learn a lesson, she doesn't lose anything, and she doesn't grow as a character. In the original little mermaid the mermaid was not interested in the human world, she was interested in the prince. That was only in the Disney version that they made her interested prior to meeting him.
And yea, we have done stupid things for crushes, I have never physically mutilated myself, given up my family, friends, and life, all for a person I don't know.
In the 'original' story, the mermaid wanted an immortal soul, it wasn't JUST about getting the prince. In that version, mermaids lived for hundreds of years but when they died that was it, while humans didn't live as long but their souls lived on forever. She makes a deal with the sea witch, gets legs and becomes human (which is painful as part of the deal means every step she takes will feel like walking on knives), falls in love with the prince who likes her as a friend and falls in love with someone else (someone who is NOT the witch, but a nice woman who treats the mermaid like a sister), which will mean death for the mermaid (with no immortal soul), her sisters sell their hair to the witch to save her. She can live as a mermaid again if she stabs and murders her prince and his fiancé with a dagger provided by the witch but the mermaid can't bring herself to do it. She dies and is rewarded for her sacrifice with an immortal soul becoming a Daughter of the Air.
To be fair on the Miracle on 34th street movie, the judge WAS looking for a way to wriggle out of the whole thing.
He knew however he ruled it would adversely affect him. His grandkids hated him for putting Santa on trial. Either way he ruled would have ruined his political career
Santa's existence depends on how you look at him. Some like me, see him as a symbol; a figure that embodies goodwill, kindness and charity. For us, he is the personification of those ideals; much like how Christ is the personification of God's pure love.
Anyone can put on the suit, hat, belt, boots and beard and call themselves Santa. But it all comes down to how you go about exhibiting what he represents. With that in mind, I believe he DOES exist (in a sense.)
That being said, some factions of the media have given us some rather poor versions of Santa; most of which behave rather sadistically. Examples include American Dad's, Futurama's and of course, Family Guy's version.
But it's an honest tie between Family Guy and American Dad, for me. With the former, he's the result of humanity's reprehensible greed during the holiday season; a message to tell us not to ask so much from him during Christmas.
With the latter, he takes pride in SPOILING kids rather than inspiring goodwill into them. With both examples in mind, I can't help but think that Seth MacFarlane seems to hate Christmas...for one reason or another
The year without a Santa clause is the best Rankin Bass Christmas special.
every video, im eyeballin her lipstick with envy. Top tier color game.
Serious offer, if your even in Amsterdam around the 5th of December come celebrate Sinterklaas with me and the family, you'd love it 😂👌
David Sedaris referance! I love you Lindsay!!!!
Reference. Please don't hate me I have a degree in English literature.
I love A Year Without A Santa Clause so underrated
is it bad growing up now I hate the Santa Clause? it just seemed sickish that one has to give up his identity to keep the spirit of corporate pandering alive. I mean I know i'm thinking too hard, like Lindsay says at the end, but I think Family Guy had the most accurate depiction of what being santa is truly like.
How about being forced into an arrangement that you knew nothing about before getting into it? That's pretty damn dumb.
"You killed Santa, so now you are Santa."
"I never agreed to that!"
"It's right here in this contract."
"Well I don't recognize it's authority!"
End movie.
I actually did a fan fic involving a young woman getting the suit and when they went to read the contract to her, it disappears and is replaced with "Whoever has the suite makes the rules." That I think would be an entertaining movie and actually bring up important questions like "What defines Christmas and what are the real important things about it?" I mean you kind of sorta get that with some of the side-archs but it still doesn't change the elephant of the room of something called the status quo.
@@cartooningfanart Oh man I thought it was all just a tactic to get kids to behave. "You better be good or Santa won't give you any presents!" Now there's an Elf on a Shelf that is literally supposed to be watching you, that's practically just setting kids up to be okay with being watched all the time by government and corporations.
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol! The Lemon Drop Kid!
i learned about santa's 6-8 black friends from david sedaris
Where did you get your definition of the word "friend", from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy?
"New York pizza is really overrated."
You say that now, but just wait until you find yourself deprived of it for an extended period of time.
I like the hogfather interpretation also alsace is cool
"Sexy Jack Frost" ... Well said. I loved North as a badass Santa, but I do keep rewatching for Jack. But, back to the original topic, North might be my favourite Santa ever, with Richard Attenborough's Kris Kringle (Miracle on 34th Street remake) and Nightmare Before Christmas's Santa close seconds.
I'm incredibly aware of this, I never said he wasn't. I also know Tooth's origin and I never called her a hummingbird. I've read the books, and seen the film. In said film, North serves as Santa, and thus my comment pertains to him in that capacity. Lindsay discussed the film, not the books, thus I only commented on the screen Santas I liked.
Don't try to get all pretentious, because that's how you sound. Just because I didn't address the books doesn't mean I didn't read them, I am simply able to stay on topic and address just the medium at hand.
I get that part, the books are sadly underrated. What really bothered me is that the response didn't really suit the original comment.
Great video as always. You're the film teacher I wish I'd had!
out of curiosity, why do you think you don't put childhood on a pedestal as much as others do? I have all sorts of mental health crap that can be summarised by "I want my childhood back adulthood sucks" so all these movies about growing up or letting go of childhood strike a chord with me. it's one of the reasons why I love The Polar Express, despite its many flaws. I've written whole essays about my love hate relationship with that film.
Do you not think of childhood as this precious separate thing but more as just another bit of life? or do you not have much of a taste for whimsical nostalgia? It would be interesting to hear your thoughts.
My parents tried to introduce the whole jolly mystical being swiftly delivering gifts in the gentle sleep of night to me when I was little, but all I heard was, "A large strange man is going to break into our house tonight and we're totally okay with that" and it genuinely terrified me, they had to let me know he wasn't real just so I'd sleep at night. Even as a kid I was a total wet blanket. :p Great video, Merry Christmas, internet peoples!