Santa's Enchanted Village (1964) Online

This movie is very good and extremely chaotic. It feels like a parody. Very confusing.

Short film begins with an intro by a slightly pedophilic looking fat guy, in a red and white suit- quite a contrast to the green grass shown at this supposed North Pole on Christmas. A train brings visitors- okay, it *is* a cool looking bridge, and train going over it. I'll give the film that much- to Santa and the giant mushroom statues, in the green grass of this supposed North Pole, at Christmas. A princess in a horse-drawn, egg-shaped carriage pulls up to the cat- costumed individual... What? Did I really just see that? Well, now we know what the aforementioned mushrooms were used for. Cat creature takes off running, and subsequently trips and falls backward twice- were we supposed to see that? Apparently we were not supposed to see the climax of this story, a fight of some sort, as it takes place off-camera, in the clouds and treetops, while Santa and a group of kids talk and dance in his uncharacteristically green front lawn, at the supposed North Pole, at Christmas. One would never suspect this was filmed in California, rather than a colder, arctic climate.

This mushroom trip of a short film is only good for a couple of unintentional laughs, and is another one with no credited cast, aside from Santa Claus, Stinky the Skunk, Puss'n Boots, etc.

Like Santa's Magic Kingdom that I reviewed last year, this was another ineptly made children's holiday short produced by schlockmeister K. Gordon Murray and filmed on location at a Santa's Village in California and Illinois. For one thing, the narrator claims that to make Santa feel at home, each of the village made in his name has a "North Pole made of real ice". Really? Even in summer? Seeing an adult in a giant Stinky the Skunk costume brings a creepy vibe especially in close-up. And don't get me started on the adult-in-a-wolf costume who complains of his ulcer to Santa (who laughs at his expense!) because of his sixteen-hour work days without Stinky helping, who has an out-of-tune accordion playing whenever he walks, and tells Stinky at a children's puppet show (which is real ineptly performed here) how he "works his butt off for the Children of the Universe". LOL! And how about those teen elves who look like they've never been at a rock 'n' roll concert? Not to mention the repetitious marching music (which would have been at home at a Nazi parade) when the skunk and the elves make their toys. Those pre-teen kids sure take their time running away from Stinky during the puppet show. (And one of them actually decides to strike a conversion with him !) And one more thing, the skunk's and Puss-in-Boots' voices are really amateurishly and annoyingly banal! Makes me wish "Mystery Sceince Theatre 3000" was still on the air so I can hear what Joel or Mike and 'bots would comment on as this really monotonous piece of junk was unspooling in their Satellite of Love...