Reptileenbu
Did you people see the same film I saw?
Comwayon
A Disappointing Continuation
Megamind
To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
Christmas-Reviewer
BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONEST Santa's Surprise is a 1947 Christmas-themed Noveltoon animated short. It was originally released by Paramount Pictures on December 5, 1947.As Santa delivers presents to Audrey and some other children, they slip into his sleigh to repay him by cleaning up his house, often with a clumsy Dutch boy's antics.This animated short is cute. Keep in mind there was no such thing as politically correct when this was made. Some images "MIGHT BE" offensive to some.
MartinHafer
"Santa's Surprise" is from Famous Studios--the cartoon factory owned by Paramount. Up until the early 1940s, it had been Fleischer Brothers, but the brothers were long gone by the time this cute cartoon was made.It begins with Santa making Christmas deliveries--and several kids from around the world (including Little Audrey in her first cartoon) sneaking onto his sleigh. No, they are not terrorists but nice kids who want to do something nice for him when he returns home. So, the kids clean up Santa's place and leave his a Christmas tree with a present just for him.While this cartoon is pretty cute (especially the very end), I am pretty sure it's damned by good intentions that haven't kept up with changing times. Some of the kids (especially the black one) are real stereotypes and I am sure some folks would take offense, though the Dutch kid is by far the stupidest one and I assume the Dutch have thick enough skins to handle that. All in all, quite enjoyable but not up to the standards of the best cartoon shorts of the day--which were mostly coming from Looney Tunes and MGM.
Michael_Elliott
Santa's Surprise (1947) *** (out of 4)It's Christmas Night and Santa Claus is traveling around the world dropping off gifts for the little kids. When he gets back to the North Pole he goes right to bed not realizing that several kids have followed him home and have a surprise for him. What this short basically teaches us is that Santa Claus is so busy that he's unable to clean his own house, which leads to a lot of messes and dust. The kid's decide to be nice and clean the house while he catches up on his sleep. Overall this here is a pretty entertaining short that certainly has its heart in the right place but at the same time I'm sure most parents will have a lot of explaining to do to their kids. I say that because there are quite a few stereotypes on display here that are obviously going to offend many people today so parents will be explaining that this type of thing was at one time normal. The black kid and the Asian kids all have stereotypes about them and this includes the black kid shining Santa's shoes. Even with this stuff I still thought the film was entertaining. All of the characters are charming enough and even the Santa here is quite memorable. Another major bonus is that the song the kid's sing is actually pretty catchy in its own right.
richard.fuller1
Actually it is seven children (Lil Audrey, a black child, an Asian, a Hawaiian girl, an Hispanic girl, a Dutch boy and a Russian boy) who sneak into Santa's sleigh and follow him to the North Pole to surprise him by cleaning his home and doing his dishes while he sleeps.Yes, the black child is very Sambo-ish and the Asian child is sinisterly slit-eyed (notice how he sees Santa; by looking over his own shoulder into a mirror), but in the end the comedy relief is all on the Dutch boy; noisy shoes, breaking dishes, caught in the washing machine.In some ways, this is a charming predecessor to Star Trek, with its international lineup (as well as possessing a previous enemy to America, the Asian child, and a product of the upcoming cold war, the Russian).There is a surprise here in this unlikely 1947 cartoon, for Santa as well as for the rest of us as to when people started opening their eyes.And it began with the kids, apparently.
