Santa Claus Blog

Throughout the history of holiday movies, Santa Claus has been portrayed by numerous actors. From both film versions of Miracle on 34th Street (1947 and 1994), to Elf (2003), to The Santa Clause Trilogy (1994-2006), the actor always brings their own unique qualities to the performance and each of the performances always manage to be asset to the movie. In this blog, I thought we could explore the actors who have donned the red suit (and elderly makeup if they need it), and always managed to be endearing when they say “Ho! Ho! Ho!” Please feel free to tell me who your favorite is.

• The very first actor who portrayed Santa Claus on the Silver Screen was Edmund Gwenn in the original Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Gwenn won a well-deserved Academy Award (for Best Supporting Actor) for his performance. When he received the award his acceptance speech was “Now I know there is a Santa Claus.” Each of Gwenn’s cast mates in the film were very fond of him. Maureen O’Hara (Doris Walker) said “By the time we were halfway through the shoot, we all believed Edmund really was Santa Claus. I’ve never seen an actor more naturally suited for a role.” Alvin Greenman (Alfred the Janitor) said that he was “a dear, dear man,” who always took time to mentor him, and Robert Hyatt (Thomas Mara Jr.) said “He was a really nice guy, always happy, always smiling. He had this little twinkle in his eye.”     
• When Fox remade “Miracle,” in 1994, the role of Kris Kringle was assumed by Lord Richard Attenborough starring alongside Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott, and Mara Wilson. Much like Edmund Gwenn’s cast mates, Attenborough’s were also fond of him. When Lord Attenborough passed away on August 24th, 2014 at the age of 90, each in the cast tweeted their condolences. McDermott tweeted “Rest in Peace Richard Attenborough. U were the best Santa ever” and Wilson tweeted “Sir Richard Attenborough was the only Santa Claus I ever believed in. A wonderful man. Still in shock. May he rest in peace.” Also, Perkins tweeted “Terribly sad. He will always be my Kris Kringle.” Although the principle cast members who worked on this movie had a good time working together, their movie was critically panned in its initial release, and Fox offered a refund to any viewer who didn’t enjoy it and received approximately 1,500 tickets to the movie returned to their studio. There was also reviewer named Desson Howe who said the film “it will not be found on television half a century from now,” which is ironic because the film has gained popularity since its release and is consistently aired on television all throughout Christmas.
• The same year that Fox remade “Miracle,” Disney produced The Santa Clause (1994) starring Tim Allen (his first leading role in a movie). His collective contributions to Disney, including the Toy Story franchise, Jungle 2 Jungle (1997), The Shaggy Dog (2006), and other various TV roles, earned him the title of “Disney Legend” in 1999. (His award set the record for shortest time between first contribution to Disney (Allen’s was in 1991 with ABC’s Home Improvement) and being named a legend. Ironically, Tim Allen’s “Toy Story” cast mate, Tom Hanks was considered for the role of Scott Calvin in “The Santa Clause” franchise, but Allen got the role and reprised it in two sequels: The Santa Clause 2 (2002) and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006).
• Edward Asner, who is best known for playing the role of Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) and Lou Grant (1977-1982) which earned him five Golden Globes and five Emmys actually is a Santa Claus veteran. He first donned the red suit in an episode of the television series Highway to Heaven (1984-1989). His next portrayal was in The Christmas Star (1986) which is a made-for-television produced by ABC and The Story of Santa Claus (1996), Olive, the Other Reindeer (1999), and an episode of The Ellen Show (2001-2002). The first time he played it in a theatrical movie, however, was in the comedy cult classic, Elf (2003). You Disney fans might also remember that Asner is known for providing the voice of Carl Fredricksen in Up (2009) and portraying Hank Cooper in Disney’s Gus (1976), starring opposite sit-com legends Don Knotts, Tim Conway, Harold Gould, and Tom Bosley. He has also done voices for numerous animated series for Disney, including Bonkers (1993-1994), Recess (1997-2001), and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000-2001).        

There are many other exceptional actors who have also played Santa Claus and not quite enough time to make this lengthy discussion about all of them. Leslie Nielsen in All I Want For Christmas (1991) and Santa Who? (2000), Paul Giamatti in Fred Claus (2007), Jim Broadbent in Get Santa (2014), and Kurt Russell in The Christmas Chronicles (2018) all come to mind…no doubt movie buffs continue to benefit from their talents.   

Mary Jo Catlett: Simple yet Hilarious

In the voice-over acting world, there are actors who have very wide vocal ranges that can allow the actor to speak in all kinds of different accents. But there are other actors whose range allows them to talk in only one kind of accent, but it is distinctive and unique. Mary Jo Catlett is the latter. You might recognize Mary Jo’s saccharine voice as Mrs. Puff on Spongebob Squarepants (1999-present), but did you know she actually has some fascinating connections to Disney as well?

  Mary Jo Catlett was born on September 2nd, 1938 in Denver, Colorado. After attending Loretto Heights College in Denver, she was bitten by the “acting bug,” particularly in musical comedy, and relocated to New York to try her luck. Fortunately, she found success landing a role in the off-Broadway production of Along Came A Spider in 1963. The very next year, she was cast as Ernestina Simple in the original Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! starring Carol Channing. She also reprised the role of Ernestina in the first national tour of the show, which starred Ginger Rogers.  

Around the time of “Dolly,” Catlett also began making appearances on television in The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978), Maude (1972-1978), and M*A*S*H (1972-1983). She made her film debut in the Woody Allen comedy Bananas in 1971. After “Dolly,” Catlett continued to appear on Broadway in plays called Canterbury Tales, Different Times, and in 1973 she starred as Mabel in Broadway’s revival of The Pajama Game. She also acted the role of Mabel in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), and provided additional voices on the animated sit-com The Smurfs (1981-1989). In 1994, Mary Jo Catlett was cast in the role of Madame de la Grande Bouche, otherwise known as the Wardrobe in the original Broadway production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, which was Disney’s very first film ever to be adapted on Broadway. The role earned her an Ovation Award Nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical!

After “Beauty,” Catlett later lent her voice to the Disney Channel Original Series Quack Pack (1996-1997). Three years after that, she landed the role of Mrs. Puff on “Spongebob.” She has voiced Mrs. Puff throughout the show’s entire 20-year-run, as well as other elderly characters including Squidward’s grandmother, Grandma Tentacles, and the elderly psychic. In the “Something Smells,” episode of Spongebob, there is a scene where Spongebob says “Hello, Dolly!” in reference to Mary Jo Catlett’s Broadway musical debut. Catlett has also voiced Mrs. Puff in each of the “Spongebob,” movies, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004), The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015), and the upcoming The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run.

Catlett is also known at Disney for having small roles in the Disney Channel Shows Kim Possible (2002-2007) and That’s So Raven (2003-2007). Whether she acts on Broadway, Television, Film, or in Animation, her unmistakable voice never ceases to make us laugh!   

Disney’s Christmas Carol Blog

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is undoubtedly a classic holiday story! Dickens first published A Christmas Carol as a novella in 1843 and since that time, the story has been adapted for television, stage, radio, and of course, film. Disney has also made various adaptations of the story and I thought we could explore fun facts about those in this blog. Feel free to community on your favorites!

• Disney produced Mickey’s Christmas Carol in 1983, and it received an Oscar Nomination for Best Short Film, Animated that year. Featuring the voice talent of Wayne Allwine (Mickey Mouse), Alan Young (Scrooge McDuck), and Will Ryan (Pete/Ghost of Christmas Future and Willie the Giant) it was the very first film appearance of Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse and his first chance to work with future wife Russi Taylor as Minnie Mouse. (Though Taylor recorded some dialogue for the film, it wasn’t included in the final cut.) This film also marked the last appearance of Disney voice-over veteran, Clarence Nash, as Donald Duck, whom he voiced for over 50 years. 
• Prior to the 1983 version, Alan Young collaborated with Alan Dinehart on a Disneyland Records Album called An Adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Performed by the Walt Disney Players in 1974. It was his first time voicing Scrooge McDuck and he continued voicing Scrooge McDuck for 32 years until his death in 2016.
• Disney’s next adaptation of “Christmas Carol,” was The Muppet Christmas Carol, which was released in 1992. The film was directed by Brian Henson, son of “Muppets,” creator Jim Henson, who also directed The Muppet Treasure Island (1996). In this film, Scrooge is portrayed by Michael Caine, who is also known to Disney fans for voicing Finn McMissile in Disney/Pixar’s Cars 2 (2011). Caine to this day considers the role of Scrooge to be one of his most memorable. Caine got along wonderfully well with Henson while the film was in production, being seriously impressed with Henson’s skills as a director. Before filming began Caine told Henson “I’m going to play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role and there are no puppets around me,” to which Henson replied “Yes, bang on!” “Muppet Christmas Carol,” was also the second “Christmas Carol,” movie that was filmed at the Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England. The first was the movie-musical, Scrooge (1970) in which Ebenezer Scrooge was portrayed by Albert Finney.
• Disney re-adapted “Christmas Carol,” for C.G.I. in 2009 with Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge and all three of the Christmas Ghosts who visit Scrooge on Christmas Eve. In this film, Bob and Emily Cratchit were voiced by Gary Oldman and Leslie Manville, who were married in real life from 1987-1990 and have a son together. This is also the first film that Robert Zemeckis directed for Disney since Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). In this film, Cary Elwes provides the voice of Dick Wilkins, Scrooge’s partner at Mr. Fezziwig’s. Elwes previously worked with Jim Carrey in Liar Liar (1997) and Robin Wright in The Princess Bride (1987), and Wright voices Scrooge’s sister Fan as well as his fiancé, Belle in this film. Fionnula Flanagan voices Mrs. Dilber, Scrooge’s charwoman in this film, and Flannagan also worked with Jim Carrey in the movie Yes Man (2008). In the initial release for this film Jim Carrey described it as “A classical version of ‘A Christmas Carol.’ There are a lot of vocal things, a lot of physical things I have to do. Not to mention doing the accents properly, the English, Irish accents. I want it to fly in the UK. I want it to be good and I want them to go ‘Yeah, that’s for real.’ We were very true to the book. It’s beautiful. It’s an incredible film.”            

Of all these film adaptations my personal favorite is “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” because it was the first of these adaptations that I recall seeing as a child and I also enjoy the songs.