Father Christmas is a 1991 animated short based on two books written by Raymond Briggs: Father Christmas and Father Christmas Goes on Holiday, published in 1973 and 1975 respectively. It was first aired in Britain in 1991 on Channel 4, nine years after The Snowman, another animated Briggs adaptation produced for the same channel. It is suggested by a scene in the movie that the two films take place in the same universe, and both were made by very similar production teams.
It is also suggested the film takes place a year or so after The Snowman because Father Christmas mentions that the boy “managed to make it again”, in reference to the boy’s snowman, and the boy can also be seen wearing the scarf Father Christmas gave him.Father Christmas centres around the prospect of what Santa does with himself “the other 364 days of the year”, along with his annual delivery of presents to children around the world.
The film starts with Father Christmas coming back from his annual Christmas Eve run, and relaxing in his home with his cat and dog. He then breaks the fourth wall, explaining that his unwinding is well deserved, contrary to popular belief. He cites the care of his reindeer, his garden, and shopping among others as activities that take up his time. Because of his strenuous lifestyle, he explains that in the past year he decided to take a holiday.
In a flashback, it is shown that after bringing home brochures, and audibly considering Italy, Greece, Ireland, Holland, Canada, Germany, Tunisia, Switzerland, he finally settled on France. However, when he imagines all of the things he’ll be able to do there (most notably camping in a rainstorm), he decides on the need for a camper van. He converts his sled into one, which takes a considerable amount of time, leading to the neglect of his cat and dog. While he is working, he also has secondary language tapes playing in French.A Kit Kat commercial was later made featuring Father Christmas (from this film) in a whole new scene, where he was seen eating a KitKat. As the advert was advertising the product having only 107 calories.
Father Christmas is voiced by comedian Mel Smith, and physically resembles a stereotypical vision of Santa Claus with a large white beard and red suit. However, in a down-to-earth twist, he is depicted as rather grumpy, is shown coping with everyday domestic chores, and lives on his own in a small house in contemporary Britain.
An American English-dubbed version was also produced, with a jollier Father Christmas voiced by William Dennis Hunt (notably replacing most instances of the word ‘blooming’ with ‘merry’).This movie was dedicated to the late actor John McGuire.