Motion pictures featuringSanta Claus constitute their ownsubgenre of theChristmas filmgenre.^[1] Early films of Santa revolve around similar simple plots of Santa'sChristmas Eve visit to children. In 1897, in a short film calledSanta Claus Filling Stockings, Santa Claus is simply filling stockings from his pack of toys. Another film calledSanta Claus and the Children was made in 1898. A year later, a film directed byGeorge Albert Smith titledSanta Claus (orThe Visit from Santa Claus in the United Kingdom) was created. In this picture, Santa Claus enters the room from the fireplace and proceeds to trim the tree. He then fills the stockings that were previously hung on the mantle by the children. After walking backward and surveying his work, he suddenly darts at the fireplace and disappears up the chimney.

Santa Claus' Visit in 1900 featured a scene with two little children kneeling at the feet of their mother and saying their prayers. The mother tucks the children snugly in bed and leaves the room. Santa Claus suddenly appears on the roof, just outside the children's bedroom window, and proceeds to enter the chimney, taking with him his bag of presents and a little hand sled for one of the children. He goes down the chimney and suddenly appears in the children's room through the fireplace. He distributes the presents and mysteriously causes the appearance of a Christmas tree laden with gifts. The scene closes with the children waking up and running to the fireplace just too late to catch him by the legs. A 1909 film byD. W. Griffith titledA Trap for Santa Claus shows children setting a trap to capture Santa Claus as he descends the chimney, but instead capture their father who abandoned them and their mother but tries to burglarize the house after he discovers that she inherited a fortune. A 29-minute 1925silent film production titledSanta Claus, by explorer/documentarianFrank E. Kleinschmidt, filmed partly in northernAlaska, feature Santa in his workshop, visiting hisInuit neighbors, and tending his reindeer. A year later, another movie titledSanta Claus was produced with sound on De ForestPhonofilm.^[2]

Over the years, various actors have donned the red suit (aside from those discussed below), includingLeedham Bantock inSanta Claus (1912),Monty Woolley inLife Begins at Eight-thirty (1942),Alberto Rabagliati inThe Christmas That Almost Wasn't (1966),Dan Aykroyd inTrading Places (1983), Jan Rubes inOne Magic Christmas (1985),David Huddleston inSanta Claus: The Movie (1985),Jonathan Taylor Thomas inI'll Be Home for Christmas (1998),Ed Asner inThe Story of Santa Claus (1996),Olive, the Other Reindeer (1999),Ellen's First Christmas (2001),Elf (2003),Regular Show: The Christmas Special (2012),Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas (2014),Santa Stole Our Dog: A Merry Doggone Christmas!, andA StoryBots Christmas (both 2017), andJ. K. Simmons inKlaus (2019) andRed One (2024).

Some films about Santa Claus seek to explore his origins. They explain how his reindeer can fly, where theelves come from, and other questions that children have generally asked about Santa. TwoRankin/Bassstop motion animation television specials addressed this issue: the first,Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970), withMickey Rooney as the voice of Kris Kringle, reveals how Santa delivered toys to children despite the fact that the evil Burgermeister Meisterburger had forbidden children to play with them; and the second,The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985), based onL. Frank Baum's 1902 children's book of the same name, follows Santa being reared by a collection of mythical creatures who finally grant himimmortality. Another animated version of Baum's book was made byGlen Hill in 2000, and the book also served as the basis for ananime series,Shounen Santa no Daibôken (Young Santa's Adventures) in 1994 andThe Oz Kids video,Who Stole Santa? (1996). None of these films focus on Santa Claus's saintly origins.

The 1985 feature filmSanta Claus: The Movie, inspired by the 1978Superman: The Movie, starsDavid Huddleston as Santa Claus and British actressJudy Cornwell as his wife Anya, shows how Santa and Anya are discovered by a clan of elves called the Vendequm.Dudley Moore portrays Patch, the central character and main focus of the story;Burgess Meredith portrays their wise leader, the Ancient One, who reveals that Claus represents the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy, whereby he has been designated as "the Chosen One", whose mission it will be to deliver the elves' toys to children all over the world. The film's prologue features Claus and Anya performing Santa-like duties in their home village, and strongly suggests Santa's saintly origins.

The 2007 Finnish filmChristmas Story explains Santa's origin as an orphan boy inLapland named Nikolas.

The 2019 animated Netflix Christmas comedyKlaus, also features its own telling of the origin of Santa. Where Jesper Johansen, the pampered spoiled son of a postmaster general (played byJason Schwartzman) is sent to the secluded town of Smeerensburg, as their latest postman. There Jesper learns that due to a local family feud, the town’s people hardly have time for anything else, let alone writing or exchanging letters. There he reluctantly teams up with the titular Santa Claus (played byJ. K. Simmons) who is portrayed as gruff hermit, with a sad past and a skilled hand for woodcarving and toy making. Together, they not only help end the feud in Smeerensburg, but also create one of the most beloved holiday traditions.

Another genre of Santa Claus films seeks to dispel doubts about his existence.

• One of the first films of this nature was titledA Little Girl Who Did Not Believe in Santa Claus (1907) and involves a well-to-do boy trying to convince his poorer friend that Santa Claus is real. She doubts because Santa has never visited her family because of their poverty.
• Miracle on 34th Street (1947), starringNatalie Wood as Susan Walker, revolves around the disbelief of young Susan, whose mother (Maureen O'Hara) employs a kind old man (Edmund Gwenn, who won anAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor) to play Santa Claus atMacy's; he later convinces Susan that he reallyis Santa.
• One Magic Christmas (1985) depicts Santa asSaint Nicholas, in charge of Christmas angels (deceased people) in lieu ofelves, whom he assigns to restore individuals' Christmas spirit. He assigns Gideon (Harry Dean Stanton) to a woman (Mary Steenburgen) who worries too much about the practical side of life and shows little charity. Gideon shows her a potential Christmas in which her husband is killed by a desperate bank robber whom she has neglected to help, and takes her little girl to Santa, who gives her the last letter her mother sent him as a child and tells her to give it to her. This works to restore her spirit and gives her a do-over of Christmas with her husband and the desperate man, and she greets Santa putting presents under her tree.
• The Polar Express (2004), based on thechildren's book of the same name, also deals with issues and questions of belief as a magical train conducted byTom Hanks transports a doubting boy to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus.^[3]
• Yes, Virginia (2009) is an animated holiday TV special based on the true story of a young girl,Virginia O'Hanlon, who writes a letter to the editor of theNew York Sun in 1897 after her friends tell her that there is no Santa. The newspaper editor tells her that indeed there is a Santa: "He lives, and he lives forever."Francis Pharcellus Church was the real-life editor played byCharles Bronson in the special.

Somescience fictionB movies feature Santa Claus as asuperhero-type figure, such as the 1959 film titledSanta Claus produced inMexico with José Elías Moreno as Santa Claus. In this movie, Santa allies withMerlin the magician to battle thedevil, who is attempting to trap Santa.^[1] In theCold War-era filmSanta Claus Conquers the Martians (1964), Santa Claus is captured byMartians and brought toMars, and ultimately foils a plot to destroy him.^[1]

In the 1984 filmThe Night They Saved Christmas, starringArt Carney as Santa, likewise chronicles how Santa Claus and Claudia Baldwin (Jaclyn Smith), the wife of anoil explorer, have to save the North Pole from explosions while Baldwin's husband is searching for oil in theArctic.Santa Claus: The Movie contains a subplot in which Santa Claus rescues Joe (Christian Fitzpatric) from his best friend Cornelia's (Carrie Kei Heim) evil step-uncle B. Z. (John Lithgow).^[2] Santa is a hero inThe Nightmare Before Christmas, held captive byOogie Boogie, although he is spiteful and enraged atJack when freed. The 2004 filmChristmas With the Kranks, based on the 2001John Grisham novelSkipping Christmas, hasAustin Pendleton as Marty, a Santa-dressed umbrella salesman who turns out to be the real Santa, saving Luther Krank's (Tim Allen's) forced Christmas party by capturing a burglar unintentionally brought to the house by the police. After leaving the party, he rides through the sky in hisVolkswagen Beetle, pulled byreindeer. In the 2005 film adaptation ofThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Father Christmas (James Cosmo) supplies the Pevensie children with the weapons and tools they need to battle theWhite Witch (Tilda Swinton). In the 2012DreamWorks filmRise of the Guardians, which is based on the book seriesThe Guardians of Childhood byWilliam Joyce, Santa (Alec Baldwin) is shown as one of the main characters and leader of the Guardians, who are the heroes of the movie. The 2022 filmViolent Night portrays a drunk and disillusioned Santa (played byDavid Harbour) caught up in a hostage situation and becoming an action hero, parodying the filmDie Hard and its protagonistJohn McClane.^[4]

In the television showSouth Park, Santa is often depicted with firearms; in the episode "Red Sleigh Down", he battles Iraqis to try to bring Christmas to Iraq. In the episode "A Woodland Critter Christmas", he uses acombat shotgun to blast away Satanic animals who try to give birth to theAntiChrist. Santa (played byNick Frost) made a brief appearance at the end of theDoctor Who episode, "Death in Heaven". In the following episode, which served as the show's 2014 Christmas special, "Last Christmas", he plays a more prominent role. It is eventually revealed that the scenes with him are the characters experiencing a shared dream, and he is their subconscious trying to help them wake up before they are killed. At the episode's end, he successfully awakensthe Doctor andClara, reuniting the two.

One genre of movies suggests that Santa Claus is not historically a single individual but a succession of individuals.

InErnest Saves Christmas (1988), Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney) joins the challenge of Santa Claus, alias Seth Applegate (Douglas Seale), to convince Florida kids' show host Joe Carruthers (Oliver Clark) to become the next Santa.

InThe Santa Clause (1994),Tim Allen plays Scott Calvin, who accidentally causes Santa Claus to fall off the roof of his house. After he puts on Santa's suit, he finds himself contractually obligated to become the next Santa. Reluctant at first, his appearance changes over the next year from average to the legendary image: he grows fat, his hair whitens, and his beard grows uncontrollably by magic. He ultimately falls in love with his new role.

A 2001 television special,Call Me Claus, starsWhoopi Goldberg as Lucy Cullins, anAfrican American woman destined to reluctantly become the next Santa Claus.

InThe Hebrew Hammer (2003), the role of Santa Claus is traditionally passed down from father to son. The system is disrupted when the reigning Santa is murdered by his son, Damian, who then uses the position to attack the competing holidays ofHanukkah andKwanzaa.

The 2011 animated filmArthur Christmas portrays being Santa Claus as adynasty. The first "Santa",Saint Nicholas, established the North Pole workshop and passed the title and responsibilities to his son after 70 Christmases, after which his son passed them on to his son, and so on. In the film, the current Santa initially refuses to retire, due to worry about what he will be if he is not Santa.

Several films have been created which explore the consequences should animpostor Santa take over.

One of the first films featuring a fake Santa Claus is the 1914 silent film,The Adventure of the Wrong Santa Claus, written by Frederic Arnold Kummer. In this film, a bogus Santa steals all the Christmas presents and amateur detective Octavius (played by Herbert Yost) tries to recover them.

The most notorious impostor appears in the 1966cartoon based onDr. Seuss's 1957 children's book,How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, wherein theGrinch, a hairy and mean-tempered creature, attempts to rob the Whos in Whoville of their Christmas by stealing their presents, food and decorations, but has a change of heart when he sees that he hasnot stopped them from celebrating after all. This animated feature was made into a live-action movie in 2000, directed byRon Howard and starringJim Carrey as the Grinch. A CGI feature film was made in 2018, starringBenedict Cumberbatch as the voice of the Grinch.

Another less-than-friendly impostor appears inA Christmas Story (1983) as a disgruntled mall Santa at Higbee's Department Store (a real store in downtownCleveland, Ohio) in the fictional town of Holman, Indiana. Played by Jeff Gillen, Santa is depicted as a larger-than-life figure who terrifies, rather than amuses, children. Gillen's performance lends credence to the theory that the mall Santa is not quite genuine.

Another recent devious mall Santa was played byBilly Bob Thornton inBad Santa (2003), a film which gained the normally family-friendlyDisney "bad press".^[5]

Tim Burton'sstop-actionanimatedmusical film,The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), depictsJack Skellington, the Pumpkin King ofHalloween Town, wanting to become Santa Claus after an accidental visit to Christmas Town. After the mostly well-meaning but totally clueless Halloween Town citizens capture Santa, they then try to take over Christmas with disastrous results; children are terrified by Jack's Halloween-themed gifts, and the real Santa is almost killed byOogie Boogie. Santa is voiced here byEd Ivory and in the video game spinoffs byCorey Burton.

In 2002'sThe Santa Clause 2: The Mrs. Clause, Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) must leavethe North Pole to find a wife, so his number one elf turns a plastic toy Santa into a life-size robot clone of Calvin to cover for him. The robo-Santa interprets the rules of Christmas literally, convinces himself that all of the world's children are naughty, and dresses and runs the North Pole like aLatin Americandictator, constructing an army of gianttoy soldiers. When Calvin returns with his wife, he must defeat his clone to regain control of Christmas.

In 2006'sThe Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause,Martin Short appears asJack Frost, who is jealous of Santa Claus. He usurps the role from Scott Calvin, turns Christmas into "Frostmas" and the North Pole into aDisneyesque tourist resort, and addicts the worlds' children to toys which their parents must buy from him.

In 2007'sFred Claus,Vince Vaughn plays Santa's jealous older brother who grows up hating Santa and Christmas. He cons his brother (Paul Giamatti) into giving him a large sum of money for a business deal, in return for which he must come to the Pole and help prepare for Christmas. Fred ends up sabotaging his brother by placing all the world's naughty children on the nice list. Meanwhile, another Santa-hater (Kevin Spacey) is auditing Santa, looking for excuses to fire him and the elves. When Santa injures his back, Fred must deliver the gifts in order to save Christmas.

Other, darker impostors have appeared inslasher films such as the first three films of the five-filmSilent Night, Deadly Night series,Santa Claws andSanta's Slay, and in the short "...And All Through the House", part of the horror anthology filmTales from the Crypt (1972) and later remade as episode 1.2 and directed byRobert Zemeckis for theHBOTV series of the same name. Both versions were inspired by the comic bookTales from the Crypt.^[6]

David Howard Thornton appears asArt the Clown in a Santa Claus suit in a trailer forTerrifier 3, a film that is also set featureDaniel Roebuck as Santa Claus himself.^[7]

• Christmas elves in films and television
• Mrs. Claus in popular culture
• List of Christmas films
• Christmas horror

•   Media related toSanta Claus in film at Wikimedia Commons
•   Works related toChristmas films at Wikisource