# Movies in which Santa is real **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234 "2012-12-26T23:28:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/1 "2012-12-26T23:28:58Z")
There are plenty of movies which take the premise that Santa really is real, but that grown-ups, sadly, don’t believe in him (or at least, not the “sensible” ones). But how exactly is this supposed to work? Is Santa delivering gifts to children, or not? If he is, then surely their parents would notice all these gifts arriving from who-knows-where. But if he’s not, then just what is Santa doing? Granted, there are some movies that seem to address this (in _Miracle on 34th Street_, for instance, he doesn’t give most of his gifts personally, he just inspires others to), but others seem to try to have it both ways (in _The Santa Clause_, for instance, Tim Allen is clearly tasked with flying from house to house, but most adults still disbelieve). What’s the scoop? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/2 "2012-12-27T04:03:53Z")
It’s magic, and impossible to explain. There’s just no two ways about it. Two other movies in which Santa is real: _Elf_ and _The Polar Express_. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/3 "2012-12-27T04:09:59Z")
Another is _Santa Claus Conquers the Martians_. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/4 "2012-12-27T05:37:49Z")
There was a TV movie called Santa Who?, in which Leslie Nielsen, as Santa Claus, falls out of his sleigh and gets amnesia. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/5 "2012-12-27T06:16:00Z")
It’s true… it really doesn’t make sense does it? Maybe in these movie universes, randomly appearing presents are just a fact of life, and happen other days of the year too? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/6 "2012-12-27T08:13:38Z")
This is one of those things that always bugged me too, so when [I wrote a short story where Santa is real](http://www.scp-wiki.net/how-dr-clef-saved-christmas) (warning: in-jokes ahoy), I assumed that adults all know Santa exists and this is just how the world works. Indeed, his sudden absence nearly leads to riots as parents crowd into toy stores that obviously aren’t prepared for the kind of volume that every parent buying toys for their kids generates. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/7 "2012-12-27T16:09:25Z")
Heh, **Smapti** , I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one who wondered about this. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/8 "2012-12-27T16:24:06Z")
_A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas_ has Santa being real, although it is more of a cameo. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/9 "2012-12-27T18:27:13Z")
**[Arthur Christmas](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1430607/)** (my new favorite). Santa is actually an inherited position (though he is very long lived), and the logistics of Christmas are specifically addressed. Parents do accept he’s bringing gifts, even though no one alive has seen him. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/10 "2012-12-28T01:26:44Z")
Also _Fred Claus_ and the offbeat Finnish film _Rare Exports_. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/11 "2012-12-28T02:06:43Z")
Also _what_, **Elendil’s Heir**? Are those also movies where the paradox exists, or also movies where it’s addressed somehow or another? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/12 "2012-12-28T02:39:54Z")
[Santa **was** real once,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_nicholas) there’s historical documentation . . . ---
**Author:** ![wombattver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b77776/32.png) [@wombattver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wombattver)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/13 "2012-12-30T05:32:00Z")
I always supposed that Santa only went to houses of true believers. Or else each spouse would assume the other one had bought the mystery presents. It always worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/14 "2012-12-30T11:10:26Z")
_The Hebrew Hammer_, oddly. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/15 "2012-12-30T11:18:42Z")
> [@wombattver](#): > > I always supposed that Santa only went to houses of true believers. Or else each spouse would assume the other one had bought the mystery presents. It always worked for me. It only works if humans are incapable of communicating with one another. Otherwise the unbelievers will find out about the true believers, and the adults will find out that their partner didn’t buy them. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/16 "2012-12-30T14:09:31Z")
Does not the Bible say that Santa works in mysterious ways? ---
**Author:** ![wombattver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b77776/32.png) [@wombattver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wombattver)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/17 "2012-12-30T21:16:08Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > It only works if humans are incapable of communicating with one another. Otherwise the unbelievers will find out about the true believers, and the adults will find out that their partner didn’t buy them. True, but TV and movies tend to play loose and fast with that communication thing (as shown in every episode of Three’s Company.)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/18 "2012-12-30T22:01:25Z")
Once you get past the idea of flying reindeer/visiting all the houses in one night/300 pound guy fitting down the chimney when _we don’t have a chimney,_ making mom think dad bought the new scooter and making dad think mom bought it is kinda trivial. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/19 "2012-12-31T00:11:04Z")
> [@](#): > > …300 pound guy fitting down the chimney when _we don’t have a chimney,_ … Aside: My sister’s house doesn’t have a fireplace, either. But they _do_ have a print of Magritte’s [_Time Transfixed_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Transfixed) hanging on the wall, and it’s through that that Santa gains entry to give gifts to my nieces and nephew. Because hey, magic. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234/20 "2012-12-31T01:05:35Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > It’s true… it really doesn’t make sense does it? Maybe in these movie universes, randomly appearing presents are just a fact of life, and happen other days of the year too? Ironically, the people in these universes all assume the presents are brought by the Easter Bunny. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-santa-is-real/645234.md?page=2)