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Description
Lets continue our 12 Days of Christmas marathon with this tale of the origin of the legendary Kris Kringle.

Special Delivery "S.D." Kluger is introduced after a newsreel prologue, telling the viewer how children around the world are preparing for the arrival of Santa Claus. When his snowmobile/mail truck breaks down, he tells the story of Santa Claus, answering the children's letters to Santa. The story begins in the gloomy city of Sombertown, ruled by the ill-tempered Burgermeister Meisterburger. A baby arrives on his doorstep with a name tag reading "Claus" and note requesting that the Burgermeister raise the child. He then orders his lawkeeper Grimsley to take the baby to the "Orphan Asylum". On the way there, a gust of wind blows both sled and baby to the mountain of the Whispering Winds, where the animals hide him from the Winter Warlock and convey him to an Elvish family by the name of Kringle. Led by Tanta Kringle, the elf queen, they adopt the baby and name him “Kris”. A few years later, Kris hopes to restore the Kringle family as "The First Toymakers to the King". When Kris is old enough, he volunteers to deliver the elves' toys to Sombertown. Meanwhile, the Burgermeister has banned all toys in the town, and declares that anyone found possessing a toy will be arrested. On his way to Sombertown, Kris meets a lost penguin whom he names Topper. In the town, he offers toys to two children washing their stockings by a water fountain. He is stopped by Miss Jessica, their lovely schoolteacher, but she softens toward Kris when he offers her a china doll as a "peace offering". As Kris gives more toys, the Burgermeister arrives, and Kris gives him a yo-yo. The Burgermeister at first happily plays with it, but when Grimsley reminds him of breaking his own law, the Burgermeister orders Kris' capture. As Kris and Topper return to the Kringles, the Winter Warlock captures them. But when Kris gives him a toy train as a present, the Warlock befriends Kris. To repay him, he reunites Kris with Jessica, who informs him that the Burgermeister has destroyed all the toys and the children now request new ones. When the Burgermeister hears that Kris means to bring more toys, he orders all doors and windows to be locked before their houses are searched. But Kris enters by the chimneys and the children hang their stockings by the fireplace to conceal the toys therein. Thereafter, the Burgermeister sets a trap for Kris as he makes another delivery, and captures the Kringles, Topper, and Winter. Jessica pleads with the Burgermeister to release her friends, but he refuses. So she requests Winter to break everyone outm but he sadly refuses, having little magic except some magic feed corn enabling reindeer to fly. With the reindeer's help, the Kringles, Kris, Topper, and Winter escape. After months as an outlaw and discovery that their home was destroyed by the Burgermeister's guards, Kris returns to the woods, where he grows a beard as a disguise. After Tanta suggests he return to his birth name "Claus" for safety, Kris marries Jessica. After the ceremony, the group travels to the North Pole to build their own castle and workshop. As the years pass and Kris and Jessica grow older, Kris travels only at night until the Meisterburgers' laws are abolished after they died off and fell out of power and Kris' legend goes worldwide. Having become Santa Claus, he is unable to fulfill all the toy requests throughout the year, and reserves his efforts for Christmas Eve. At the end, S.D. Kluger suddenly realizes that it's getting late and remembers that he still has to deliver letters to Santa and drives off to the North Pole with Topper, Winter, the Kringles, and a parade of children singing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" during the credits. Santa steps out of his castle and waves to the viewers.

Pros:
1. Kris is a great and well developed protagonist.
2. Jessica, Tanta and the Kringles, Winter Warlock, Topper, and Grimsley are all very good supporting characters.
3. Meisterburger is a pretty good villain.
4. Well handled humor.
5. Plenty of heart, charm, and emotion.
6. Very memorable music and songs.
7. Amazing voice acting.
8. Decent stop-motion animation for the time.
9. The story is very well written, and gives a good origin story for Santa.
10. S.D. Kluger is a very likeable narrator.

Cons:
1. Sometimes the animation can look awkward and creepy.
2. It can get pretty dour at times.

Overall:
This is another great special from Rankin/Bass, and another great special to watch during the holidays.

Rating:
9/10 (Amazing)

Production Notes and Trivia:
1. The special was created using Japanese stop motion animation called "Animagic", in which all the characters are made out of wood and plastic and animated via stop-motion photography.
2. A video game based on the film was released in 2011 for the Nintendo DS and Wii.

Description
Lets continue our 12 Days of Christmas marathon with this tale of the origin of the legendary Kris Kringle.

Special Delivery "S.D." Kluger is introduced after a newsreel prologue, telling the viewer how children around the world are preparing for the arrival of Santa Claus. When his snowmobile/mail truck breaks down, he tells the story of Santa Claus, answering the children's letters to Santa. The story begins in the gloomy city of Sombertown, ruled by the ill-tempered Burgermeister Meisterburger. A baby arrives on his doorstep with a name tag reading "Claus" and note requesting that the Burgermeister raise the child. He then orders his lawkeeper Grimsley to take the baby to the "Orphan Asylum". On the way there, a gust of wind blows both sled and baby to the mountain of the Whispering Winds, where the animals hide him from the Winter Warlock and convey him to an Elvish family by the name of Kringle. Led by Tanta Kringle, the elf queen, they adopt the baby and name him “Kris”. A few years later, Kris hopes to restore the Kringle family as "The First Toymakers to the King". When Kris is old enough, he volunteers to deliver the elves' toys to Sombertown. Meanwhile, the Burgermeister has banned all toys in the town, and declares that anyone found possessing a toy will be arrested. On his way to Sombertown, Kris meets a lost penguin whom he names Topper. In the town, he offers toys to two children washing their stockings by a water fountain. He is stopped by Miss Jessica, their lovely schoolteacher, but she softens toward Kris when he offers her a china doll as a "peace offering". As Kris gives more toys, the Burgermeister arrives, and Kris gives him a yo-yo. The Burgermeister at first happily plays with it, but when Grimsley reminds him of breaking his own law, the Burgermeister orders Kris' capture. As Kris and Topper return to the Kringles, the Winter Warlock captures them. But when Kris gives him a toy train as a present, the Warlock befriends Kris. To repay him, he reunites Kris with Jessica, who informs him that the Burgermeister has destroyed all the toys and the children now request new ones. When the Burgermeister hears that Kris means to bring more toys, he orders all doors and windows to be locked before their houses are searched. But Kris enters by the chimneys and the children hang their stockings by the fireplace to conceal the toys therein. Thereafter, the Burgermeister sets a trap for Kris as he makes another delivery, and captures the Kringles, Topper, and Winter. Jessica pleads with the Burgermeister to release her friends, but he refuses. So she requests Winter to break everyone outm but he sadly refuses, having little magic except some magic feed corn enabling reindeer to fly. With the reindeer's help, the Kringles, Kris, Topper, and Winter escape. After months as an outlaw and discovery that their home was destroyed by the Burgermeister's guards, Kris returns to the woods, where he grows a beard as a disguise. After Tanta suggests he return to his birth name "Claus" for safety, Kris marries Jessica. After the ceremony, the group travels to the North Pole to build their own castle and workshop. As the years pass and Kris and Jessica grow older, Kris travels only at night until the Meisterburgers' laws are abolished after they died off and fell out of power and Kris' legend goes worldwide. Having become Santa Claus, he is unable to fulfill all the toy requests throughout the year, and reserves his efforts for Christmas Eve. At the end, S.D. Kluger suddenly realizes that it's getting late and remembers that he still has to deliver letters to Santa and drives off to the North Pole with Topper, Winter, the Kringles, and a parade of children singing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" during the credits. Santa steps out of his castle and waves to the viewers.

Pros:
1. Kris is a great and well developed protagonist.
2. Jessica, Tanta and the Kringles, Winter Warlock, Topper, and Grimsley are all very good supporting characters.
3. Meisterburger is a pretty good villain.
4. Well handled humor.
5. Plenty of heart, charm, and emotion.
6. Very memorable music and songs.
7. Amazing voice acting.
8. Decent stop-motion animation for the time.
9. The story is very well written, and gives a good origin story for Santa.
10. S.D. Kluger is a very likeable narrator.

Cons:
1. Sometimes the animation can look awkward and creepy.
2. It can get pretty dour at times.

Overall:
This is another great special from Rankin/Bass, and another great special to watch during the holidays.

Rating:
9/10 (Amazing)

Production Notes and Trivia:
1. The special was created using Japanese stop motion animation called "Animagic", in which all the characters are made out of wood and plastic and animated via stop-motion photography.
2. A video game based on the film was released in 2011 for the Nintendo DS and Wii.