Santa's Surprise (1947) User Reviews

Interesting concept forms the basic plot for this short

[llltdesq · 7/10 · 27 June 2015]

This is a cartoon in the Little Audrey series from Famous Studios. There will be spoilers ahead:

This short begins with Santa making his rounds and singing as he does so. There are scenes with children trying to sneak a peek as Santa leaves gifts. The last child shown is Little Audrey. There's a nice gag with a mouse peeking out a hole, Santa spotting him and leaving cheese in a little stocking! Santa returns home and goes right to bed and to sleep.

But he had some passengers-Little Audrey and a number of other children, each to one degree or another stereotypes, though the main source of comic relief is a Dutch boy wearing wooden shoes. The kids want to do something nice fore Santa for a change, so they sneak in and clean his home.

They do the basic chores involved, rather humorously and a couple of the bits are very stereotypical in nature. The kids sing their own song while working. The Dutch boy, of course, nearly gets them found out more than once, amid disasters, but they finish the job just before Santa awakens. He finds everything arranged and a present under the tree to boot. He opens it and the last gag is too cute to spoil, so I won't.

This short is worth watching once.

Well-intentioned, but it will probably be seen as racist today.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 3 May 2014]

"Santa's Surprise" is from Famous Studios--the cartoon factory owned by Paramount. Up until the early 1940s, it had been Fleischer Brothers, but the brothers were long gone by the time this cute cartoon was made.

It begins with Santa making Christmas deliveries--and several kids from around the world (including Little Audrey in her first cartoon) sneaking onto his sleigh. No, they are not terrorists but nice kids who want to do something nice for him when he returns home. So, the kids clean up Santa's place and leave his a Christmas tree with a present just for him.

While this cartoon is pretty cute (especially the very end), I am pretty sure it's damned by good intentions that haven't kept up with changing times. Some of the kids (especially the black one) are real stereotypes and I am sure some folks would take offense, though the Dutch kid is by far the stupidest one and I assume the Dutch have thick enough skins to handle that. All in all, quite enjoyable but not up to the standards of the best cartoon shorts of the day--which were mostly coming from Looney Tunes and MGM.

Santa Gets a Christmas Gift

[Christmas-Reviewer · 6/10 · 30 March 2017]

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONEST

Santa's Surprise is a 1947 Christmas-themed Noveltoon animated short. It was originally released by Paramount Pictures on December 5, 1947.

As Santa delivers presents to Audrey and some other children, they slip into his sleigh to repay him by cleaning up his house, often with a clumsy Dutch boy's antics.

This animated short is cute. Keep in mind there was no such thing as politically correct when this was made. Some images "MIGHT BE" offensive to some.

Stereotypical, but also very sweet and charming

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 28 April 2016]

Not one of my favourite Christmas cartoons by all means, but still well worth watching at once.

The story is very slight and drags ever so slightly in places, and the portrayals of some of the children are very stereotypical. Stereotypes that understandably may not (big emphasis on that) be for the easily offended and the way they're portrayed is very "of the time" and can be seen as outdated now.

However, the animation is rich and colourful, with very meticulous and beautifully drawn backgrounds and well-rendered character designs that don't look too stiff. Winston Sharples provides yet another outstanding music score, even in mediocre or worse cartoons Sharples' music was never among the flaws (if anything always one of the strengths or the best asset). Love the lusciousness of the orchestration here and how characterful and whimsical the music was without going overboard in either, even better was how well it fitted in the cartoon and how it merged with the action. The main song is very infectious too.

'Santa's Surprise' while not hilarious still offers plenty of amusement, with the funniest material coming from the Dutch boy, while also telling the story with the right amounts of charm and warmth, everything feeling very sweet and heart-warming by the end. While stereotypical the children are appealing and amusing, not falling into the traps of cloying sentiment or annoyance. Look out for Little Audrey in her first cartoon. The voice acting is dependably good.

All in all, stereotypical and slight but very sweet, well-made and charming. 7/10 Bethany Cox

See Little Audrey's debut in Santa's Surprise

[tavm · 7/10 · 26 November 2006]

Santa's Surprise is a charming Christmas short from Parmount's Famous Studios cartoon division that features the first appearance of Little Audrey. Santa sings of bringing presents to children around the world. We see him stop at various children's houses in countries such as Russia, China, Holland, and America as represented by Little Audrey whose stocking has a hole at the bottom so when the presents fall out, they land in a wagon below! We then see Santa stop at his house in the North Pole where, since there are no elves or a Mrs. Claus, it is messed up beyond recognition. Audrey and her diversified playmates sneak in and clean it up. After they leave, Santa finds a present under his tree which has a circular music box that shows through a small screen inside, all their faces passing through...While some of the ethnic characterizations of the kids do come close to being stereotypical (the young Negro kid offers to shine shoes, the Dutch boy wears wooden clogs that are too loud), there's no real harm involved in such depictions and besides, they're all working for the greater good. So if you're looking for some Christmas cartoons that isn't Charlie Brown, the Grinch, or the Rankin/Bass Rudolph, put in a tape or DVD that has this and other public domain cartoons and marvel at the charms you'll get from something made 50 years ago!

Outdated but still entertaining!

[Sylviastel · 7/10 · 19 December 2011]

Okay there are plenty of flaws in this cartoon or animated short. The cartoon is about a group of kids who want to thank Santa Claus for all he's done for them. Yes, the film is over 70 years old so it's outdated especially regarding stereotypes about the children. But I didn't pay attention much to that as part of the cartoon's message about thanking Santa Claus and gratitude. If you overlook the stereotypes and realize that the country was another time and place, you might appreciate the early animation in this short and how Christmas was part of American history in post-World War II America. I didn't see the stereotypes or the offensiveness. To me, it's a cartoon for children and audiences. While it might be seen as offensive now, I'm sure it wasn't offensive when it was released. Still, the message is about gratitude.

Diversity

[Ace_of_Sevens · 11 August 2004]

This is a cartoon about some kids who decide that since Santa does so much for them every year, they should do something for him. So they break into his house and attempt to help him clean.

Like so many things from the 1940s, this cartoon is full of what would today be considered offensive racial stereotypes in what was probably an attempt at diversity. Check out the design on the black and Chinese kids, especially.

The animation is very cheap and the songs are pretty bad, but it does have some charming (cute) sight-gags. And it's only nine minutes long, so you won't waste too much of your life.

Truly mediocre

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 4 December 2017]

"Santa's Surprise" is an 8.5-minute cartoon from 1947, so this one has its 70th anniversary this year. The names of director Seymour Kneitel and voice actors Mercer and Questel may be known to those who love animated (short) films from the old days, the Golden Age of Animation. This one here is a little work for Christmas and the tables are turned as a gang of kids gets the presents to Santa this time and they come from all kinds of different places as you see from their looks and skin colors. This is basically all the story that is to it. The introduction to Santa in the first 2 minutes felt really random and the story overall was a bit thin here. This Little Audrey film by Famous Studios never really makes an impact, even if it admittedly gets a bit better after the first 2 minutes, mostly because the character animation for the kids is way better than Santa's. But the plot is never really on an interesting level and even the music is underwhelming. Quite a shame. This could have been much better with more attention to detail as the general idea is fairly solid. I give this one a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

Compared to So Many Others, This One Was Quite Good

[richard.fuller1 · 9/10 · 26 December 2007]

Actually it is seven children (Lil Audrey, a black child, an Asian, a Hawaiian girl, an Hispanic girl, a Dutch boy and a Russian boy) who sneak into Santa's sleigh and follow him to the North Pole to surprise him by cleaning his home and doing his dishes while he sleeps.

Yes, the black child is very Sambo-ish and the Asian child is sinisterly slit-eyed (notice how he sees Santa; by looking over his own shoulder into a mirror), but in the end the comedy relief is all on the Dutch boy; noisy shoes, breaking dishes, caught in the washing machine.

In some ways, this is a charming predecessor to Star Trek, with its international lineup (as well as possessing a previous enemy to America, the Asian child, and a product of the upcoming cold war, the Russian).

There is a surprise here in this unlikely 1947 cartoon, for Santa as well as for the rest of us as to when people started opening their eyes.

And it began with the kids, apparently.

Not every hit song is a chart topper in its first draft . . .

[pixrox1 · 6/10 · 16 October 2020]

. . . or "Somewhere over the outhouse" and "Dancing nose to nose" would still be pulling in big royalty bucks today. Another good example is that song from the 1900's about not tugging on Superman's cape. After seeing SANTA'S SURPRISE, Mr. Croce began toying with lyrics about not stowing away on Santa's sleigh. Fortunately, as the song evolved into something warning against messing around with Jim, Saint Nick slipped from the picture, to be replaced by Superman and the Lone Ranger. Even at the Yule Tide, I don't think a carol about Little Audrey's unauthorized trip to the North Pole would have gotten as much airplay as "Baby, It's Cold Outside."

Little Audrey and the six ethnic stereotypes gatecrash Christmas!

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 5/10 · 3 October 2019]

A rather enormous and singing Santa Claus finishes up his annual present delivery and heads back to the cabin he calls home in the North Pole to pass out alone! But unbeknownst to him a ragtag group of kids from all corners of the globe secretly hitch a ride in his sleigh and decide to try and do something nice for the jolly bringer of holiday cheer as he sleeps by doing his chores while trying to keep quiet.. So I immediately noticed that this is definitely not Disney's work or even up to the standard of a Fleischer cartoon, but it is cute and amusing enough, it's just pretty standard stuff all around. It's certainly shameless when it comes to the old fashioned stereotypes though, except for little Audrey who represents America and of course leads the rest of the children into action, none of them have an inkling of personality beyond playing up to their specific nationalities all the time, it's the laziest thing.. The Russian boy just wears one of those stupid big hats and says "Da!" I wasn't that particularly fussed about the 'terrible' stereotypes, just by the overall lameness of it, and by the lack of any real Christmas joy or spirit that was put into such a bland little short. I didn't like the design of Santa or of the children, he looked like a giant red blob and they all had the same ugly balloon-like heads. I didn't care for the music either, it wasn't endearing, it was twee and annoying! It bugged me too with some of the details, like I know these things are never meant to make perfect sense but it annoyed me when Little Audrey tied the pillows around the dumb Dutch kid's clogs instead of just taking the dang things off! One thing that really made me laugh was just how kind of sad it was when Santa wished himself a Merry Christmas with no sign of a Mrs Claus anywhere! So while this may not be the most entertaining vintage cartoon ever made, which it isn't, it does have a well meaning story of giving back at Christmas for a change, and hey, it's an old Christmas cartoon, and all old Christmas cartoons are just special! Just turns out that some are a little more special than others.. Just about passable as a watch around Christmastime, pleasantly awful. X

A really good feel Xmas movie

[atinder · 8/10 · 8 December 2012]

This yet another Christmas short, This is only nine min9 short Cartoon

I though this was really well made,

The cartoon as some very sweet moments, there also some good musical moments which are really limited, the songs were decent and fitted the inreally well.

This short as very good and funny, fun for the whole family.

The writing was really good too,

The Animation was good, for the times, some may find it a little out dated.

I think kids, even these days, will really enjoyed this short, it very well

I going give this 8 out of 10

Any viewer worth the thyme . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 7/10 · 28 September 2023]

. . . will be left wondering "How did the kids get back home?" It's not as if the gal with an unadorned torso will be able to get very far above the Arctic circle cloaked only in a floral wreath. If the actual temperature doesn't get her, the windchill factor surely will. Furthermore, how practical do you think the Dutch boy's wooden shoes are trekking across a polar ice cap? It seems like the silver skates of Hans Brink Ear would be more practical conveyances Up North than lumbering clogs. Finally, the idea that poorly identified stowaways of unknown intentions could tag along on an international flight without any security screening whatsoever is very troubling.

Could Have Been Cute

[knitting_kittie · 5/10 · 26 November 2018]

This short manages in just a few minutes to denigrate peoples from all over the world. The kids in the film are going a nice thing. Can't say the same for the filmmakers

Charming Film

[Michael_Elliott · 30 November 2012]

Santa's Surprise (1947)

*** (out of 4)

It's Christmas Night and Santa Claus is traveling around the world dropping off gifts for the little kids. When he gets back to the North Pole he goes right to bed not realizing that several kids have followed him home and have a surprise for him. What this short basically teaches us is that Santa Claus is so busy that he's unable to clean his own house, which leads to a lot of messes and dust. The kid's decide to be nice and clean the house while he catches up on his sleep. Overall this here is a pretty entertaining short that certainly has its heart in the right place but at the same time I'm sure most parents will have a lot of explaining to do to their kids. I say that because there are quite a few stereotypes on display here that are obviously going to offend many people today so parents will be explaining that this type of thing was at one time normal. The black kid and the Asian kids all have stereotypes about them and this includes the black kid shining Santa's shoes. Even with this stuff I still thought the film was entertaining. All of the characters are charming enough and even the Santa here is quite memorable. Another major bonus is that the song the kid's sing is actually pretty catchy in its own right.