Review of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Introduction

Spring is in the air, so what better time to confuse the mind now with a title containing, "Santa Claus". This DVD has two stories, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and The Little Drummer Boy. I remember singing The Little Drummer Boy in the Christmas choir like it was yesterday.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Everything You Wanted to Know About Santa...narrated and sung by Fred Astaire.

The Little Drummer Boy
Based on the Christmas Carol, our little drummer boy, Aaron, is angry and hates people. On his journey to Bethlehem however he changes his outlook as he sees the most beautiful baby he`s ever seen.

Video

Both stories are presented with a 1.33:1 fullframe transfer.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town
This transfer looks good with bright colours. There is some dirt but it doesn`t get in the way. It looks miles better than the other story...

The Little Drummer Boy
Made in 1968, the quality of the video is average, showing a fair amount of dirt throughout. The colours look faded and the brightness/contrast is sorely lacking. There are lots of dark and murky areas where it`s difficult to see the scene clearly but despite this lack of clarity, you still get the gist of what`s going on.

Audio

Presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, all the mono sound comes firmly from the front speakers. It`s clear on both stories and does the job.

Features

None. There are no subtitles either.

Conclusion

There`s an annoying bug in the DVD menu where sometimes selecting Santa Claus is Coming to Town the DVD will play The Little Drummer Boy instead, or vice versa. Simple QA would have picked this up, so you have to select the story with Scene Selection instead.

If you`re the type to use the television as a nanny for your young children, then this is a harmless enough DVD to keep them occupied. There`s nothing contentious to worry about and the animated puppet style is sure to be entertaining.