Product Details

• #49487 in VHS
• Released on: 1996-12-23
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 50 minutes

Amazon.com
Tracing the 1700-year-old evolution from real-life Turkish Bishop to the rotund and jolly pitchman of today, this 45-minute installment of the Legends & Myths series of the popular A&E biographies takes a delightfully thorough look at the world's most famous gift giver. A merry Jack Perkins chairs the proceedings, chock full of historic detail, interviews with the likes of Father Andrew Greeley, a behind-the-scenes look at Santa school, and a comprehensive tracking of the change through paintings, cartoons, and movies. Whether revealing that the revered St. Nicholas rescued a dowryless woman by placing gold in her drying stockings or showing the picketing of the 1984 murderous Santa flick Silent Night, Deadly Night, this documentary informs, entertains, and, ultimately, redeems the old guy as the embodiment of the Christmas spirit. --Kimberly Heinrichs