So, several years after the financial success of the original 'Santa Claus' movie in the previous post, Murray played Dr. Frankenstein to another horrendous classic in 'Santa Claus and His Helpers'. Padded mercilessly with scratchy footage from the original Santa movie, and surrounded by abysmal, filmed-in-the-US silent footage worthy of bad home movies, this short film was actually released theatrically as a feature!
The crux of the 'story' is that Santa Claus and Merlin the Magician visit their feuding pals, Stinky the Skunk and Ferocious Wolf, on Earth. Santa and Puss 'n Boots convince Stinky and Wolf to put aside their grievances and prepare for Christmas. Stinky is put in charge of Santa's modern toy factory. Plus, the mysterious use of the 'Fifth Dimension' is unveiled once again to give the story that whole creepy occult thing that ended up a Murray trademark. Confused? Don't feel bad...while I love it, so am I.
To add some local flavor for those in the Chicagoland area, the new scenes shot in the US took place on location at the three Santa's Village amusement parks...including the one in Dundee, IL (represent)! Two more films followed, including 'Santa's Magic Kingdom' and 'Santa's Enchanted Village'...both pretty much following the same formula and storyline.
The crux of the 'story' is that Santa Claus and Merlin the Magician visit their feuding pals, Stinky the Skunk and Ferocious Wolf, on Earth. Santa and Puss 'n Boots convince Stinky and Wolf to put aside their grievances and prepare for Christmas. Stinky is put in charge of Santa's modern toy factory. Plus, the mysterious use of the 'Fifth Dimension' is unveiled once again to give the story that whole creepy occult thing that ended up a Murray trademark. Confused? Don't feel bad...while I love it, so am I.
To add some local flavor for those in the Chicagoland area, the new scenes shot in the US took place on location at the three Santa's Village amusement parks...including the one in Dundee, IL (represent)! Two more films followed, including 'Santa's Magic Kingdom' and 'Santa's Enchanted Village'...both pretty much following the same formula and storyline.
Want to check out the insanity for yourself? Unfortunately, I can't find 'Santa's Helpers' anywhere and there isn't any fun MST3K commentary, but you can enjoy the following in their entirety nonetheless...
'SANTA'S MAGIC KINGDOM'
PART 2
'SANTA'S ENCHANTED VILLAGE'
...and be sure to visit the go-to-website for all things K. Gordon Murray: THE WONDER WORLD OF K. GORDON MURRAY and read up further on a slew of movies that led one theatre-chain owner to reportedly dub the Florida producer, 'Disney from Hell.'
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