A Visit from St. Nicholas

Visit from St. Nicholas. Illus. by Louis Prang, 1864

A Visit from St. Nicholas, also known as The Night Before Christmas and Twas the Night Before Christmas from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823 and generally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, although the claim has also been made that it was written by Henry Livingston, Jr.

Synopsis

On Christmas Eve night, while his wife and children sleep, a man awakens to noises outside his house. Looking out the window, he sees St. Nicholas in an air-borne sleigh pulled by eight reindeer - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen. After landing his sleigh on the roof, St. Nicholas enters the house through the chimney, carrying a sack of toys with him. The man watches St. Nicholas filling the children's stockings hanging by the fire, and laughs to himself. They share a conspiratorial moment before St. Nicholas bounds up the chimney again. As he flies away, St. Nicholas wishes everyone a "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

Film and television adaptations

• The Night Before Christmas - a 1905 silent short film directed by Edwin S. Porter
• The Night Before Christmas - a 1933 animated short produced by Walt Disney Animation.
• The Night Before Christmas - a 1941 cartoon short with Tom and Jerry.
• The Night Before Christmas - a 1968 animated television special
• 'Twas the Night Before Christmas - a 1974 animated special produced by Rankin/Bass
• Christmas in the Stars - features a version of the tale from the memory of a droid
• A Muppet Family Christmas features a pageant of the poem starring the cast of Sesame Street.
• The Animaniacs segment "'Twas the Day Before Christmas" has Ralph the Guard given the task of delivering Yakko, Wakko and Dot's Christmas presents. The short is presented as a bedtime story told by Slappy Squirrel to her nephew Skippy, and is narrated in the poetic form as the original story.
• The Histeria! episode "The American Revolution - Part I" features a sketch featuring a version of the poem based on George Washington's trip across the Delaware River.
• In the album: Pokémon Christmas Bash - Unlike the other tracks on the album, this is not a song, but rather a Pokémon-themed version of the well-known poem, Twas The Night Before Christmas.
• Shrek the Halls features different versions of the tale as told by Donkey, the Gingerbread Man, Puss in Boots, and Shrek.
• Super WHY!: "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" - This version has the lead characters and his friends flying into the story to discover why Santa delivers gifts on Christmas Eve.