Santa redirects here. For other uses, see Santa (disambiguation).
Santa Claus is a traditional, secular imaginary figure of Christmas good cheer who is the best known (at least in modern times) mascot of Christmas, developed in the United States as an amalgam of the story of St. Nicholas and various other seasonal folk heroes, with many aspects provided by the classic poem A Visit From St. Nicholas. The Santa Claus myth is based largely on the Dutch holiday of "Sinterklaas" (a hastily pronounced "St. Nicholas", who comes down the chimney on the 5th/6th of December) and the imagery of the Saint in question carried over to his North Pole incarnation. (Note that in several countries in Europe, Sinterklaas and Santa Claus are considered two entirely different characters, each with their own elaborate holiday.)
The modern figure of Santa Claus is typically depicted as a portly, jolly, often spectacled, white-bearded man dressed in a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots; who carries a bag full of toys and gifts for children. He lives at the North Pole in a large workshop staffed by elves which produces toys year round, and every Christmas Eve he sets out in a flying sleigh pulled by at least eight reindeer, delivering toys and other gifts to the children and children-at-heart of the world out of the improbably large sack he carries with him, entering their houses by the chimney, filling their stockings, putting larger gifts under the tree, partaking of whatever food and drink the family left out for him (traditionally cookies and milk), then leaving how he came in.
Typically, after the children have fallen asleep, parents play the role of Santa Claus and leave their gifts under the Christmas tree. Tags on gifts for children are sometimes signed by their parents "From Santa Claus" before the gifts are laid beneath the tree.
Santa Claus appears in many Christmas specials and movies. His portrayal in them varies in many ways, as listed below.
Portrayals
The character known as Santa Claus has been portrayed in many films and television specials. This is a partial list of the actors who have played him.
Live-action
Picture | Performer | Feature | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
20th Century Studios | ||||
Edmund Gwenn | Miracle on 34th Street | 1947 | In his Oscar-winning performance, Gwenn portrays Kris Kringle, the resident of a Long Island old age home who takes up a job at Macy's Department Store in New York City, and wins the heart of an office executive. Gwenn had previously played Santa in the actual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade the previous year, and his performance here won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, making him notably the only actor to win such an award for playing Santa. | |
Ed Wynn | Miracle on 34th Street | 1959 | The famous TV (and former vaudeville) comic played Kris Kringle in a live telecast on NBC. | |
Sebastian Cabot | Miracle on 34th Street | 1974 | The actor known for playing Giles French on Family Affair played Kris Kringle in this TV film remake. | |
Sir Richard Attenborough | Miracle on 34th Street | 1994 | The English actor and director played Kris Kringle in this 1994 remake of the 1947 classic film. | |
Jim Belushi | Jingle All the Way | 1996 | Howard meets Santa Claus at the mall and he tells him that he wants to get his son Jamie a Turbo Man doll. | |
Disney | ||||
Paul Maxey | Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color: "Holiday Time at Disneyland" | 1962 | ||
Jan Rubes | One Magic Christmas | 1985 | Santa and Gideon the Christmas Angel help Ginny Grainger mother find the spirit of Christmas. | |
Douglas Seale | Ernest Saves Christmas | 1988 | ||
Tim Allen | The Santa Clause trilogy and The Santa Clauses | 1994-2022 | Scott Calvin is a divorced father who is down on his luck when he accidentally kills the previous Santa Claus and inadvertently becomes the new Father Christmas. | |
John B. Lowe | The Ultimate Christmas Present | 2000 | Two pre-teen girls find a weather machine owned by Santa who has a secluded shack in the woods somewhere in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, and use it to create snow, only to find out it's more than they can handle. | |
Leslie Nielsen | Santa Who? | |||
George Wendt | Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws | 2009 | George Wendt puts on the red suit and beard for this direct-to-video film. | |
Donovan Scott | Zeke and Luther: "Bro Ho Ho" | 2010 | Donovan Scott plays a mall Santa who may or may not be the real deal. | |
Jim O'Heir | Austin & Ally: "Santas & Surprises" | 2015 | ||
Pickle and Peanut: "A Merry Mocap Musical" | 2017 | At the end of a short 3D segment, Santa picks up a snow globe with Pickle and Peanut inside and then smashes it towards the wall. | ||
Danny Glover | The Naughty Nine | 2023 | ||
Warner Bros. | ||||
Ed Asner | Elf | 2003 | ||
Kenneth Welsh | Lexmas | 2005 | ||
John Goodman | The Year Without a Santa Claus | 2006 | ||
Paul Giamatti | Fred Claus | 2007 | Santa is the brother of the title character. He is never on his Sleigh in this film | |
Dakin Matthews | The Big Bang Theory: "The Santa Simulation" | 2012 | The geeks of Apartment 4A play a Christmas-themed Dungeons & Dragons game where Sheldon lets Santa Claus get eaten by ogres. That night he dreams of Santa visiting the apartment to get his revenge. | |
Art Carney | The Great Santa Claus Switch | 1970 | Carney portrayed both Santa and his evil doppelganger, Cosmo Scam, who plots to take over Santa's workshop in this Jim Henson-created special edition of The Ed Sullivan Show. | |
Jon Stone | Christmas Eve on Sesame Street | 1978 | Big Bird sits out on the roof of 123 Sesame Street to catch Santa in the act of delivering presents. Santa appears when Big Bird dozes off and is only seen in shadow, disappearing the moment Big Bird awakes. His voice (provided by Jon Stone) is previously heard over a telephone swallowed by Cookie Monster. | |
Charles Durning | Elmo Saves Christmas | 1996 | When Elmo helps him get unstuck from the chimney on Christmas Eve, Santa grants three wishes to the 3½-year-old Muppet. When Elmo wishes that every day was Christmas, Santa, along with Lightning the Reindeer, shows Elmo the consequences of that wish. | |
Charles Edward Hall | Elmo's World: "Happy Holidays!" | 2002 | Elmo visits Santa at his home in the North Pole.
Hall also portrays Santa Claus in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring The Rockettes every Christmas in Radio City Music Hall, New York City. He had been the Radio City Santa Claus since 1987. | |
Kevin James | Elmo's Christmas Countdown | 2007 | ||
Richard Griffiths | A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa | 2008 | ||
Nickelodeon | ||||
All That: Episode 225 | 1995 | At the beginning of the episode, Santa visits the greenroom, where the cast members tell him what they want for Christmas. Later, he appears in an Adventures of Superdude sketch in which he gets captured by Milkman, but is fortunately rescued by Superdude. | ||
Kenan and Kel: "Merry Christmas, Kenan" | 1996 | At the end of the episode, Santa brings Kenan the Roadblazer Deluxe Elite mountain bike that he wanted. | ||
Michael Bell | SpongeBob SquarePants: "Christmas Who?" | 2000 | A live-action Santa flies over Bikini Bottom after Squidward finds a note from him. | |
Marc Thompson | Team Umizoomi: "Santa's Little Fixers" | 2010 | A live-action Santa appearing in an animated show. | |
Donavon Stinson | A Fairly Odd Christmas | 2012 | As this movie is a follow-up to The Fairly OddParents, this Santa is meant to be the same version from the show's Christmas episodes. | |
Thomasina Gross | The Great Nickmas Tree Sliming | 2022 | ||
Miscellaneous | ||||
Art Carney | The Twilight Zone: "Night of the Meek" | 1960 | A rare videotaped telecast of CBS' sci-fi series created and written by Rod Serling saw Carney as a department store Santa. | |
John Call | Santa Claus Conquers the Martians | 1964 | Santa gets kidnapped by martians who believe that their planet needs someone like him. In the end, he suggests that a martian named Dropo be his Mars equivalent. | |
Jay Ripley | Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny | 1972 | Santa's sleigh gets stuck in the sands of Dania Beach, Florida, near the Pirates World Amusement Park. Summoning nearby kids to help rescue him so he can resume his annual deliveries but to no avail, he tells the kids one of two non-Christmas fairy tales and is rescued by a man in a bunny suit who drives an antique fire engine. | |
Art Carney | The Night They Saved Christmas | 1984 | Jackie Gleason's long-time second banana once again played jolly old St. Nicholas, this time saving his workshop from evil oil prospectors. | |
David Huddleston | Santa Claus | 1985 | The story of Santa's origins are revealed from the days before he became a Christmas hero all over the world. | |
Richard Mulligan | The Twilight Zone: "Night of the Meek" (1985 remake) | Mulligan (left) takes over the role of a drunken department store Santa made famous by Art Carney in the remake. | ||
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: "Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree" | 1986 | Father Christmas (as a model, considering the style of the show at the time) makes a cameo appearance as a guest dropped off by Harold the Helicopter. He is also mentioned by Thomas in "Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure". | ||
Kort Falkenberg | The Super Mario Bros. Super Show: "Santa Claus Is Coming to Flatbush" | 1989 | Santa pays a visit to Mario and Luigi. | |
Henry Hammack | Barney and the Backyard Gang: Waiting for Santa | 1990 | Barney reads The Night Before Christmas to Michael and Amy, children he has befriended, all while Santa himself is in the living room doing his usual work. He falls asleep just as he comes to "With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick". Santa whispers the last quotation to the camera after that. | |
Lloyd Bridges | 'Tis a Gift | Santa Claus (also known as Mr. Nicholas) visits Shining Time Station. He catches a train called "The Northern Star". | ||
Robert Miliam | The Best Christmas Ever! | Poofer the Elf brings in Santa to the workshop. Santa helps Gusty to figure out the problem, so he brings Dermie to try on some brand-new glasses. On Christmas morning, he gives the Smith parents, Barbara and Larry, a doll and a football. | ||
Robyn Archer - Eating on the Plane | 1991 | Santa, who is dressed up by one of the kids and on the plane, is working on the computer while making a cameo appearance. | ||
Don Mincey | We Wish You a Merry Christmas | 1992 | The Kidsongs Kids and Ms. Morganstern visit Santa and Mrs. Claus at the North Pole. | |
Robert Fliss | Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: "I'm Dreaming of a White Ranger" | 1995 | Santa's workshop is overrun by Goldar and Rito Revolto, forcing the Power Rangers to save him and the elves. | |
Charles Durning | Mrs. Santa Claus | 1996 | Durning played Santa Claus twice in the same year, as the costar of Angela Lansbury's titular character in this made-for-TV movie musical. | |
Jonathan Mill | Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas | 1997 | Santa Claus appears during "Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Go Santa Go", "Christmas Picnic", "Let's Clap Hands for Santa Claus" and "Jeff's Christmas Tune". | |
Brian Blessed | Fun in the Snow | |||
William Hootkins | Like Father, Like Santa | 1998 | Santa is the father to a son (Harry Hamlin) who is a ruthless tycoon in the toy industry. | |
Robert Von Flies | Jay Jay the Jet Plane: "Jay Jay's Christmas Adventure" | Santa is a jolly man who called Old Oscar, Jay Jay, Herky, Snuffy, and Tracy to help him deliver presents since his reindeer are sick. | ||
Cameron Lewis | The Wiggly Big Show | 1999 | Santa Claus returns to do "Wiggly Christmas Medley". | |
Gerry Parkes | Must Be Santa | |||
Fred Gaffney | Yule Be Wiggling | 2001 | Santa appears on The Wiggles for the third time. | |
Charles Durning | Mr. Saint Nick | 2002 | Durning donned the red suit a third time, playing Kelsey Grammer's father in this made-for-cable film. | |
Christopher Plummer | Blizzard | 2003 | The actor known for playing Captain Von Tramp in the 1965 film version of The Sound of Music played Santa in this independent Christmas film. | |
Franko Torrelli | Santa's Rockin'! | 2004 | Santa makes an appearance with the Wiggles once again. | |
Bill Goldberg | Santa's Slay | 2005 | Santa is depected as a demon who was sentenced to deliver presents for 1,000 years after losing to an angel during a curling match. | |
George Wendt | Santa Baby | 2006 | Santa falls ill and his daughter (Jenny McCarthy) has to fill in for him on Christmas Eve. | |
George Wendt | A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! | 2008 | Wendt appeared as St. Nick in Steven Colbert's Christmas special. | |
Paul Sorvino | Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe | 2009 | In this sequel to Santa Baby, the Oscar-winning actor took over the role previously played by George Wendt. | |
W. Morgan Sheppard | Farewell Mr. Kringle | 2010 | Sheppard played Kris Kringle in a live-action role. | |
R.D. Reid | The Night Before the Night Before Christmas | St. Nick is in a jam at a house on December 23rd. | ||
James Cosmo | The Santa Incident | An inept U.S. Homeland Security agent holds Santa for invading U.S. airspace. | ||
Mairtin O'Carrigan | Mistletoe Over Manhattan | 2011 | As Nick Claus. | |
George Wendt | Merry-In-Laws | 2012 | George Wendt once again portrays Santa, this time with Shelley Long (who previously starred alongside him on Cheers) appearing as Mrs. Claus. | |
Bert Newton | Go, Santa, Go! | 2013 | Bert Newton appears as Santa in The Wiggles' latest Christmas DVD. | |
Brian Blessed | Pranks & Presents | Brian Blessed plays Father Christmas twice in Sooty. | ||
Ólafur S.K. Þorvaldz | LazyTown: "The Holiday Spirit" | |||
Nick Frost | Doctor Who: "Last Christmas" | 2014 | Santa first makes a small appearance at during a mid credits scene in the Series 8 finale Death in Heaven. In the special, Santa has two elves named Ian and the Wolf, but has only three reindeer, Rudolph, Donner and Blitzen. | |
Robert Wagner | Northpole | Hollywood actor Robert Wagner played Santa in this Hallmark Channel Original Movie with his wife Jill St. John playing Mrs. Claus. | ||
Neil Crome | Odd Squad: "Reindeer Games" | Santa requests help from the Odd Squad to locate his missing reindeer. | ||
Donovan Scott | Northpole: Open for Christmas | 2015 | Donovan Scott took over the role of Santa in this sequel to Northpole. | |
Kurt Russell | The Christmas Chronicles 1 & 2 | 2018-2020 | ||
John Sumner | Power Rangers Beast Morphers: "Scrozzle's Revenge" | 2019 | At the end of the episode, Santa arrives to invite the Beast Bots to the North Pole, a surprise by the Rangers. |
Animated
Picture | Performer | Feature | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Disney | ||||
Allan Watson | Silly Symphonies | 1932-1933 | In the 1932 short Santa's Workshop, Santa reads letters from children as he prepares for his big night. In the following year's The Night Before Christmas, he embarks upon a home filled with children. | |
Edward Ivory | The Nightmare Before Christmas | 1993 | Santa is held captive by Oogie Boogie while Jack Skellington poses in his place. | |
Hal Smith | Bonkers: "Miracle at the 34th Precinct" | While testing out in his new sleigh, Santa accidentally falls out and lands in Burbank, California, where he loses his memory and hangs out with Fall-Apart Rabbit, who nicknames him Jim. | ||
Daran Norris | The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show: "Jingle Bells, Something Smells" | 1995 | ||
James Earl Jones | Recess: "Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave" | 1998 | In this special, the real Santa is an African-American man with a cleanly-shaven beard. | |
Jim Cummings | Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas | 1999 | ||
Earl Boen | Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: "Holiday Time" | 2000 | Santa operates out of the planet North Polaris, where utilizing an interstellar sleigh and a time-manipulation device, delivers presents to all the planets within the Galactic Alliance. He recruits Buzz Lightyear's help in retrieving his Chronal Disruptor from Evil Emperor Zurg. | |
Corey Burton | House of Mouse: "Clarabelle's Christmas List" | 2002 | This version of Santa appears to be the same one from the Silly Symphonies shorts. | |
Chuck McCann | Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas | 2004 | ||
John Astin | Higglytown Heroes: "Twinkle's Wish" | |||
Dee Bradley Baker | Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: "Mickey Saves Santa" | 2006 | This version of Santa later reappeared in the hour-length episode "Choo-Choo Express". | |
Jeffrey Tambor | My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Sleuth Christmas Movie | 2007 | This direct-to-video film marked the only time Santa was seen in the Winnie the Pooh franchise. | |
Daran Norris | The Replacements: "Dick Daring's All-Star Holiday Stunt Spectacular 5" | 2008 | Appears in a sketch where Todd Daring tries to replace him with different types of Santas. | |
Clancy Brown | Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation! | 2009 | Santa arranges for Dr. Doofenshmirtz to build the Naughtyinator with which to ruin Christmas, and a CD of him singing (under the alias Sal Tuscany) for Perry to use to foil the doctor's plan. He later uses the sauna in the rest stop that Phineas and Ferb built for him and reads Phineas' letter, saying all Phineas wished for was to be like him. | |
W. Morgan Sheppard | Prep & Landing series | 2009-2011 | Santa is codenamed "The Big Guy". His face is never fully shown onscreen, except from a distance in a few shots in Operation: Secret Santa. | |
Jeffrey Tambor | Doc McStuffins: "A Very McStuffins Christmas" | 2013 | ||
Kevin Michael Richardson | Duck the Halls: A Mickey Mouse Christmas Special | 2016 | Santa's design here is based off of the Silly Symphonies version. | |
Christopher Lloyd | Big City Greens: "Green Christmas" | 2019 | When Cricket is feeling miserable about accidentally getting Tilly placed on the naughty list, Santa approaches him and offers him a magical gift which can give him anything he wishes for. Cricket, having realized the error of his ways, refuses the gift and says that all he wants is for Tilly to be put back on the nice list. Like in the Prep & Landing specials, Santa's face is not shown onscreen. However, his face was shown in the Chibi Tiny Tales short "Christmas Crashers", the Broken Karaoke short "Santa Gave My Grandson Coal for Christmas", and Shortsmas with Big City Greens. | |
Fred Tatasciore | T.O.T.S.: "Santa Baby" | Like in the above special, his face is never seen. | ||
Hugh Bonneville | DuckTales (2017): "How Santa Stole Christmas!" | 2020 | In the DuckTales reboot, Santa is an anthropomorphic polar bear, and Scrooge McDuck holds a grudge against him, to the point that he won't allow Santa to visit his mansion and even sets traps against him. It is eventually revealed when Santa appears that he and Scrooge were once friends who briefly went into business together as "McDuck and Claus Deliveries". They planned to distribute gifts by Christmas Day by obtaining the Feliz Navidiamond, but when Santa suggested they simply give the gifts away rather than sell them, Scrooge furiously ended their partnership. | |
Brock Powell | Mickey Saves Christmas | 2022 | ||
Rankin/Bass | ||||
Stan Francis | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | 1964 | A skinny (and extremely cranky) Santa fattens himself up before asking Rudolph to guide his sleigh through the stormy weather on Christmas Eve. | |
Paul Frees | Frosty the Snowman | 1969 | Hocus Pocus flags down Santa as the only magical being who can bring Frosty back to life after he's melted in a greenhouse. | |
Mickey Rooney; Paul Frees (Rudolph's Shiny New Year) |
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town | 1970 |
This same version reappeared in The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976), and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979). | |
Allen Swift | 'Twas the Night Before Christmas | 1974 | ||
Pinocchio's Christmas | 1980 | Santa is seen in a fantasy sequence where Pinocchio is teaching his toys to dance. He later shows up to bring Pinocchio and Dr. Cricket back home to Geppetto's workshop. His design is identical to the Mickey Rooney version. | ||
J.D. Roth (Young Claus); Earl Hammond |
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus | 1985 | Santa, known at this time as just Claus, grew up in the Forest of Burzee and was raised by the immortal Necile. | |
Warner Bros. | ||||
The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives | 1933 | Santa lets a homeless boy come with him to his workshop. | ||
Mel Blanc | Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales | 1979 | Does not appear onscreen; is instead only heard talking to his wife. | |
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation | 1989 | A clumsy Santa is depicted during the film's opening title sequence. | ||
Animaniacs: "Jingle Boo" | 1993 | After a brief cameo in "'Twas the Day Before Christmas", Santa shows up to give Chicken Boo a rare happy ending for one of his segments. | ||
Earl Boen | A Pinky and the Brain Christmas | 1995 | Appears to be the same version from Animaniacs. | |
Tom Hanks | The Polar Express | 2004 | Hanks' role in this CGI movie was one of many in this 2004 adaptation of Chris Van Allsburgh's story. | |
Mickey Rooney | A Miser Brothers' Christmas | 2008 | As this special is a sequel to The Year Without a Santa Claus, this version of Santa is meant to be the same as the above-mentioned version from that special (albeit with a different design). Mickey Rooney reprised the role for this special. | |
Fred Tatasciore | Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays | 2012 | ||
Barry Corbin | The Looney Tunes Show: "A Christmas Carol" | |||
Mark Hamill | Tom and Jerry: Santa's Little Helpers | 2014 | His face is never shown onscreen in this special. | |
Ed Asner | Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas | Asner was the only actor from the live-action film to reprise his role. | ||
Robert Morse | Teen Titans Go! | 2015-2019 | ||
Kevin Michael Richardson | Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: "Christmas in Oz" | 2018 | ||
John DiMaggio | Animaniacs: "Santamaniacs" | 2023 | ||
Hanna-Barbera | ||||
Hal Smith | The Flintstones: "Christmas Flintstone" | 1965 | When he's sick with a flu, Santa has Fred Flintstone substitute for him. | |
A Christmas Story | 1972 | |||
A Flintstone Christmas | 1977 | Like in the first Flintstones Christmas production, Santa has Fred substitute for him. | ||
Casper's First Christmas | 1979 | All that Casper wants for Christmas is for his friend Hairy Scary's house to not be torn down. Although Hairy doesn't believe in Christmas, Santa Claus nevertheless delivers him a deed to the condemned house. | ||
Yogi's First Christmas | 1980 | |||
Peter Cullen | Christmas Comes to Pac-Land | 1982 | ||
Hal Smith | Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone: "Santanapped" | 1990 | This version of Santa enters the Dream Zone and dressed in a Hawaiian shirt. This would be Hal Smith's final appearance in a Hanna-Barbera TV series. | |
The Town Santa Forgot | 1993 | To repay Jeremy Creek for his unexpected kindness, Santa makes him his assistant in his annual trek. This would notably be the last production in which Santa was voiced by Hal Smith, who died the following year. | ||
T.K. Carter | What a Cartoon!: "George and Junior's Christmas Spectacular" | 1995 | ||
DiC Entertainment | ||||
Ted Ziegler | Heathcliff: "North Pole Cat" | 1986 | ||
John Stocker | The Super Mario Bros. Super Show: "Koopa Klaus" | 1989 | ||
Frank Welker | Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas | 1992 | ||
Jay Brazeau | Sonic Christmas Blast | 1996 | At the end of this special, Santa retires and gives his position to Sonic the Hedgehog. | |
Maurice LaMarche | Gadget Boy & Heather: "A Gadget Boy Christmas Around the World" | 1998 | Santa enlists Gadget Boy's help to deliver presents. | |
Super Duper Sumos: "Santa's a Big Fat Sumo" | 2000 | |||
Archie's Weird Mysteries: "The Christmas Phantom" | Santa disguises himself as the Christmas Phantom to scare off potential candidates for Riverdale's department store Santa just to test the town's Christmas spirit in order to fulfill Archie Andrews' wish for a Christmas Weird Mystery. | |||
Gadget and the Gadgetinis: "Santa Claw" | 2003 | |||
Nickelodeon | ||||
Neil Ross | Rugrats: "The Santa Experience" | 1992 | ||
Brian Doyle-Murray | CatDog: "A Very CatDog Christmas" | 1999 | Already disillusioned by the commercialism the kids in Nearburg have succumbed to, Santa decides to cancel Christmas after CatDog sells themselves out. | |
Tom Arnold (Corporate Santa); Kevin Michael Richardson (Magic Santa) | The Fairly OddParents | 2001-2008 | According to "Christmas Every Day!", Santa has the image and personality of a corporate CEO outside of Christmas. Every Christmas Eve, all the fairies transfer their magic to him, transforming him into his more familiar jolly appearance. However, he is always depicted in his familiar jolly form in his later appearances on the show (including "Merry Wishmas"). | |
Howie Dorough | Dora the Explorer: "A Present for Santa" | 2002 | The Backstreet Boys member voiced Santa in the first Christmas episode of the Nick Jr. animated series. Santa is depicted with medium skin, as if Latino. | |
Merry Nickmas: "Holiday Party" | Based loosely off of the version from the Rankin/Bass Rudolph special, he is referred to as St. Nick as a direct reference to the channel's name and laughs to the tune of the Nickelodeon jingle. | |||
Mel Brooks | The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius: "Holly Jolly Jimmy" | 2003 | Santa is shown to be a supergenius much like Jimmy. | |
Pat Fraley | My Life as a Teenage Robot: "A Robot for All Seasons" | 2004 | ||
Carlos Alazraqui | Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!: "The Super-Special Gift" | 2008 | ||
Harry Chase | Dora the Explorer: Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure | 2009 | Looks the same as in the first Dora the Explorer Christmas special, but has a different voice actor this time. | |
Kevin Michael Richardson | Back at the Barnyard: "It's an Udderful Life" | Santa comes down with a case of ferret fever. | ||
Conan O'Brien | The Backyardigans: "The Action Elves Save Christmas Eve" | Although never seen, Snappy the elf talks to Santa by cell phone. | ||
Matthew W. Taylor | T.U.F.F. Puppy: "A Doomed Christmas" | 2011 | In T.U.F.F. Puppy, Santa is depicted as an anthropomorphic polar bear. He also appears in the earlier-produced non-holiday episode "Mission: Really Big Mission". | |
John Goodman | SpongeBob SquarePants: "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" | 2012 | Unlike in "Christmas Who?", Santa is depicted as resembling an anthropomorphic "sea pig". This same version reappeared a few seasons later, in traditional animation, in the episode "Goons on the Moon", where he was voiced by Lewis Black. | |
Ron Pardo Marty Moreau |
PAW Patrol: "Pups Save Christmas" | 2013 | ||
Bob Joles | Blaze and the Monster Machines: "Monster Machine Christmas" | 2015 | ||
Carl Reiner | Shimmer and Shine: "Santa's Little Genies" | 2015 | ||
Jeff Bennett | Bunsen is a Beast: "Bunsen Saves Christmas" | 2017 | ||
Top Wing: "A Top Wing Christmas" | 2019 | Santa is depicted once again as a polar bear. | ||
Lewis Black | Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years: "The Ho! Ho! Horror!" | 2021 | The version from "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" reappears in CGI animation, with his voice actor from "Goons on the Moon" reprising. | |
Rob Riggle | Middlemost Post: "Parker Saves Christmas" | In this series, Santa is Angus Shackleton III's older brother. | ||
Lewis Black | SpongeBob SquarePants: "SpongeBob's Road to Christmas" | Another appearance for the version originally seen in "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!" | ||
Cartoon Network | ||||
Tom Bosley | Johnny Bravo: "Twas the Night" | 1997 | Johnny mistakes Santa for a burglar and accidentally knocks him out, forcing him to take over for Santa. At the end of the episode, Santa gives Johnny boxing gloves, vowing that next year is "Round 2". | |
Bruce McGill | I Am Weasel: "Happy Baboon Holidays" | |||
Jeff Bennett | Dexter's Laboratory: "Dexter Vs. Santa's Claws" | 1998 | Dexter attacks Santa and shaves his beard in an attempt to prove that he is really his dad in a costume. | |
Earl Boen | A Johnny Bravo Christmas | 2001 | In the second Johnny Bravo Christmas episode, Johnny travels to the North Pole when he forgets to send his and his mother's letters to Santa. Upon being reminded of the previous episode's events, Santa upholds his promise to Johnny. | |
Michael Patrick Bell | The Powerpuff Girls: 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas | 2003 | Santa is tricked into believing that all the kids in the world are naughty after Princess Morbucks switches the headlines around on his naughty and nice lists. | |
Danny Antonucci | Ed, Edd n Eddy's Jingle Jingle Jangle | 2004 | Santa appears briefly near the end to drop his sack of gifts on top of Eddy. | |
Lewis MacLeod | Robotboy: "Christmas Evil" | 2005 | ||
Tom Kane and Phil LaMarr | Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: "A Lost Claus" | Pictured here are two of the many imaginary Santas who are created every Christmas. (The real Santa is never shown onscreen in this special.) | ||
Gilbert Gottfried | Billy & Mandy Save Christmas | |||
Dee Bradley Baker | Codename: Kids Next Door: "Operation: N.A.U.G.H.T.Y." | Santa doesn't actually go flying around the world; instead he uses a sleigh-shaped computer to transport presents and coal into the homes of good and bad children, respectively. | ||
Tom Kenny | Camp Lazlo: "Kamp Kringle" | 2007 | ||
Mauricio de Sousa | Monica and Friends: "Pretty Christmas Night" | 2010 | ||
Ed Asner | Regular Show: "The Christmas Special" | 2012 | Santa Claus doesn't look a lot like how most people imagined he'd look like (he says TV producers made that appearance up). He has really long hair, which he has tied back into a ponytail. He wears a black jacket that is unbuttoned, revealing a red shirt, which is tucked in. He also wears brown pants, a belt, and a red scarf, and does not wear the familiar Santa hat. The only thing people got right about him was his beard. He also isn't fat at all; in fact, he has a six-pack. | |
Brian Blessed | The Amazing World of Gumball: "Christmas" | As a result of being struck by a car, Santa believes he is a random homeless man. Richard and the kids believe him to be Santa, but he hasn't the faintest clue what they are talking about. The kids' attempts at getting his memories back only succeed in annoying him. Eventually, Nicole reveals that Santa Claus is nonexistent, causing him to realize how worthless he is. At the lowest point in his depression, he is struck in the head again, causing him to regain his memories. | ||
Bob Joles | Uncle Grandpa: "Christmas Special" | 2014 | Santa is revealed to be Uncle Grandpa's brother. | |
Bob Joles | Craig of the Creek: "Merry Stumpmas" | 2021 | ||
20th Century Studios | ||||
Ron Feinberg | The Tick: "The Tick Loves Santa!" | 1995 | Santa Claus personally visits The Tick himself, when a supervillain dressed like him with a gang of duplicates goes on a crime spree, and he doesn't have the courage or sense to fight back against them. | |
Ed Asner | Olive, the Other Reindeer | 1999 | ||
Seth MacFarlane | Family Guy: "A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas" | 2001 | In Stewie Griffin's dream, Santa kidnaps him for being naughty and sends him to his workshop. | |
Hank Azaria | The Simpsons: "Simpsons Christmas Stories" | 2005 | ||
The Cleveland Show: "A Cleveland Brown Christmas" | 2009 | He appeared at the end of the episode. | ||
Dan Castellaneta | The Simpsons: "The Fight Before Christmas" | 2010 | In Bart Simpson's Polar Express-inspired dream, Santa is portrayed by Krusty the Clown. | |
Bruce McGill | Family Guy: "Road to the North Pole" | |||
Matt McKenna | American Dad!: "For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls" | |||
Billy Gardell | Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas | 2011 | ||
Miscellaneous | ||||
John Le Mesurier | Bod’s Present | 1975 | ||
Frank Welker | A Chipmunk Christmas | 1981 | ||
Fairy Princess Minky Momo: "Please, Santa Claus" | 1982 | |||
The Snowman | In this short film, Father Christmas hosts a Snowman party where he meets James and his snowman. He later gives James a snowman scarf as a Christmas present. Father Christmas is mute in this film and has only two nameless reindeer. | |||
Peter Hawkins | SuperTed Meets Father Christmas | 1984 | ||
Carroll O'Connor | The Glo Friends Save Christmas | 1985 | ||
George and the Christmas Star | ||||
Les Lye | Babar and Father Christmas | 1986 | ||
Rex Robbins | Max's Christmas | 1988 | Santa in the Max and Ruby short originally based on the book is depicted as a rabbit. | |
Brian Trueman | Count Duckula: "A Christmas Quacker" | 1990 | The Count Duckula version of Santa is an anthropomorphised bird. | |
Andrew Hill Newman | A Wish For Wings That Work | 1991 | ||
David Shaw Parker | Mr. Men and Little Miss: Christmas Rescue | |||
Mel Smith | Father Christmas | This is the same version featured in The Snowman. This special shows him going on holiday and is also shown to own a cat and a dog besides his two reindeer. Unlike in The Snowman, Father Christmas speaks in this film. | ||
Up on the Housetop | 1992 | |||
Jim McNabb | The Teddy Bears' Christmas | |||
William Shatner | Eek! The Cat: "It's a Very Merry Eek's-Mas" | 1993 | ||
Andrew McGibbon (UK) / Jim Cummings (US) | Spot's Magical Christmas | 1995 | ||
Jim Cummings | The Mask: "Santa Mask" | |||
Keith Knight | The Busy World of Richard Scarry: "Sally Cat's Christmas Dream" | In Sally Cat's dream, Santa is portrayed by Huckle and Sally's father, John Cat. | ||
Ed Asner | The Story of Santa Claus | 1996 | ||
Jim Cummings | Earthworm Jim: "For Whom the Jingle Bell Tolls" | Queen Slug-For-A-Butt captures Santa and brainwashes him into helping her plant brainwashing microchips in the brains of all the children on Earth. However, he is returned to normal after a speech by Jim and defeats the Queen, revealing to the heroes that he is also Woltan, the Norse God of Judgement. | ||
Oliver Clark | Christmas in Cartoontown | |||
Phil Vischer | The Toy that Saved Christmas | Santa is played by Bob the Tomato in the Silly Song "Oh, Santa!" | ||
Trey Parker | South Park | 1997 | ||
Jim Cummings | The Online Adventures of Ozzie the Elf | |||
Jonathan Winters | Santa vs. the Snowman | |||
Takko Ishimori (Japanese); Ted Lewis (English) |
Pokémon: "Holiday Hi-Jynx" | 1998 | In the Pokémon world, Santa works with Jynx as his elves and a team of Rapidash. | |
John Goodman | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie | |||
Gordon Peters | Mr. Men and Little Miss: "The Christmas Letter" | |||
Ricky Tomlinson (UK); James Belushi (US) |
Robbie the Reindeer | 1999 | Santa (nicknamed Weirdy Beardy) appears in the first film Hooves of Fire, where he invites his team of reindeer to his house to show off his new sleigh. He later attends The Reindeer Games where he later lends the sleigh to Robbie, who uses it to take Donner on a date to the moon. In this special, Santa has a wife and an infant son, who have beards like him. | |
Rik Mayall | Santa's Special Delivery | |||
Hamtaro: "Merry Christmas!" | 2000 | |||
William Colgate | Little People: "Christmas Discoveries" | Santa appears in the segments, "Eddie's Christmas Surprise" and "Sarah Lynn Saves Christmas" and is only mentioned in "Maggie's Gift of Music" while Sarah Lynn reads the letter he wrote her. Eddie helped him fix his sleigh when it had a squeaky runner, and Sarah Lynn gave his sack of toys with all the things that she, Eddie, and their friends asked for. | ||
Robby Benson (young); Jim Cummings (old) |
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus | Santa, known at this time as just Claus, grew up in the Forest of Burzee and was raised by the immortal Necile. | ||
Jim Staahl | Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer | |||
Jojo: The Violet Mystery | His sleigh is pulled by a horse instead of reindeer. | |||
Garry Chalk | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys | 2001 | As this special is a sequel to Rankin/Bass's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, this version of Santa is meant to be the same as the above-mentioned version from that special (albeit with a slightly different design). | |
The New Woody Woodpecker Show: "The Twelve Lies of Christmas" | ||||
Max & Ruby: "Max's Christmas" | 2002 | Again as before in the TV adaptation from the book, still depicted as a rabbit. | ||
David Kaye | Jackie Chan Adventures: "A Jolly J-Team Xmas" | |||
Meg's Christmas | 2003 | |||
Tom Baker | The Little Reindeer | 2004 | Santa accidentally delivers a young reindeer to a boy on Christmas Eve. A year later, Santa returns to retrieve the reindeer. | |
French Tickner | In Search of SANTA | 2004 | When he said "My mastery of the martial arts, is lesser-known", he uses his lesser-known martial arts skills to temporarily turn his red suit into a black suit with red Chinese symbols in a pattern to command the Pirates of the "Blubber Belly" to leave his city in the North Pole, carrying their gifts along. | |
Mickey Rooney | The Happy Elf | 2005 | Referred to as "Big Red" by Eubie. | |
French Tickner | Pucca | 2006 | Santa is a recurring character on the series. | |
Toot & Puddle: I'll Be Home for Christmas | Not stated directly, but strongly implied to be Santa Claus. Appears human, which would make him the only human character in any incarnation of the franchise. | |||
Andy Griffith | Christmas is Here Again | 2007 | ||
Gary Trousdale | Shrek the Halls | Gingy is shown to gravely fear Santa because he eats gingerbread men. | ||
Josh Tomar | Eddsworld | 2007-2010 | ||
Skatoony | 2007-2013 | |||
David Graham | Peppa Pig | 2007-2019 | Father Christmas appears in every Christmas episode of Peppa Pig. | |
Richard Duval | Spike | 2008 | Santa appears in this short film and has four reindeer named Olaf, Otto, Bjorn and Jorg, who pull his sleigh. | |
Super Why!: "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" | Super Why and his friends learn what makes Santa give gifts to children on Christmas Eve. | |||
William Shatner | Gotta Catch Santa Claus | |||
Totally Spies!: "Ho-Ho-Ho No!" | At the end of the episode as Jerry zooms into the night sky with his flying snow jet, Santa sees him and waves at each other. | |||
Oggy and the Cockroaches: "Santa Oggy" | ||||
Masha and the Bear: "One, Two, Three! Light the Christmas Tree!" | 2009 | |||
Richard Ridings | Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom | 2009-2013 | ||
Simon Pryce | Dorothy the Dinosaur Meets Santa Claus | 2009 | ||
Carl Reiner | Merry Madagascar and The Penguins of Madagascar: "The All Nighter Before Christmas" | 2009-2011 | Santa is mistaken for the "Marauding Red Night Goblin" that comes every "Julienary" throwing black rocks at the animal residents of the east African island. Alex accidentally causes Santa to crash and catch a case of amnesia, prompting Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman, and the penguins to substitute for him. Reiner reprised the role for The Penguins of Madagascar episode he reappeared in. | |
Kid vs. Kat: "Kid vs. Kat vs. Christmas" | 2009 | Santa is a pie maker who makes pies at Bootsville. Kat gets angry when he finds out he was not the real Santa. | ||
Little Gobie | 2010 | Santa Claus is depicted as a reindeer. For most of the film, he is masquerading under the alias "Old Nic". | ||
Jim Broadbent | Arthur Christmas | 2011 | In this film, it is revealed that Santa is a hereditary title which is passed down from father to son. For most of the film, Malcolm Claus serves as Santa after he inherited the title from his father Grandsanta in 1941. At the end of the film, Malcolm retires and passes the title to his youngest son Arthur. | |
Dave Parke | Hoops & Yo-Yo Ruin Christmas | Santa gets his first visit from Hoops and Yoyo as a young stable boy who makes a special toy. | ||
The Elf on the Shelf: An Elf's Story | Jolly Old Saint Nick is in charge of all the Scout Elves. | |||
The Snowman and the Snowdog | 2012 | The same Santa Claus who appeared in The Snowman and Father Christmas meets the Snowman again, this time with his new friends Billy and the Snowdog. Like in The Snowman, Father Christmas is mute. | ||
John Rhys Davies | Mukpuddy: "Missing Christmas" | |||
SheZow: "SheZon's Greetings" | 2013 | |||
Kyle Chandler | The Naughty List | Santa, along with the other residents of the North Pole, come down with food poisoning, and it's up to Snowflake, Winter and Sparkle to save Christmas. | ||
Lee Tockar | Nerds & Monsters: "Zanti-Clops" | 2014 | The monster version of Santa Claus collects broken junk and leaves behind a pile of sparkling green dung. If he catches anyone looking at him, he will eat them. | |
Keith Wickham | Thomas & Friends: "Last Train for Christmas" | Father Christmas appeared briefly in the distance passing by in the night sky at the end of the episode. Thomas mistook him for Harold the Helicopter (as part of a running gag throughout the episode). | ||
Steve Blum | Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight! | 2015 | ||
Colin Murdock | Bob's Broken Sleigh | Santa is nearly forced to cancel his Christmas deliveries when a villainous puffin who seeks a sophisticated, but malfunctioning sleigh built by one of his elves. | ||
Brian Blessed | Danger Mouse: "The Snowman Cometh" | This version of Santa is depicted as a polar bear. His magical hat (which helps him deliver his presents in one night) is stolen by a villain called the Snowman. | ||
Hugh Bonneville | Stick Man | In this short film, Santa gets stuck in a chimney, but is helped out by Stick Man. As gratitude, Santa returns Stick Man to his family. | ||
David Holt | A Christmas Adventure | 2016 | ||
Martial Le Minoux (French) Joe Ochman (English) |
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir: "A Christmas Special" | Santa is akumatized by Hawk Moth and becomes "Santa Claws". | ||
Super Wings: "Christmas Down Under" | 2017 | |||
Charlie Adler | All I Want for Christmas is You | |||
Tom Kenny | Paradise P.D.: "Christmas in Paradise" | 2018 | A drug dealer who works for an argyle meth corporation and created the red, green, and white design for argyle meth. He worked as an employee for the argyle meth kingpin, Gerald Fitzgerald and was killed by Dusty Marlowe with a candy cane shank after getting in a bloody battle with him. | |
PJ Masks: "PJ Masks Save Christmas" | 2019 | |||
Hotel Transylvania: "A Year Without Creepmas" | ||||
The Stockholms: "The Holiday Heist" "The Sing-A-Long Sting" |
2020 | Santa Claus gets held hostage and trapped in the bank, making him one of the main cast members for the remainder of the series. Episodes that focus on him are considered Christmas specials, even when the show isn't really about Christmas. | ||
Terry McGurrin | Total DramaRama: "Me, My Elf, and I" | |||
Jim Gaffigan | Reindeer in Here | 2022 | ||
4 Days Before Christmas | 2023 |