131.🎅 Santa Claus: The Movie w/ Longtime Friend Billy D’Elia

Dan & Manny welcome back longtime friend, Nostalgia Test Podcast all-star, and unofficial co-host Billy D’Elia to this special holiday episode to put the 1985 British-America Christmas Comedy Santa Claus: The Movie to the ultimate test—THE NOSTALGIA TEST!

“ [Santa Claus: The Movie] is all about the 80s crack epidemic in New York."
-Dan Dissinger

Dan, Manny, & Billy try to make sense of a movie so bad that everyone they talked to about watching Santa Claus: The Movie forgot how Santa, his wife (Anya), and two reindeer freeze to death seven and a half minutes in. That’s right! The guys realize this movie is all about an elf, played by Dudley Moore, who makes crack cocaine so that John Lithgow can sell it to children, in the 80s! Manny & Billy try to find what they liked about is as kids, Dan talks about Santa being a poltergeist, they try to figure out where they elves came from and how long they were making toys, what’s up with Burgess Meredith’s beard, we talk about our must-watch Christmas movies, and so much more!

Email us (thenostalgiatest@gmail.com) your thoughts about 131.🎅 Santa Claus: The Movie  so we can share them on the next episode & we'll send you a FREE Digital Art Print of a quote from this episode! 

 

APPROXIMATE RUN OF SHOW:

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:40 Initial Reactions to Santa Claus: The Movie

01:16 Plot Breakdown and Critique

03:39 Historical Context and Reception

05:39 Character Analysis and Performances

06:01 Plot Holes and Logical Inconsistencies

09:05 Comparisons to Other Christmas Movies

11:08 Final Thoughts and Rants

33:20 Discussing a Weird Movie

33:40 Santa's Factory and Quality Control

35:38 Santa's Depression and the Yarn Doll

36:09 Origins of Santa and Elves

38:26 Marketing of Santa Claus

42:19 Nostalgia Test Tangent

46:47 Final Verdict on Santa Claus the Movie

49:47 Top Five Christmas Movies

01:05:33 Wrapping Up and Holiday Wishes

 

LINKS & ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• Santa Claus: The Movie (Movie 1985)
• The Santa Clause (Movie 1994)
• Tim Allen
• Dudley Moore
• John Lithgow
• David Huddleston
• Burgess Meredith
• Jeannot Szwarc
• Alexander Salkind
• Ilya Salkind
• Harry and the Hendersons (Movie 1987)
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Movie 1964)
• Lord of the Rings (Franchise)
• Kill Bill: Volume 2 (Movie 2004)
• Newsies (Movie 1992)
• Tubi
• Kirk Cameron
• Fred Savage
• 10 (Movie 1979)
• Arthur (Movie 1981)
• Like Father Like Son (Movie 1987)
• Judge Reinhold
• Freaky Friday (Movie 2003)
• Harrison Ford
• Burt Reynolds
• Dustin Hoffman
• Johnny Carson
• Norm Macdonald
• Kurt Russell
• The Christmas Chronicles (Movie 2018)
• Paul McCartney
• Bean (TV Series)
• Hot Frosty (Movie 2024)
• Miracle on 34th Street (Movie 1947)
• It’s a Wonderful Life (Movie 1946)
• Jaws (Movie 1975)
• Santa Jaws (Movie 2018)
• Cube (Movie 1997)
• The Wedding Singer (Movie 1998)
• 👰🎤 The Wedding Singer
• Adam Sandler
• The Cell (Movie 2000)
• Jennifer Lopez
• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Movie 1989)
• Elf (Movie 2003)
• Noelle (Movie 2019)
• The Night Before (Movie 2015)
• Seth Rogan
• Home Alone (Movie 1990)
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (Movie 1992)
• Die Hard (Movie 1988)
• A Christmas Story (Movie 1983)
• 8-bit Christmas (Movie 2021)
• Bad Santa (Movie 2003)
• Spirited (Movie 2022)
• How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Movie 1966)
• Frosty the Snowman (Movie 1969)
• Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (Movie 1964
• Scrooged (Movie 1988)
• Love Actually (Movie 2003)
• The Holiday (Movie 2006)

 

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The intro and outro music ('Neon Attack 80s') is by Emanmusic.

The Lithology Brewing ad music ("Red, White, Black, & Blue") is by PEG and the Rejected