From the moment this website was conceived under the title SCTM.com: A 15th Anniversary Tribute, one of our stated goals was to increase public awareness not just about Santa Claus: The Movie itself, but about the entire legacy of Alexander and Ilya Salkind as well. With Superman Returns out on DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray, and given our continued partnership with Ilya Salkind, our mission, such as it has been, appears to have been well and truly accomplished.
Yet in the 30 years since we first made it online, so much has continued to surface (and, in more than a few cases, re-surface) concerning the Salkinds and their world. For us, not only did Superman Returns hit one outta the ball park, we knew from the get-go that this baby would emerge as probably the biggest thank-you note to the Salkinds' legacy that anyone has ever seen!
Yet, even now, it's hard not to wonder how Alexander himself might have reacted to the first big-screen movie adventure of the Man of Steel in over 20 years. We've also spent a lot of time pondering as well how Alexander would have adjusted to the world of the Internet, with its unexpected possibilities and all too obvious dangers and the like. Were we so willing, after Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, to cast aside Alexander's reputation once and for all? In all honesty, we shouldn't have. At a time when producers were not ready to let go of the, quote-unquote, "same old thing," Alexander was probably the last great film financier willing to think outside the box.
But then, what about Superman Returns as a motion picture, in and of itself, you ask? Let this be said about it in that particular respect: Clearly, when it was released theatrically, the film did have its share of positive, negative, and/or mixed reviews. What attracted everyone to the film per se, then as now, was the Superman name --- the same name that has allowed us, for close to 80 years now, the envisioning of being a person in literal flight. And more importantly, at the center of all these many adventures is a hero wanting little more than a Planet where the nations of the world should devote themselves to exploring the virtues of telling the truth, fighting for justice, worshipping God in his or her own way, and simply living in honesty. That's what's at the core of Superman Returns, and if there are others who agree with that idea, well.... nothing else need be said other than: More power to you.
Each March 8th, we reflect upon the passing of Alexander Salkind. Now, while I admit that that's not a good milestone in and of itself, we nonetheless recognize it because we have another stated mission here at KringleQuest: to bring everything about the Salkinds, both good and bad, into light. How we've accomplished that purpose has long depended on the positive reactions we've gotten over the years, as this site continues to flourish; our hope, as usual, remains that our achievements in this respect will serve one more purpose: to place Alexander on the proverbial pedestal that was his rightful due. We hope, too, that we remain worthy of your trust and loyalty in that particular aspect.
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