The Lyrics

At the heart of the Santa Claus: The Movie™ soundtrack are seven original songs, each of them written expressly for the motion picture. Of these, five were composed by the late Henry Mancini --- probably the most prolific and certainly the most celebrated among America's contemporary film composers --- with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. In the early stages of research for this website, we stumbled upon a songbook comprised entirely of Bricusse's material, personally selected by the veteran composer-lyricist-screenwriter himself. In that songbook, Bricusse recalls how he learned that the Salkinds had originally intended that John Williams compose the Santa score, no doubt hoping to reunite the Williams/Bricusse team that had created the haunting Can You Read My Mind? (Love Theme from Superman). Prior commitments, some of them with Steven Spielberg, prevented Williams from accepting the Salkinds' Santa offer, forcing the producers to find an alternative --- and FAST! Enter Henry Mancini.

Though Mancini accepted the Santa deal, Bricusse further recalls that he was not entirely pleased with the way that the producers used his material. For example, as you are about to see, the lyrics to "Giving," the second portion of "Santa's Theme (Main Title)," were never sung in the film; apparently the Salkinds wanted the instrumental version, which Mancini had written, to stand on its own. Still, these seven songs, presented here in order of appearance, are some of the finest examples of original musical material capable of expressing the Christmas spirit. (Except where indicated, all lyrics are by Leslie Bricusse; and are ™s & © 1985 by Calash Corp., N.V. International copyright secured. All rights reserved.)

EVERY CHRISTMAS EVE/GIVING (SANTA'S THEME) [Main Title]

In 1997, singer Johnny Mathis included "Giving" on a newly-recorded collection of Christmas songs, bringing a new luster to this all-too-obviously abandoned melody, as only the great Mathis could:

MAKING TOYS (March & Dance)

Structurally, this song is built along the same basic lines as John Williams' Superman March and Jerry Goldsmith's Main Title Theme from Supergirl (no surprise there, since the Salkinds' clout was, to coin a phrase, instrumental in making each theme come to life). Some time ago, your humble Elf without Jingles, with the assistance of Australian-based Santa Claus: The Movie™ fan Serge Cirkov, assembled an updated retranscription of "Making Toys," using two tracks from the extended Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Album. Here now is that extended retranscription, in its entirety:

THANK YOU, SANTA!

Sung and shown briefly during the Montage sequence, and featuring a never-sung third verse, presented here for the first time, this is the only Bricusse/Mancini song featured in the Santa Claus soundtrack of which the lyricist is extremely proud:

IT'S CHRISTMAS AGAIN (Love Theme)

This tune is sung in the background during the scene taking place near Cornelia's townhouse, as we meet her and the homeless boy who will only call himself Joe:

SHOULDN'T DO THAT

Lyrics by Nick Beggs; Music by Nick Beggs, Stuart Croxford, Neal Askew and Steve Askew

Published by Infinite Music and Intersong Communications USA

Produced by Ken Scott

Performed by KAJA

This next song is one of two which were included in the film to apparently attract the so-called younger generation. We briefly hear snippets of the second verse in the scene in which Joe (Christian Fitzpatrick) peeks into the window of a local McDonald's. Product placement aside, it should be noted that the scene is a visual attempt on the part of director Jeannot Szwarc to illustrate what remains a controversial, ongoing issue: the plight of America's homeless. And even if this tune hasn't exactly wowed listeners through the years, there are still some of us here on the KringleQuest.com staff who think that Kaja's original recording has the proverbial great beat that one can boogie to (whether you're an elf or not!):

PATCH, NATCH!

This, of course, is the bizarre tune sung as part of B.Z. Toys' controversial Patch Puce Pop commercial. That spot later serves as the launchpad, so to speak, for the Christmas II project:

CHRISTMAS ALL OVER THE WORLD (End Title)

Words and Music by Bill House and John Hobbs

Produced by Keith Olsen for the Pogologo Corporation

Sung by Sheena Easton

OK, so only verse two and the chorus are all we get to hear over the actual credits. No matter. The miracle behind this song is that it is, simply, one of the best that Sheena ever recorded. If any of you out there have any Sheena Easton-inspired websites, please do not hesitate to add this one to your collections of Sheena favorites:

To sum up our exploration of these seven songs: Why was Leslie Bricusse's material so unjustly neglected? Why, in particular, were his lyrics for "Giving" deleted from the film? As for the Henry Mancini score, what portions eventually made their way onto the EMI-America version of the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album, long since out of date, and what portions did not? And finally, what caused the rest of Mancini's Santa Claus score not to be made available to the general public until recently? These are the mysteries which, sadly, may never be known, despite Anchor Bay's previous, now out of print, restoration of Santa Claus: The Movie --- which, ultimately, has been one of the primary objectives of this website.......

In November 2006, Film Score Monthly Magazine published its last issue in printed form. After 15-plus years of covering the classic film scores of Hollywood's favorite composers and conductors, and providing the latest news and information about their work, it was decided that it was no longer economically feasible to continue publishing a printed Film Score Monthly. The Editors, however, unwilling to see the fruits of their labors die so quickly, pooled all their content into the Film Score Monthly website, www.filmscoremonthly.com. That decision was a key milestone for us here at KringleQuest, in that, at the time, one of this site's stated goals was to instigate a reissuing of Henry Mancini's complete Santa Claus: The Movie™ score, including previously unreleased material. Since then, Quartet Records has stepped up to the plate; now, some two decades later, a fully expanded version of the complete Mancini score is at last a reality. For further details, visit QuartetRecords.com/product/Santa-Claus-The-Movie-3-CD/. We thank our Film Score Monthly colleagues for helping us raise public awareness of this long-sought goal, at long last made real.