Town Santa Forgot, The (1993)

[bunniefuu]

[instrumental music]

Where's Santa, Grandpa?
Where can he be?

Isn't he gonna put toys
beneath our tree?

He's probably way up there

over those woods.

Well, he better come soon
and deliver the goods

'cause I asked
for a lot of things I wanna get.

And if I don't get them,
I'll be real upset.

Me, too.

There's a new talking doll
I must own.

I know I can give it
a very good home.

Come here, my little ones.

Come, take my hand.

I think you are both old enough

to understand
this Christmas story

I want to tell.

So listen, grandchildren,
and listen well.

About a boy,
not much older than you

'who wanted everything
from Santa, too.'

[instrumental music]

[door slams]

(Grandpa) Jeremy Creek had too many toys

enough for 442 boys.

He'd got them from parents, from uncles

and cousins.

He'd got them in boxes

he'd got them by dozens.

[thud]

[bawling]

He'd got them by crying

and sucking his thumb.

[slurping]

[grunts]

And pounding his fist

till his fingers were numb.

[Jeremy yelling]

[rumbling]

[Jeremy yelling]

[crockery shattering]

The boy..

'Jeremy!'

screech

creak creak

[rumbling]

Yes!

[instrumental music]

[footsteps approaching]

[dramatic music]

[bawling]

He'd got them by making a terrible drone

when he didn't have something he wanted to own.

[crickets creaking]

[instrumental music]

(man on TV)
'Lookie here, kids,
it's new and it's bigger.'

'Cowboy Bob
and his wonder horse, Chigger.'

[dramatic music]

[grunting]

[Jeremy bawling]

Even the neighbors were holding their heads.

Our children are lying awake
in their beds.

This pounding and whing
keeps us all awake!

This racket is more
than we neighbors can take!

So poor Mrs. Creek, Jeremy's mom

begged Jeremy Creek..

Please don't suck your thumb.

...begged Jeremy Creek.

Please don't whine,
please don't pound.

[Jeremy bawling]

And then mom lost it.

Please just settle down!

That's right!

Yelled his father.

(Mr. Creek)
'From now on, no noise.'

You hear me, my boy?
No noise or new toys.

[instrumental music]

You are spoiled,
and we've spoiled you.

This nonsense must cease.

You'll learn to be good,
we all need some peace!

You've got enough stuff.
Enough is enough!

[door slams]

It's not like they have
to buy toys for another.

I don't have a sister,
I don't have a brother.

Young Jeremy Creek stomped up to his lair.

He wanted to whine, it just wasn't fair.

But he perched on the knob at the head of his bed..

Two thousand one, two thousand
two, two thousand three..

...and counted the toys piled around him instead.

There were 55 cans of the gooiest goo

for molding weird shapes like the people he knew.

Nine plastic planets

twelve rockets of tin, space rocks

and boxes for keeping things in.

There were armies of soldiers with tiny field packs

and tinier Indians on tiny horsebacks.

Eight bats for baseball

six catcher's mitts

and sixty six quick-to-fix Dracula kits.

[screeching]

[growling]

Train tracks galore covered the floor

enough for 404 boys or more.

There were puzzles for figuring

fake worms for wiggling

more toys than ever one boy ever had.

[birds chirping]

Especially a boy who was greedy and bad.

[whirring]

He even had toys only older boys owned..

splat

...a remote-controlled plane

a portable phone.

A green rubber mask tied with string to his face

so he'd look like the thing from "Invaders Of Space."

Thousands of toys heaped from ceiling to floor

but Jeremy Creek wanted more

and still more.

He dug through a box full of Halloween stuff

crammed with mustaches, eyelashes

beards made of fluff

just like the one on Santa Claus' chin.

Now, there was a guy who had more toys than him

and his mind started spinning

as an idea popped in.

[bell ringing]

If his mom and dad wouldn't buy him more toys

he'd write to old Santa who understands boys.

He'd write his list now

he'd mail it off soon

send early for Christmas, he'd mail it in June.

[instrumental music]

With a half mile of paper he started his note.

(Jeremy) Dear Santa, I need this for Christmas.

(Grandpa) He wrote.

(Jeremy) I need bugles, tin whistles

ground-to-air missiles

a balloon with a chair that can rise in the air

a giant ghost puppet

with invisible strings.

(Grandpa) He asked for whole toy shops of wonderful things.

[chuckling]

He wrote and he wrote till his arm was quiet sore

but that didn't stop him

he still wanted more.

From row boats to robots, his list had it all

and it stretched down the stairs

and heaped in the hall.

He wound up and bound up his list in a bale

then tried to send it off via air mail.

sputter sputter

crash

Trying again, this time without fail

he sent it to Santa by second-class mail.

In Santa Claus' barn, far North of the sun

12 elves stacked up shelves with toys by the ton.

[instrumental music]

[sleigh bells jingling]

Then Santa drove in..

(Santa)
'h*-h*-h*.'

...with good cheer.

Our Christmas mail started.
First letter this year.

(grandpa) The elves scurried down from the lofty toy shelves

eager to see the first mail for themselves.

They gaped with surprise at the huge piece of mail

that filled up the sleigh like a fat baby whale.

The 12 elves unrolled it so Santa could see.

Who wrote this long note?

Just who could it be?

Farther and farther the white strips stretched out.

Thousands of wishes, too many to count.

As the last inch unrolled, one elf gave a shriek.

Oh!

"Send gifts by sleigh mail

to Jeremy Creek."

(all)
Jeremy Creek?

- Just who could he be?
- Got me.

Santa polished his glasses so he could see.

No boy or girl could need more than a store

and the list did consist of a store full and more.

Then Santa whirled and a smile curled his face.

This Jeremy Creek
is the name of a place!

Santa's map was as big as the side of a church.

He said to his elves..

Don't just stand there,
let's search.

They searched the map sideways

they searched up and down

for this town of Jeremy Creek must be found.

(Pomp)
'There it is. There!'

Yelled a thin elf named Pomp.

Just north of the south
on the edge of the swamp.

It has, uh, 2000 girls
and 2000 boys.

No wonder this town needs
so many fun toys.

But it's not on our route.

Gasped the stout elf named Pout.

For a great many years
we've been leaving it out.

That's awful, just awful!
What a sad, sad mistake.

Each Christmas those children
must think I am a fake.

Oh, but this year they'll get
all the gifts on the list.

[instrumental music]

I insist we'll make up
for the Christmases missed.

The weeks and months passed, it seemed

oh, so slow.

Oh, I just can't wait
for old Santa to show.

[instrumental music]

[leaves rustling]

While up in the snow of the chilly North Pole

elves worked willy-nilly to meet Santa's goal.

[hammering]

- Hurry up.
- Let's go.

- No time to lose.
- We've got to keep it snappy.

♪ We've boats and planes
and trains to make ♪

♪ And children to make happy ♪

♪ I'll tring through
with this telephone ♪

♪ I'll finish up
this toy trombone ♪

♪ So much to do so little time
'til Christmas Day ♪

[instrumental music]

♪ A hammer here ♪
♪ And a hammer there ♪

♪ And rivet wheels together ♪

♪ And sew
that soldier's buttons up ♪

♪ And give this cap a feather ♪

♪ The merry old
times season's near ♪

♪ Oh yes
my favorite time of year ♪

♪ So much to do so little time
'til Christmas Day ♪

♪ Is this a great bunch of elves
or what? ♪

♪ h* h* h* ♪

♪ Yes Christmas sure means
lots of work ♪

♪ And lots of h*-h*-hoy ♪

♪ But here the work
is just like play ♪

♪ Our elves just keep on going ♪

♪ We'll pile the toys
and finish ♪

♪ And pack the rest
a thousand deep ♪

♪ So much to do so little time ♪

♪ 'Til Christmas Day ♪♪

[instrumental music]

(Grandpa) Then fall turned to winter.

The trees were left bare.

And finally, the night before Christmas was there.

Jeremy Creek, that most greedy of boys

climbed out of his window to look for his toys.

The minute that Santa Claus
passes this way

I'm gonna claim every toy
stuffed in his sleigh.

I'll have all of Santa's gifts
all by myself.

This selfish young man cared for nobody else.

The minutes flew by and the wind blew in snow.

Hour piled on hour, still the sleigh didn't show.

So he climbed up the weathervane

higher and higher

smelling the smoke from some other folk's fire.

He listened and watched from the top of his roof

for some sign of Santa

a reindeer, a hoof.

Then came a light

riding high near the moon.

It was the sight he'd been waiting for ever since June.

The huge magic sleigh glowed a Christmassy green

then zipped to each rooftop, too swift to be seen

and fat, laughing Santa..

h*-h*-h*.

...in with glee

blew down each flue with the speed of a flea.

Jeremy Creek, up weather vane high

excitedly watched as Santa sparked by.

Down chimneys, down drain pipes

the chubby saint squeezed

changing his size with greased ease as he pleased.

poof

Then without warning

the green glowing sleigh rose suddenly upward.

Up, up and away!

Wait!

Wailed Jeremy with all of his might.

Too late, the sleigh hovered, then zipped out of sight.

Chimneys still sparkled with Santa's red fizz.

Every house visited, all except his.

Jeremy Creek, sniffling with gloom

flicked tears from his cheek and went back to his room.

Santa had missed him.

But why was I missed

me, who wrote Santa
a half-a-mile list?

[grunting]

He pounded his wall

he pounded his bed

he pounded his pillow and buried his head.

[sobbing]

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[children giggling]

Jeremy woke from an unhappy dream

only to hear the neighbor kids scream.

They were out playing in snowy-white drifts

showing off all their Christmas Day gifts.

[giggling]

Then an idea popped in Jeremy's head.

Could Santa have snuck
through the window instead?

What new toys for me

might be under the tree?

The tree was aglitter with garlands and more

but nothing was under the tree, except floor.

(Mrs. Creek)
'Huh, no gifts, I'm afraid.'

Shrugged his mom from the door.

But you've got so much stuff,
you couldn't need more.

'Your room's jammed with toys,
so what could we buy?'

Even Santa was baffled.
He must have flown by.

No!

Wailed Jeremy, loud as could be.

- Shh.
-Said his dad.

I'm watching TV.

Jeremy went in the den, still in shock

barely noticing dad was wearing new socks.

Here we are
in this crumbling swamp town

'with tin roofs, broken windows
and streets muddy brown'

'where thin, ragged children
with sad puppy eyes'

'usually romp in the swamp
with the flies'

'usually play in the mud
making pies.'

But last night, Santa Claus
must have touched down.

'Thousands of gifts
have been stacked in a mound'

'for the thousands of kids
in this muddy swamp town.'

This is as boring as TV can be.

So these kids each got presents.

All I care about is me.

Then something happened on the TV

that shook the mean boy like a leaf on a tree.

Yes, this poor town,
once joyless and bleak

goes by the name
of Jeremy Creek.

(together)
Jeremy Creek?

Cried his dad and his mom.

(together)
A town with the very same name
as our son.

Jeremy Creek?

The greedy boy's eyes opened wide in surprise.

Jeremy Creek?

The town had his name.

His name and the name of the town were the same.

These are the kids
Santa always left out.

Oh, and I'm informed
that this town

wasn't marked on his route.

[thinking] Huh, so there's where my toys went.

(Grandpa) Thought Jeremy grimly.

They went to that town instead of my chimney!

(Grandpa) And his anger grew stronger

as he watched a boy trot, full of pride

side by side with a brand-new robot

which Jeremy had asked for and wanted a lot.

And the longer he watched, the more angry he got.

[grunting]

Have you something to say,
little girl?

If I can.

Then speak in the mic

face the cameraman.

I want to, ahem, thank Santa.

The girl cleared her throat.

You must have dropped Santa
a very long note.

Well, all I can say
is none of us wrote.

That's just amazing
because if it's true

some kid did something
real special for you.

Whoever you are,
whoever did write

we'd like to say..

(all)
thank you

with all of our might.

Jeremy heard the words and just froze

blushing with guilt from his head to his toes.

Special?

He couldn't believe what she'd said.

My greed has been taken for kindness instead.

Now everyone everywhere thought

some nice kid had tried to help others

though he never did.

No one had guessed the note was sent by a meanie

who planned to grab everything

king-size and teeny.

And he watched as the thousands of kids on TV

waved their toys in the air for the whole world to see.

And he thought..

(Jeremy) Did I asked for all of that

just for me?

How mean and greedy can one kid be?

(woman on TV)
So thousands of girls
and thousands of boys

'are spending this Christmas
with lots of new toys'

'because some nice youngster
who knew they were missed'

'wrote to old Santa
and sent him a list'

crayoned on paper

that stretched half a mile.

'Writing this list
must have taken a while.'

(Mrs. Creek)
'What a nice thing to do.'

(Grandpa) Said Jeremy's mother.

It's kind when a person
does things for another.

Strange. Didn't say
who he was on the letter.

Good people don't boast
who they are. They know better.

Jeremy Creek, face flushed with pride

suddenly felt tears well up inside..

[sniffles]

...tears that the little boy wanted to hide..

...so he ran from the den till his misty eyes dried.

He dropped on the floor, crawled under the tree

and hid in the glow where the gifts ought to be.

Knowing that somehow he'd done a good thing

made him feel light as a bright angel's wing.

It was kindness he felt.

A change had begun.

His greedy core

melted like frost in the sun.

He felt happy and warm

crouched there on the floor.

Gee, I wish I'd learned
to be nice long before.

He gazed at the sights of the tinsel-decked tree.

Through the twinkling lights, he thought he could see

a small jolly Santa, the size of an egg.

Sitting above him, swinging one leg

Santa said..

Hi, I've made myself small

and flown down to tell you
I know about all

how you were greedy,
why you were missed

and how the needy got the toys
on your list.

Now those swamp-town kids
thank you

and asked me
to bring their hero and friend

some magical thing.

So what would you like
on this fair Christmas Day?

Gee, I really can't say.

What I thought that I wanted
was given away.

And after what's happened,
I've come to believe

it's more fun to give
than it is to receive.

Then this is my gift.

Beginning today,
you'll be my assistant

aboard the great sleigh.

[bells jingling]

[gasps]

You're just the right boy
to help give toys away.

No boy was better from that Christmas Day.

He cleaned up his room and he gave things away.

creak creak

And each Christmas Eve, he'd wait on his roof

for some sign of Santa, a reindeer, a hoof.

And when the sleigh landed, he'd climb on its skids

eager to visit the roofs of good kids.

[bells jingling]

Phew.

Little Jeremy helped Santa give gifts away..

...until he got big

way too big for the sleigh.

But he still thinks about it to this very day.

Once you start giving, it's always that way.

[sniffles]

- Well, that's the story.
- And all of it's true?

- If you believe it.
- Well, I sure do.

You know, even though
Santa hasn't gotten here yet

I really don't care now
about what I get.

I could get nothing
and not be upset.

Then you've taken the story
to heart, I believe.

It's always more fun to give
than receive.

But doesn't poor Santa Claus
still need a hand?

What about Santa,
that over-worked man?

Yes, every few Christmases

Santa must choose
a new boy or girl

for his Christmas Eve cruise

to help him deliver the toys
down the flue

to help drive the reindeer.

Will it be you?

Or will it be you?

I could help Santa.
It could be me.

Or me.

It could even be me.

[instrumental music]

whoosh

[instrumental music]