Why does Santa Claus give toys? Did he have a reason for growing that beard? And where'd that red suit come from? The Rankin/Bass special premiered on ABC in 1970 and comes up with increasingly inventive answers as to how Mr. Claus came to be the man pop culture knows today. A baby bearing only a nametag named Claus is raised by elves named Kringle who teach him how to make toys, and he soon uses the talent to cheer up the children of Somberville, who have been forbidden to own playthings by the ruler Burgermeister Meisterburger (that'll get the kids giggling). Actor Paul Frees, the voice of Burgermeister Meisterburger, was also the pipes behind Meisterburger's henchman Grimsley, a newsreel announcer, the penguin Topper, and all of the Kringle brothers, among other characters.
