Santa Claus exists! The proof in 5 films

Mission: Christmas, the adventures of the Christmas family

Available on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD

From 3 years

• Once upon a time : “Dear Santa, if you live at the North Pole, how come I can’t see your house on Google Earth and how do you manage to go down the narrow chimney and go around the world in a single night ?” All the answers to this famous secret operation involving real cutting-edge technology are given here!

• What they will love: Fast pace, original screenplay with, almost, one idea per shot, seductive aesthetics from Aardman studios (“Wallace & Gromit”, “Shaun the Sheep”) between ancient tale and crazy modernity, this animated film is perfect for renewing the magic Christmas if it starts to crumble. Your children will love the perfectly oiled machine that consists of distributing thousands of gifts in one night using high-tech gadgets, surreal camouflage techniques and impressive risk-taking. All without forgetting the slightest child. Or almost…

• What may worry them: The fact that a child has been forgotten and that the Noël family worries little or at least not enough?! Fortunately the son of the old gentleman, “chubby in a suit”, somewhat defeatist and rushed, will be there to make up for it alongside his slightly less jaded grandfather! In addition to this little moment of uncertainty in the Christmas Mission, which is a little disturbing, a few scenes of danger (menacing lions, sleigh at risk of falling) can make your adventurers shiver, but without any real proven risk.

• What they keep deep down: We must never give up and even if Santa Claus is somewhat jaded by a holiday that has become overused due to too much commerciality and overspent energy, continuing to fight for the spirit of Christmas and its traditions is fundamental. The real Santa Claus is therefore the one who will never forget this, and who against snow and tide, will give each child and each detail and moment its importance, in short, will take the time, without rushing. Or just enough.

Want to know our favorite Christmas movies? It’s this way :

The Express Pole

Available on Netflix And Prime Video

From 4 years old

• Once upon a time : A young boy who begins to doubt the existence of Santa Claus is invited to board a mysterious train heading to the North Pole. The start of a fantastic and very surprising adventure for him and those who accompany him…

• What they will love : Even little ones, it’s impossible not to be seduced by the talent of Robert Zemeckis, – father of Back to the Future, Who Framed Robert Rabbit and Forrest Gump – when it comes to mixing fantastic suspense, spectacular visual effects and magical adventures. Not a second will pass without their little spectator’s heart beating very hard to the rhythm of the roller coaster ride on the train, the magical obstacles it encounters on its path and the magic of the world towards which its initiatory journey leads us. .

• What may worry them : If the chaotic journey of the train can impress especially when it endangers one of its passengers, what will arouse in your child a feeling of strangeness has more to do with the very particular faces of the heroes. Mixing humans and drawings, Robert Zemeckis uses the so-called performance capture process which, by merging real actors and animated characters, gives them expressions that are both very subtle and bizarre because they are ghostly. Small detail to keep for yourself so as not to disturb them too much: Tom Hanks plays no less than five roles in The Pole Express, including that of the train controller, the young hero and… Santa Claus.

• What they go deep inside to keep : Let’s continue to put milk and biscuits near the tree because no offense to the geography textbooks, the North Pole is anything but desert. A coherent and astonishing place, it is inhabited by elves who note every childish mischief via small screens (ouch). Helping each other, accepting yourself as you are and getting to know yourself better is therefore a real option to prioritize! Well and then, beyond all that, when we grow up, everyone has the choice to believe (or not) in the spirit of Christmas, and in his face in a red dress and white beard, and so on. hear (or not) the tinkling bell. And yes, as Tom Hanks says, “it’s good to know where the train is going, but what’s more important is deciding to take it,” to dare to travel, to dream…

Klaus

Available on Netflix

From 4 years old

• Once upon a time : An incompetent postman is given a mission to re-establish communication between the inhabitants of an island located in the Far North. His meeting with a mysterious retired carpenter, gifted in making toys, and an underexploited teacher, will mark the beginning of the superb Christmas tradition as we know it.

• What they will love : You will discover for yourselves, this 2D animated film is the latest gem of its genre, a true fairy tale, with fierce humor and a brilliant storyline. By explaining to us that Santa Claus was born from small chances and accidents and from more or less disinterested but in any case very well thought out intentions, he makes his traditions and therefore his existence more realistic than ever. All without forgetting of course the wind (in the literal sense) of necessary and preserved magic, to let everyone’s imagination run wild. To their countless children’s questions (“but why, why and why“), coherent answers are found without you having to solve them yourself… Rare enough to be valued.

• What may worry them : Once the apprehension aroused by the worrying and aggressive atmosphere which reigns in the village due to conflicts between two families has passed, your child may still be somewhat inconvenienced by the fact that the one who has all the chances of being the famous Santa Claus is at first glance a slightly bitter and sad old man, living a recluse after the death of his wife. We are far from the grandpa with the plump belly and the inimitable laugh. Though…

• What they go deep inside to keep : Why does Santa Claus come through the chimney and want to see, in addition to our hanging socks, cakes kindly placed there? Why is school important and how (!) should you write a letter to get the gifts you’re hoping for? What are generosity, perseverance and, by extension, friendship for? With Klaus and his lovely messages of love for little ones, the basics of education that you strive to instill are, in a magic trick, reviewed and confirmed. Enough to gently put skeptical minds back to sleep by prolonging the warm atmosphere of Christmas while opening the debate on the proportion of magic (revisited and measured) that we are each ready to accept.

The five legends

Available on DVD and VOD

From 5 years

• Once upon a time : A tattooed Russian Santa Claus, a colorful tooth fairy, a mute sandman, an overexcited Easter bunny and a mischievous young boy with an as yet unidentified mission, will have to combine their forces to fight the Darkness that threatens dreams and life. children’s imagination.

• What they will love: The action scenes, the humor and the sophisticated universe of this superhero film, more traditional than ever, will attract the attention of your doubtful young people who, over time, have begun to be more interested in the exploits of the men called “spider” or “steel” than to these five legends of their early childhood past. Moving away from the cuteness that we know about them, the latter are modernizing, galvanizing and organizing themselves like a tight-knit group of friends, determined to fight negativity and nightmares, for the benefit of dreams, gifts, games and … fun all the time. Their arguments are good, their powers convincing and their alliance unstoppable.

• What may worry them: There Darkness, the incarnation of fear and nightmares, can impress young people with its appearance: a kind of noisy black dust, with a hard face and a shrill voice. More generally, the sound and the few danger sequences (a little fairy once suffocated, a child on the ice collapsing…) can also make them shiver.

• What they keep deep down: Faced with fear, doubts and nightmares, nothing is better than mutual help and above all the trust that we must have in ourselves of course but also in others. Even if they sometimes doubt, children must continue to believe in a Santa Claus who guarantees magic, a tooth fairy who protects memories (and of course helped by the little mouse, “member of the office across the Atlantic”), a seller of sand purveyor of dreams, an Easter bunny bringing renewal and also… a Jack Frost (a seductive allegory of winter totally unknown to us) generator of amusement.

Under penalty of making them suffer and seeing them disappear completely. And yes, there again, the legendary figure is immortal when we believe in him, the lights of the world remain on as long as dreams and joy are preserved. Now promoted to protectors of Santa Claus and his partners, your little ones will know what they have to do.

Find our AlloCiné ranking of the best children’s films

The Miracle on 34th Street

Available on Disney+

From 6 years old

• Once upon a time : An old man, hired by a chain of department stores to play Santa Claus, pretends to really be one. Threatened with internment, he agrees to prove his identity in court…

• What they will love : Oscar for best original story in 1947, this Christmas classic is unforgettable for its unique atmosphere in a frosty New York, its illuminations, its stores and above all the disarming acting of the child turned star Natalie Wood, to whom your little one in full doubt will easily identify. Educated by a single mother who refuses to make her believe in fairy tales and their associated legends and myths, the little girl develops a friendship for this kind gentleman who will really shake her. What if Santa Claus really existed after all? Even the justice system and the postal administration, an official government service, decide to seriously believe in it… That’s telling you.

• What may worry them : No thrills here but undoubtedly apprehension at the idea of ​​seeing for the first time perhaps a film in black and white, magical certainly but therefore a little austere. Don’t panic, the 1994 version of The Miracle on 34th Street in color and produced by John Hughes, screenwriter of Mom I Missed the Plane and Beethoven, is perfect for your little recalcitrants. And just as effective: Richard Attenborough is a Santa Claus worthy successor to Edmund Gwenn and Mara Wilson, adored in Madame Doubtfire, is simply cute.

• What they go deep inside to keep : “Trust is believing things when common sense tells you not to” and having trust is the best relationship we can have with the world in which we live. So, Santa Claus is indeed this charming man that we see in real life (!) in the film because he has the gift of making the worst competitors reconcile and making the harshest institutions and the toughest skeptics give in. With kindness, joy, love, and magic. Always. And it’s not nothing.