''The Town Santa Forgot'' is a 1993

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

Christmas television special produced by

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

, narrated by

Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. His award-winning career has spanned seven decades in film, television, and stage. Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and telev ...

and originally broadcast on NBC. It is an adaptation of the poem '' Jeremy Creek'', written by Charmaine Severson. Since then, it was frequently shown in Christmas marathons on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

until 2005, and is still shown annually on

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...

Plot

On a snowy Christmas Eve, a pair of anxious young children eagerly anticipate the arrival of Santa Claus and the gifts that they will be receiving. Taking notice of this, their grandfather narrates a poetic fable with the intentions of educating them on the true nature of the holidays. The tale details the life of an outrageously overindulged, bratty 5-year-old named Jeremy Creek, who is excessively spoiled by his mild and intimidated parents, flinging himself into destructive and violent temper tantrums when his demands are not met. After his parents decide to stand their ground by refusing to indulge their son any longer, an infuriated Jeremy, recalling the upcoming Christmas season, decides to write

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

a lengthy and demanding wish list consisting of all the presents that he does not yet own. However, when Santa receives the massive list, he assumes that it was written on behalf of multiple people. He discovers an impoverished swamp town coincidentally named "Jeremy Creek" on his map, and realizing he has never delivered them presents before, resolves to make up for his prior absences. On Christmas morning, Jeremy is crestfallen to discover there are no gifts for him beneath the Christmas tree, and catches sight of a news broadcast detailing the joy of the penniless and bedraggled children of the town Jeremy Creek upon receiving the countless presents from Santa. Surprisingly, Jeremy himself is touched by the joy brought to the less fortunate through his own greed inadvertently, and his self-absorption is dissolved upon the realization of the true meaning of Christmas. Santa also visits Jeremy to apologize for the mistake, and in recognition of his newfound selflessness, Santa offers him the opportunity to help him deliver gifts every Christmas Eve. Jeremy agrees, giving away many of his own toys, and continues to aid Santa until he grows too big to fit in the sleigh. The elderly gentleman concludes the story by explaining that Santa selects new assistants like Jeremy every few years. The grandchildren, taking the story to heart, are no longer quite as concerned with toys. As the special concludes, the two grandchildren ponder if one of them could be Santa's assistant, and the grandfather muses the same could be true of him, as the name on his mailbox reveals that the grandpa is actually Jeremy Creek himself.

Cast

- Narrator / Jeremy Creek **

Miko Hughes Miko John Hughes (born February 22, 1986) is an American actor known for his film roles as a child, such as Gage Creed in ''Pet Sematary'' (1989), ''Kindergarten Cop'' (1990), ''Apollo 13'' (1995), '' Spawn'' (1997), '' Mercury Rising'' (1998), ...

- Young Jeremy Creek * Troy Davidson - Grandson * Julie Dees - Additional Voices * Haven Hartman - Little Swamp Girl * Ashley Johnson - Granddaughter * Melinda Peterson - Mrs. Holly Creek * Philip Proctor - Mr. Junior Creek *

Neil Ross Neil David Ross is a British-American voice actor and announcer. Noted for his Trans-Atlantic accent, he has provided voices in many American cartoons, most notably ''Voltron'', '' G.I. Joe'', and ''Transformers'', as well as video games, incl ...

- Pout the Elf * Hal Smith - Santa Claus * B.J. Ward - Neighbor * Paul Williams - Pomp the Elf

Crew

* Gordon Hunt - Recording Director * Jill Ziegenhagen - Talent Coordinator * Kris Zimmerman - Animation Casting Director
Ruben Chavez
- Background Painter

Home media

The special was released on VHS by Turner Home Entertainment under the

Cartoon Network Video Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, C ...

label in 1996 and featured on In2TV in 2006. On July 31, 2012,

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

released ''Hanna-Barbera Christmas Classics Collection'' on DVD in region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the US. This collection features a trilogy of Christmas specials: ''The Town That Santa Forgot'', '' Casper's First Christmas'' and ''

A Christmas Story ''A Christmas Story'' is a 1983 Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book '' In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash'', with some elements from his 1971 book ''Wanda Hickey's ...

''.

VHS release dates

* September 24, 1996 (Turner Home Entertainment/Cartoon Network Video) * September 29, 1998 (Turner Home Entertainment/Cartoon Network Video/Warner Home Video) * November 2, 1999 (Turner Home Entertainment/Cartoon Network Video/Warner Home Video) * October 31, 2000 (Turner Home Entertainment/Cartoon Network/Warner Home Video) * October 16, 2001 (Turner Home Entertainment/Cartoon Network/Warner Home Video)

DVD release date

* July 31, 2012 (Warner Home Video/Warner Archive)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Town Santa Forgot, The 1993 television specials 1993 animated films 1993 films 1990s American television specials 1990s animated short films Christmas television specials NBC television specials Hanna-Barbera television specials Santa Claus in television Films scored by John Debney American Christmas television specials Animated Christmas television specials 1990s American films