I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

"The Town Santa Forgot" is an American television special for the holidays and this first aired back in 1993, so it will have its 25th anniversary next year. The director here is 6-time Emmy winner Robert Alvarez, so it should not be too surprising that this one here was nominated for an Emmy too, even if it came short and lost to a lesser known work. I personally did not enjoy the watch too much. The only thing I quite liked was the core plot idea about the people from the place thinking somebody gave them a huge gift and how it was supposed to renew the boy's thinking about the idea and spirit of Christmas. However, did this plan work out? Not really I would say. The transformation did not feel particularly realistic and one problem I had here was that really not one single character was particularly interesting that you would wonder what happens next to him. And this includes the main character especially. I think this film could have been cut into half the runtime really without anything being lost. And it could have been even shorter in the one-digit minute runtime area as honestly especially in the first half there were a great deal of scenes that felt forgettable. As for Dick van Dyke, the narrator here and biggest name attached to the project, he was solid too, but only stood out slightly because everything else was really nothing special, not because he was. Overall, this one gets a thumbs-down and it is certainly not the brightest half hour in animation from the 1990s. Not worth checking out, not even during the holidays.

This movie had destroyed my self esteem and sense as a responsible human being at such a young age that I feel like a horrible person any time I get something from somebody. I understood no, and I didn't ask for a lot, but I got it because I was raised in a pretty alright financial situation and this movie made it out to be a horrible thing that I got what I wanted for Christmas as if it was a mortal sin. I hate movies like this and I hate the generic spoiled kid archetype almost as much as I hate real ungrateful kids. The movie is kinda just a generic "be good and not bad" Christmas movie and it's not much more than that, but god it messed me up so bad for no reason.

Nice to start my review with a rhetorical question. Anyway, the Town Santa Forgot is very well done. It has a great timeless message, never be greedy, and is really nice to watch. Sadly, I do confess this isn't a cartoon that I grew up with, I saw this for the first time today. And why did I want to see this? Because of Dick Van Dyke, I have always loved him. And I have to say he does a marvellous job as the voice of the narrator/grandpa(who begins and ends the cartoon). Others pros are the wonderful whimsical animation, the beautiful music and the heart warming ending. The story telling of a very spoiled brat called Jeremy Creek is very charming, and the script is both funny and poignant. My only qualm is that it does drag only slightly in the middle.Other than that, this is a really nice watch. I do recommend it! 9/10 Bethany Cox

Three years before the "Tickle Me Elmo" craze, a selfish, greedy boy gets what toys he covets via sucking his thumb or thowing a tantrum. His parents gave up on him, purchasing no toys. In response, he writes a half-mile list to Santa, but when he receives it, a mishap occurred one Christmas Eve, thanks to a location found on a church-sized map. That taught the brat a lesson he'll never forget: letting each girl and boy not only look for the interests of his or her self, but for those of others too, such as the residents of an impovershed small town who received the brat's toys.Jeremy Creek stars in "The Town That Santa Forgot," a holiday classic in which it should be included in the Buy Nothing Day coverage on television. It has an implied moral that love and giving (or, additionally for Christians, Jesus) is the reason for the season, not the Invaders From Outer Space or a rocking horse. Narrated in the style of Dr. Suess, this will tug your heartstrings and (for those predicting a toy craze and those with kids) teach the life skills of being more altruistic.A perfect 10/10!