Father Christmas Goes on Holiday

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The film was dedicated to the late animator John McGuire. It was later released as part of a DVD bundle alongside The Snowman, before being released separately in subsequent home media releases.

Works of Love". Armagh Guardian. Armagh, Northern Ireland. 25 November 1853. p.7 . Retrieved 28 January 2016. MJ (19 December 1868). "Fairy Gifts". Illustrated London News. London. p.607 . Retrieved 6 February 2016. Duffy, Eamon (1992). The Stripping of the Altars. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 581–582. ISBN 0-300-06076-9.In his allegorical play Summer's Last Will and Testament, [7] written in about 1592, Thomas Nashe introduced for comic effect a miserly Christmas character who refuses to keep the feast. He is reminded by Summer of the traditional role that he ought to be playing: "Christmas, how chance thou com’st not as the rest, / Accompanied with some music, or some song? / A merry carol would have graced thee well; / Thy ancestors have used it heretofore." [8] 17th century—religion and politics [ edit ] Puritan criticisms [ edit ] a b c Durston, Chris (December 1985). "The Puritan War on Christmas". History Today. 35 (12). Archived from the original on 15 January 2016 . Retrieved 14 January 2016.

This sort of character was to feature repeatedly over the next 250 years in pictures, stage plays and folk dramas. Initially known as 'Sir Christmas' or 'Lord Christmas', he later became increasingly referred to as 'Father Christmas'. [9] Puritan revolution—enter 'Father Christmas' [ edit ] In Britain, the first evidence of a child writing letters to Father Christmas requesting gift has been found in 1895. [59] Santa Claus crosses the Atlantic [ edit ] Fox, Berkley (2008). Brett, RL (ed.). Barclay Fox's Journal 1832 - 1854. Cornwall Editions Limited. p.297. ISBN 978-1904880318. Some of the entries were first published under the title Barclay Fox's Journal, edited by RL Brett, Bell and Hyman, London 1979. The custom of merrymaking and feasting at Christmastide first appears in the historical record during the High Middle Ages (c 1100–1300). [2] This almost certainly represented a continuation of pre-Christian midwinter celebrations in Britain of which—as the historian Ronald Hutton has pointed out—"we have no details at all". [2] Personifications came later, and when they did they reflected the existing custom. England was merry England, when / Old Christmas brought his sports again. 'Twas Christmas broach'd the mightiest ale; / 'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale; A Christmas gambol oft could cheer / The poor man's heart through half the year." [39]

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In 1658 Josiah King published The Examination and Tryall of Old Father Christmas (the earliest citation for the specific term 'Father Christmas' recognised by the Oxford English Dictionary). [21] King portrays Father Christmas as a white-haired old man who is on trial for his life based on evidence laid against him by the Commonwealth. Father Christmas's counsel mounts the defence: "Me thinks my Lord, the very Clouds blush, to see this old Gentleman thus egregiously abused. if at any time any have abused themselves by immoderate eating, and drinking or otherwise spoil the creatures, it is none of this old mans fault; neither ought he to suffer for it; for example the Sun and the Moon are by the heathens worship’d are they therefore bad because idolized? so if any abuse this old man, they are bad for abusing him, not he bad, for being abused." The jury acquits. [22] [23] Restoration [ edit ] Any residual distinctions between Father Christmas and Santa Claus largely faded away in the early years of the new century, and it was reported in 1915, "The majority of children to-day ... do not know of any difference between our old Father Christmas and the comparatively new Santa Claus, as, by both wearing the same garb, they have effected a happy compromise." [93] Father Christmas is a 1991 British animated short film starring Mel Smith as Father Christmas. Created for Channel 4 and first broadcast on Christmas Eve 1991 in Britain, the story is an adaption of two books written by Raymond Briggs - Father Christmas and Father Christmas Goes on Holiday - and is the second animated adaptation of Briggs' work made for the channel, following the 1982 animated short The Snowman. a b c d e f Simpson, Jacqueline; Roud, Steve (2000). A Dictionary of English Folklore. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 119–120. ISBN 0-19-969104-5. English personifications of Christmas were first recorded in the 15th century, with Father Christmas himself first appearing in the mid 17th century in the aftermath of the English Civil War. The Puritan-controlled English government had legislated to abolish Christmas, considering it papist, and had outlawed its traditional customs. Royalist political pamphleteers, linking the old traditions with their cause, adopted Old Father Christmas as the symbol of 'the good old days' of feasting and good cheer. Following the Restoration in 1660, Father Christmas's profile declined. His character was maintained during the late 18th and into the 19th century by the Christmas folk plays later known as mummers plays.