Father Christmas 1991

After delivering presents on Christmas Eve, Father Christmas returns to his house in contemporary Britain. He greets the viewers and explains how his year is spent caring for his reindeer and pets, tending the garden, doing the housework, and handling the shopping. Fed up with the routine one year, he reveals that he decides to take a holiday for a change, and the film flashes back to the day he makes that decision. After weighing where to go, Father Christmas chooses France and converts his sleigh into a camper van. He places his dog and cat in kennels and has his reindeer lift the vehicle into the air, sending him on a journey across the Channel.

In France, the first taste of freedom is sweet as he enjoys the countryside, but a restaurant dish makes him ill. To recuperate, he moves to a well-equipped campsite, where the privacy helps him rest and reconsider his plans. Yet the moment people begin recognizing him, the holiday atmosphere starts to sour, and he must press on. He then sets his sights on Scotland, savoring a visit to a local pub and even buying a kilt to blend in, only to find the damp weather and the cold waters of a nearby loch increasingly uncomfortable. Frustrated by the chill, he redirects his path to Las Vegas, where he checks into a casino resort and spends several weeks sampling food, enjoying the pool, and reveling in the nightlife. The bright lights bring a momentary glow, but money soon runs dry and the crowds grow suspicious; after a while he leaves once he runs out of funds and once the children recognize him. Returning home, he aims to relax, but a stream of letters addressed to Father Christmas arrives, prompting him to spend the next months reading through them and sorting out the gifts requested.

On Christmas Eve, Father Christmas heads out again on his sleigh, delivering presents to countless homes and keeping a careful tally of the places he must visit. After finishing the rounds, he attends the annual snowmen’s party at the North Pole, where he meets James and his snowman and takes part in the festive merriment. The festivities are interrupted when the pair discover he forgot to deliver two presents to Buckingham Palace. Not wishing to leave the matter unresolved, Father Christmas makes a detour to the palace and completes the delivery before the dawn of Christmas Day. Back in the present, he wraps up his tale, tidies his dinner for the evening, and surveys the pile of gifts still waiting. > Happy Bloomin’ Christmas. He ends the night by drifting off to sleep as dawn begins to break outside.