The Most Loved British Santa Ever? | Raymond Briggs' Father Christmas

[Music] happy blooming christmas to you and all yes you heard right you are being wished a happy blooming christmas by the much-loved father christmas from children's author raymond briggs's famous picture books that is father christmas and then the sequel father christmas goes on holiday briggs most famous for creating the snowman phenomenon also penned one of the most unusual adaptations of this festive fictitious character unusual in the fact that this father christmas doesn't live in the north pole or have lots of help from elves making presents or waddle about jollibee chanting ho ho ho no this father christmas is a grumbling cursing very ordinary man who lives in a little terrace house with his cat dog and two reindeer there is no mention of magic or even of mince pies father christmas is a hard-working ordinary bloke with an extraordinary job which he never fails to grumble about in fact last year i was so blooming fed up with it all i decided to do something about it so why do we brits love this version of father christmas so much and might we even consider him a working class hero a father christmas character can be traced right back to the 5th century in the saxons but it was the victorians that solidified father christmas as being a jolly pagan man a characteristic perpetuated by the famous american coca-cola ad santa of which many iterations of this character are based red suit white beard and a very jolly disposition were very much the order of the day briggs's version of father christmas is such an obvious deviation from this setup i spoke to francesca dao who's worked with raymond for many years for her thoughts on such a different interpretation of the character the reason that he uh is so appealing is that he he illustrates a side of christmas that we don't see very often which is about the kind of toil and the burden of being father christmas and his father christmas is very much a grumpy old bloke you know who's a bit fed up with the job where does this lock come from oh dear and and that's that's not the side of christmas that we see but i think it's what really distinguishes it from so many other versions of father christmas who's all tinsel and cheer and um and not really a real person i think his father christmas is such a real person there have been many fictitious versions of this character to feature in both british and american literature films television and much more all versions are generally based around the idea of a magical christmas figure who travels the world in one night giving out presents to all the good children there is a marked difference in the american and british interpretations with the american versions often being much more glitzy visually colorful and well american santa claus live and in person one night only but raymond's version doesn't even really conform to the traditional british interpretation of an elderly perhaps scholarly old man who is posh and genteel such as these versions hello there good to see you again it's nice to see you you're awfully lucky mrs walker lovely little girl i wish you a merry christmas getting back to briggs it's not difficult to see why his character stands out so very much father christmas is portrayed as a working man with a regional british accent he lives in a small terrace house not a castle or a magical snow-covered lodge even in the animation style there are noticeable differences the scenes where father christmas is at home there's a muted palette a slight darkness to it the style beautifully emulates raymond's illustrations from the book but they are a marked difference from the glossy polished santas of other films it takes you through the book and his you know characteristic comic book way um and he starts off so grumpy and i think that the sort of palette of the book changes throughout until you get to the end and it's sort of getting warmer and warmer until you realize actually he isn't necessarily as grumpy as he comes across in the beginning you know and you have this sort of warm glow of christmas at the end looking back at the book's releases in 1973 and 1975 and then the animation commissioned by channel 4 in 1991 may offer some historical context margaret thatcher served as british prime minister from 1979 to 1992. her time in office marked a very difficult period for working-class britons her battles with the workers unions to close down the coal mining industry led to the minor strikes thatcher famously said there's no such thing as society but briggs's father christmas is the antithesis of this idea father christmas works tirelessly for the good of the people so that everyone can enjoy christmas it's a celebration in a way of toil and and labor and he definitely understood that from his parents his mother was a you know she was a maid and his dad was a milkman as i've said and i think he understands that kind of working class work ethic and and and in a way he is celebrating it in his books he's celebrating the kind of every day so if briggs's father christmas is a working-class hero how come this version has been so universally popular briggs doesn't shy away from referencing a myriad of britism no chips mate chips [Music] from hp source to the tea flask poking out of his messenger satchel there are british tropes to be spotted at every point in briggs's version this sense of relatability hasn't gone unnoticed and from kitkat to boots even this year nearly 30 years since the animation and 50 years since the books were released barbara are using briggs's version of father christmas to promote their wax jacket marvelous whichever way you look at it briggs certainly broke the mold with his grumbling down-to-earth father christmas which has earned him a place in the hearts of many brits who warmly affiliate with this most unusual christmas characters [Music]

Channel: Penguin Books UK

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Keywords: Penguin, Penguin Books, Penguin Books UK, why do british people love this version of santa, raymond briggs father christmas, raymond briggs father christmas goes on holiday, raymond briggs father christmas book, raymond briggs documentary, raymond briggs the snowman, father christmas 1991, father christmas british version, santa claus, santa claus video essay, british santa claus, the most british santa ever

Id: ihXAJBz5kr8

Length: 6min 37sec (397 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 17 2020