A Kidnapped Santa Claus

1904 short story by L. Frank Baum

"A Kidnapped Santa Claus" is a Christmas-themed short story by American writer L. Frank Baum; it has been called "one of Baum's most beautiful stories"[1] and constitutes an influential contribution to the mythology of Christmas.

"A Kidnapped Santa Claus" was first published in the December 1904 edition of The Delineator, the women's magazine that would print Baum's Animal Fairy Tales in the following year. The magazine text was "admirably illustrated" with "pen drawings of marked originality"[2] by Frederick Richardson, who would illustrate Baum's Queen Zixi of Ix in 1905.

## Baum's mythology[edit]

"A Kidnapped Santa Claus" was published two years after Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902), and shares its mythological cosmos: in the story as in the novel, Santa lives in the Laughing Valley on the border of the Forest of Burzee, and is assisted by Knooks, Ryls, fairies, and pixies. In modern editions the two works, novel and story, are sometimes published together.[3][4]

Though the short story has strong similarities with the novel, it has been interpreted as presenting "a less rosy view" of the world,[5] in that it shows elements of evil as fundamental to existence and ineradicable.

## Plot summary[edit]

The story opens with a quick overview of Santa's castle in the Laughing Valley. Its focus soon switches to the five Caves of the Daemons in nearby (though unnamed) mountains. These creatures are pagan daemons rather than Christian demons, in that they are not servants of Satan or necessarily evil. Four of the five, the Daemons of Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, and Malice, certainly are bad, but the fifth, the Daemon of Repentance, is a more ambiguous figure.

The Daemons of the Caves resent Santa Claus because children under the influence of his gifts rarely visit their caves. They decide to frustrate his efforts and counter his influence. (The Daemon of Repentance goes along with the plan, since children cannot reach his remote cave without passing through the caves of his compatriots beforehand.) The Daemons first try to tempt Santa Claus to their own vices; they visit him one by one, and attempt to lure him into selfishness, envy, and hatred. Santa Claus merely laughs at their clumsy efforts. (The obvious model for these episodes is the Temptation of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels.) Failing at temptation, the Daemons instead kidnap Santa Claus; they lasso him as he is riding in his sleigh on Christmas Eve, and bind him in their caverns.

Santa Claus is accompanied on his rounds by Wisk the fairy, Kilter the pixie, Peter the knook, and Nutter the ryl (introduced as "The Deputies of Santa Claus" in the last chapter of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus), who travel under the seat of his sleigh; once the four realize that Santa is gone, they endeavor to complete his mission and deliver the gifts. They generally succeed, though with some mistakes; they deliver a toy drum to a little girl and a sewing kit to a little boy. Overall, though, they manage to save Christmas. Then they report Santa's absence; the queen of the fairies in the Forest of Burzee knows what has happened. An army of magical creatures is mustered to rescue the missing hero. Meanwhile, though, Santa is released from captivity by the Daemon of Repentance, who has repented the kidnapping. Santa meets the army on its way, and turns it back from attacking the daemons.

(In the seventh chapter of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, titled "The Great Battle Between Good and Evil," Baum depicts a combat between massed magical forces. Here in the short story he avoids that spectacle, a strategy he would employ again in the climax of the sixth Oz book, The Emerald City of Oz, in 1910.)

## Later editions, adaptations, influences[edit]

"A Kidnapped Santa Claus" appeared in an anthology of Christmas stories in 1915; The Baum Bugle reprinted it for Christmas in 1968.[6] The story was released in book form in 1969, with a Foreword by Martin Williams and new illustrations by Richard Rosenblum.[7] It has appeared in multiple editions in multiple forms since.

In 1989 the story was adapted into a musical play for children, Santa Claus Is Missing!, by Sylvia Ashby, with songs by Scott Taylor. Another adaptation exists in the form of the animated film Who Stole Santa? in the Oz Kids series (1996). An interactive musical, also under the title Santa Claus Is Missing written by Morna Murphy with songs by Ralph Martell, played at the Staten Island Children's Museum from 2003 to 2008.

In 2009, cartoonist Alex Robinson adapted the story into comic form in a book released by Harper Collins. A 2018 Canadian film directed by Marco Deufemia, Santa's Castle (or Christmas Castle), is based on the story, with elements derived from other works, such as Lulea being the name of the Fairy Queen, as in Queen Zixi of Ix. [8][9]

More generally, the idea of kidnapping Santa Claus has been exploited by other artists in other works, as in Jean Van Leeuwen's book The Great Christmas Kidnapping Caper (1975), Tim Burton's film The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), and Ruth Ann Pattee's play Can Mrs. Claus Save Christmas? (2000).

## References[edit]

1. ^ Michael O'Neal Riley, Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum, Lawrence, KS, University Press of Kansas, 1997; p. 112.
2. ^ Henry Turner Bailey, ed., The School Arts Book, Vol. 4, Worcester, MA, Davis Publications, 1905; p. 299.
3. ^ L. Frank Baum, The Complete Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Holicong, PA, Wildside Press, 2002.
4. ^ L. Frank Baum, L. Frank Baum's Book of Santa Claus, Radford, VA, Wilder Publications, 2007.
5. ^ Katharine M. Rogers, L. Frank Baum, Creator of Oz: A Biography, New York, St. Martin's Press, 2002; p. 102.
6. ^ L. Frank Baum, "A Kidnapped Santa Claus," The Baum Bugle, Vol. 12 No. 3 (Winter 1968).
7. ^ L. Frank Baum, A Kidnapped Santa Claus, Foreword by Martin Williams, Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, 1969.
8. ^ "Santa's Castle (TV Movie 2018) - IMDb". IMDb.
9. ^ Christmas Castle (promotional title: Santa's Castle). Brain Power Studio, 2017. Tubit TV. https://tubitv.com/movies/456516/santas_castle

## External links[edit]

* The text online at Project Gutenberg

* v
* t
* e

Christmas-themed literature

Novels and
novellas|

* The Story of the Other Wise Man (1859) by Henry van Dyke
* Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1938) by Agatha Christie
* Miracle on 34th Street (1947) by Valentine Davies
* The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) by C. S. Lewis
* The Adventure of the Unique Dickensians (1968) by August Derleth
* The Shepherd (1975) by Frederick Forsyth
* Nothing Lasts Forever (1979) by Roderick Thorp
* The Christmas Mystery (Julemysteriet, 1992) by Jostein Gaarder
* Skipping Christmas (2001) by John Grisham
* Deck the Halls (2003) by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark
* Visions of Sugar Plums (2003) by Janet Evanovich
* The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror (2004) by Christopher Moore
* Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances (2008) by Maureen Johnson ("The Jubilee Express"), John Green ("A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle"), and Lauren Myracle ("The Patron Saint of Pigs")

By Charles Dickens|

* A Christmas Carol (1843)
* The Chimes (1844)
* The Cricket on the Hearth (1845)
* The Battle of Life (1846)
* The Haunted Man and The Ghost's Bargain (1848)

Short
stories|

* "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" (Nussknacker und Mausekönig, 1816) by E. T. A. Hoffmann
* "Christmas Eve" (Noch pered Rozhdestvom, 1832) by Nikolai Gogol (from Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka)
* "A House to Let" (1858) by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Adelaide Anne Procter
* "The Haunted House" (1859) conducted by Charles Dickens
* "A Christmas Eve" by Camillo Boito
* "Le Père Martin" (1888) by Ruben Saillens and unwittingly plagiarized as "Papa Panov's Special Christmas" by Leo Tolstoy
* Le Jongleur de Notre Dame (1890) by Anatole France
* "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" (1892) by Arthur Conan Doyle
* "A Kidnapped Santa Claus" (1904) by L. Frank Baum
* "The Gift of the Magi" (1905) by O. Henry
* "The Dead" (1914) by James Joyce
* "The Festival" (1925) by H. P. Lovecraft
* Christmas Morning (1936) by Frank O'Connor
* "Christmas on Ganymede" (1942) by Isaac Asimov
* "The Greatest Gift" (1943) by Philip Van Doren Stern
* A Child's Christmas in Wales (1952) by Dylan Thomas
* "A Present for Big Nick" (1954) by Kurt Vonnegut, collected in Bagombo Snuff Box with the title "A Present for Big Saint Nick"
* "The Star" (1955) by Arthur C. Clarke
* "A Christmas Memory" (1956) by Truman Capote (published in Mademoiselle)
* "Christmas Party" (1957) by Rex Stout
* "The Innkeeper's Wife" (1958) by A. J. Cronin
* "Rush Call" (1960) by Stephen King
* "Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor" (1978) by John Cheever
* "Fish Cheeks" (1987) by Amy Tan
* "The Junky's Christmas" (1989) by William S. Burroughs
* "Tidings of Comfort and Joy" (1992) by Gael Baudino
* "Sharpe's Christmas" (1994) by Bernard Cornwell
* "The Best Christmas Ever" (2004) by James Patrick Kelly
* "The Lump of Coal" (2004) by Lemony Snicket
* "Christmas with the Dead" (2010) by Joe R. Lansdale

By Hans Christian Andersen|

* "The Fir-Tree" (Grantræet, 1844)
* "The Little Match Girl" (Den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne, 1845)

By Agatha Christie|

* "The Clergyman's Daughter" (1929)
* "A Christmas Tragedy" (1932)
* "The Manhood of Edward Robinson" (1934)
* "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, or The Theft of the Royal Ruby" (1960)

By Fyodor Dostoevsky|

* "A Christmas Tree and a Wedding" (Yolka i svad'ba, 1848)
* "The Beggar Boy at Christ's Christmas Tree" (Mal'chik u Khrista na yolke, 1876) from A Writer's Diary

Children's|

* The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902) by L. Frank Baum
* The Box of Delights (1935) by John Masefield
* Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1939) by Robert L. May
* Madeline's Christmas (1956) by Ludwig Bemelmans
* How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957) by Dr. Seuss
* The Story of Holly and Ivy (1958) by Rumer Godden
* The Polar Express (1985) by Chris Van Allsburg
* The Jolly Christmas Postman (1991) by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
* Waiting-for-Christmas Stories (1994) by Bethany Roberts
* Rocking Horse Christmas (1997) by Mary Pope Osborne and Ned Bittinger
* When Santa Fell to Earth (Als der Weihnachtsmann von Himmel fiel, 2004) by Cornelia Funke
* Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale (2004) by Martin Waddell
* The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition (2005) by Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell
* Stick Man (2008) by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
* The Man Who Could Be Santa (2008) by Joanna Wolper
* Dasher: How a Brave Little Doe Changed Christmas Forever (2019) by Matt Tavares

By Raymond Briggs|

* Father Christmas (1973)
* The Snowman (1978)

By Richard Paul Evans|

* The Christmas Box (1993)
* The Light of Christmas (2002)

By Astrid Lindgren|

* Brenda Brave Helps Grandmother (Kajsa Kavat hjälper mormor, 1950)
* A Calf for Christmas (När Bäckhultarn for till stan, 1951)
* The Tomten (Tomte är vaken, 1960)
* Christmas in the Stable (Jul i stallet, 1961)
* The Tomten and the Fox (Räven och Tomten, 1965)
* The Runaway Sleigh Ride (Titta Madicken, det snöar!, 1983)

Poetry|

* Sir Cleges (late fourteenth or early fifteenth century)
* "Old Santeclaus with Much Delight" (1821)
* "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (also known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", 1823) attributed to Clement Clarke Moore
* "Epiphanias" ("Epiphaniasfest") by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
* "Christmas Bells" (1863) by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
* "Christmas Day in the Workhouse" (1877) by George Robert Sims
* "Tomten" (1881) by Viktor Rydberg
* "The Oxen" (also known as "Christmas Eve, and Twelve of the Clock", 1915) Thomas Hardy
* "Journey of the Magi" (1927) by T. S. Eliot
* "Christmas Carol, Chemically Cleaned" ("Weihnachtslied, chemisch gereinigt", 1927) by Erich Kästner
* For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio (1944) W. H. Auden
* A Monster at Christmas (1985) by Thomas Canty
* "Amazing Peace" (2005) by Maya Angelou
* "Twas the Night Before Christmas: Edited by Santa Claus for the Benefit of Children of the 21st Century" (2012) by Pamela McColl

Collections|

* A Christmas Garland, Woven by Max Beerbohm (1912) by Max Beerbohm
* Letters from Father Christmas (posthumous 1976) by J. R. R. Tolkien
* A Treasury of African American Christmas Stories (1997) compiled and edited by Bettye Collier-Thomas
* Holidays on Ice (1997) by David Sedaris
* Miracle and Other Christmas Stories (1999) by Connie Willis
* Sharpe's Christmas (2003) by Bernard Cornwell
* The Atheist's Guide to Christmas (2009) edited by Robin Harvie and Stephanie Meyers
* My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories (2014) edited by Stephanie Perkins
* Christmas Days (2016) by Jeanette Winterson
* A Very Scalzi Christmas (2019) by John Scalzi

Magazines|

* Beeton's Christmas Annual (1860–1898)
* St. Nicholas (1873–1940, 1943)

Nonfiction|

* "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" (1897 newspaper editorial) by Francis Pharcellus Church
* "Santaland Diaries" (1992 essay) by David Sedaris
* Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas (2013) by Sarah Palin

Other|

* The Twelve Days of Christmas [Correspondence] (1998) by John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich
* Family Guy: Peter Griffin's Guide to the Holidays (2007) by Danny Smith

* Category

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