Santa Inc.

Adult animated series

Santa Inc.

Genre| Comedy
Created by| Alexandra Rushfield
Directed by| Harry Chaskin
Voices of| Sarah Silverman
Seth Rogen
Music by| Anna Waronker
Country of origin| United States
Original language| English
No. of seasons| 1
No. of episodes| 8
Production
Executive producers|

* Alexandra Rushfield
* Sarah Silverman
* Seth Rogen
* Evan Goldberg
* James Weaver
* Joshua Fagen
* Seth Green[1]
* Matthew Senreich
* John Harvatine IV
* Eric Towner
* Chris Waters
* Amy Zvi
* Rosa Tran

Production companies|

* Rushfield Productions
* oh us.
* Point Grey Pictures
* Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
* Lionsgate Television

Original release
Network| HBO Max
Release| December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02)

Santa Inc. is an American stop-motion adult animated Christmas comedy television miniseries created by Alexandra Rushfield that premiered on December 2, 2021, on HBO Max. As of 2022, it is no longer available to stream.

## Premise

[edit]

The story follows Candy Smalls, a female elf who's currently working as a second-in-command of the North Pole, as she goes for her ultimate goal to become a successor as the first female Santa.[2]

## Cast and characters

[edit]

* Sarah Silverman as Candy Smalls, the highest-ranking female elf and Santa's second in command, who wants to become the next Santa.
* Seth Rogen as Santa Claus, known as Saint Nick (real name Llewellyn Fartini), a jolly, overweight, middle-aged man who distrusts Candy for becoming a successor.
* Leslie Grossman as Cookie, a gingerbread woman and one of Candy's friends.
* Gabourey Sidibe as Goldie, a bisexual reindeer and member of the B-team and is one of Candy's friends.
* Craig Robinson as Junior, the leader of the all-male reindeer A-team and the son of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
* Nicholas Braun as Devin the intern.
* Maria Bamford as Mrs. Leonard Claus and Big Candy.
* Paul Rust as Jeremy/Grandpa Smalls.

## Episodes

[edit]

No.| Title| Written by| Original release date [3]| Prod.
code

|
|
|
|

1| "Where The Hell is Brent?"| Alexandra Rushfield| December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02)| 101
2| "Faces of Meth"| Lisa Goldberg| December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02)| 102
3| "Spring Awakening"| Rachna Fruchbom| December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02)| 103
4| "The South Pole"| Guy Endore-Kaiser| December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02)| 104
5| "Santa’s Birthday"| Rochée Jeffrey| December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02)| 105
6| "The Announcement"| Ryan Shiraki| December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02)| 106
7| "Cracks in the Peppermint"| Dave King & Paul Rust| December 2, 2021 (2021-12-02)| 107
8| Andrew Gurland| 108

## Production

[edit]

The stop motion animation is produced by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, who also created Robot Chicken.[4]

## Reception

[edit]

Santa Inc. was panned by critics.

Daniel D'Addario of Variety wrote that the series' reliance on raunchy humor led to it "feeling dour and heavy, a televised lump of coal". He felt that telling jokes about reindeer being methamphetamine addicts and Mrs. Claus being a stripper "doesn’t say anything, really; it just suggests a readiness to provoke". He was more approving of plot elements about a female character seeking to rise in a hostile workplace.[5]

Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Daniel Fienberg praised the parody of corporate culture, but called the sexual jokes "repetitive and self-satisfied". He also did not find the humor to have good shock value, unlike a recent Christmas special of Big Mouth.[6]

Mira Fox of The Forward gave a negative review, criticizing the massive amount of raunchy humor and Holocaust jokes, poor plot, lazy stereotypes of Jews, and ultimately poor message of the show, saying "You might think that this Christmas series made by two famous Jews would have some greater message about antisemitism or Christianity's hegemony in the U.S. But instead Silverman, too, has reduced Jewishness to a handful of hackneyed stereotypes in Santa, Inc.[7]

Joel Keller in an article for Decider wrote that the series is "more raunchy than it is merry", and came close to being "gratuitously dirty", but praised the story and the series' take on gender politics.[8]

Barbara Ellen of The Guardian in a mixed review wrote that the show used "such a relentless bombardment of pointless crudity...the humor is all but flattened", and that ultimately the comedy was "funniest when it's not dirty".[9]

Seth Rogen was subject to criticism when he claimed that the generally negative reception the series received was review bombing by "tens of thousands of white supremacists".[10]

Some viewers also have said that it is similar to Syfy's series "The Pole", another adult animation show about the political power struggle of becoming Santa Claus, the only difference is the rivalry between Santa and his oldest son Jack (calls himself "Black Jack") who only wants to become the new Santa so he could have total control of the North Pole.

## Antisemitic backlash

[edit]

After being uploaded to YouTube, the trailer for the series received over 20,000 dislikes, while its comment section had allegedly been the target of brigading by commenters making antisemitic and Holocaust-denial jokes. Commenters targeted Silverman and Rogen's Jewish background and took aim at the series' supposed "woke" messaging. In response, YouTube disabled the video's comments and hid its dislike count, stating that commenters had violated the site's guidelines against hate speech.[11]

## See also

[edit]

* List of Christmas films
* Santa Claus in film

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Maas, Jennifer (November 22, 2021). "'Santa Inc' Trailer: Sarah Silverman's Elf and Seth Rogen's Santa Can't Stop Dropping F-Bombs (Video)". The Wrap. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
2. ^ Luchies, Adam (November 11, 2021). "'Santa Inc': New Images Released for Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman Stop-Motion Christmas Series". Collider. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
3. ^ "Shows A-Z – Santa Inc. on HBO Max". The Futon Critic. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
4. ^ Turchiano, Danielle (November 10, 2021). "'Santa Inc' Sets December Premiere on HBO Max, Reveals Full Cast and First-Look Photos (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
5. ^ D'Addario, Daniel (December 2, 2021). "Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman Can't Save 'Santa Inc.' From Misguided Raunchiness: TV Review". Variety. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
6. ^ Fienberg, Daniel (December 1, 2021). "HBO Max's 'Santa Inc.': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
7. ^ Fox, Mira (8 December 2021). "Why did Sarah Silverman and Seth Rogen make a Christmas show — and why is it so bad?". The Forward. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
8. ^ Keller, Joel (3 December 2021). "Stream It Or Skip It: 'Santa Inc.' On HBO Max, A Stop-Action Animated Holiday Miniseries That's More Raunchy Than Merry". Decider. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
9. ^ Ellen, Barbara (December 19, 2021). "The week in TV: Santa Inc; And Just Like That…; David Baddiel: Social Media, Anger and Us; Impeachment: American Crime Story". The Guardian. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
10. ^ Kurp, Josh (December 3, 2021). "Is Seth Rogen's New Show Being Review Bombed By 'White Supremacists'?". UPROXX. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
11. ^ Goforth, Claire (November 30, 2021). "Antisemites, Holocaust deniers flood comments on trailer for Seth Rogen Christmas movie". The Daily Dot. Retrieved November 30, 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Santa Inc. at IMDb
* Santa Inc. on Max

* v
* t
* e

Max original programming

Current|

| Original|

* Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake (since 2023)
* And Just Like That... (since 2021)
* Barney's World (since 2024)
* Bookie (since 2023)
* #BringBackAlice (since 2023)
* Conan O'Brien Must Go (since 2024)
* Gremlins (since 2023)
* Hacks (since 2021)
* Jellystone! (since 2021)
* Kite Man: Hell Yeah! (since 2024)
* Peacemaker (since 2022)
* Project Greenlight: A New Generation (since 2023)
* The Sex Lives of College Girls (since 2021)
* Tiny Toons Looniversity (since 2023)

|

Continuations|

* The Convict (since 2024)
* Harley Quinn (since 2022)
* Sesame Street (since 2020)

Upcoming|

* Creature Commandos (2024)
* Duster (2025)

Ended|

| Original|

* Adventure Time: Distant Lands (2020–21)
* Amarres (2021)
* Aquaman: King of Atlantis (2021)
* Baketopia (2021)
* Batman: The Audio Adventures (2021–22)
* The Big Brunch (2022)
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* Close Enough (2020–22)
* Craftopia (2020–21)
* DMZ (2022)
* Equal (2020)
* Expecting Amy (2020)
* FBoy Island (2021–22)
* Fired on Mars (2023)
* The Flight Attendant (2020–22)
* Full Circle (2023)
* The Fungies! (2020–21)
* Gaming Wall Street (2022)
* The Garcias (2022)
* Generation (2021)
* The Girls on the Bus (2024)
* Gordita Chronicles (2022)
* Gossip Girl (2021–23)
* Haute Dog (2020)
* Head of the Class (2021)
* Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults (2020)
* House of Ho (2020–22)
* The Hype (2021–22)
* It's a Sin (2021)
* Julia (2022–23)
* Karma (2020)
* Legendary (2020–22)
* Looney Tunes Cartoons (2020–24)
* Love & Death (2023)
* Love Life (2020–21)
* The Last Movie Stars (2022)
* Little Ellen (2021–22)
* Made for Love (2021–22)
* Minx (2022)
* Not So Pretty (2022)
* The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo (2020–21)
* Our Flag Means Death (2022–23)
* Pretty Little Liars (2022–24)
* The Prince (2021)
* Raised by Wolves (2020–22)
* Rap Sh!t (2022–23)
* Santa Inc. (2021)
* Scavengers Reign (2023)
* Selena + Chef (2020–22)
* The Staircase (2022)
* Station Eleven (2021–22)
* Stylish with Jenna Lyons (2020)
* Sweet Life: Los Angeles (2021–22)
* Ten Year Old Tom (2021–23)
* That Damn Michael Che (2021–22)
* Tig n' Seek (2020–22)
* Tom and Jerry in New York (2021)
* Tokyo Vice (2022–24)
* The Truth About Jim (2024)
* Velma (2023–24)
* Wahl Street (2021–22)
* The Way Down (2021–22)
* Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs (2021–22)
* Young Love (2023)

|

Continuations|

* Clone High (2023–24)
* Doom Patrol (2020–23)
* Esme & Roy (2020–21)
* Gen:Lock (2021)
* Infinity Train (2020–21)
* The Other Two (2021–23)
* Pennyworth (2022)
* Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? (2021)
* Search Party (2020–22)
* South Side (2021–22)
* Summer Camp Island (2020–21)
* Titans (2021–23)
* Warrior (2023)
* Young Justice (2021–22)

Films|

| Released|

* On the Record (2020)
* An American Pickle (2020)
* On the Trail: Inside the 2020 Primaries (2020)
* Class Action Park (2020)
* Unpregnant (2020)
* Charm City Kings (2020)
* The Witches (2020)
* Superintelligence (2020)
* Let Them All Talk (2020)
* Locked Down (2021)
* Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
* LFG (2021)
* Women Is Losers (2021)
* Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022)
* Bama Rush (2023)
* Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia (2023)
* Turtles All the Way Down (2024)
* Am I OK? (2024)
* Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024)
* 'Salem's Lot (2024)
* Caddo Lake (2024)

|

Upcoming|

* Sweethearts (2024)
* Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires (2025)
* The Parenting (TBA)

Unreleased|

* Batgirl

See also|

* HBO Go
* HBO Now
* DC Universe
* List of exclusive international distribution

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Point Grey Pictures

Films|

* 50/50 (2011)
* This Is the End (2013)
* Neighbors (2014)
* The Interview (2014)
* The Night Before (2015)
* Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016)
* Sausage Party (2016)
* The Disaster Artist (2017)
* Blockers (2018)
* Game Over, Man! (2018)
* Long Shot (2019)
* Good Boys (2019)
* An American Pickle (2020)
* Console Wars (2020)
* Joy Ride (2023)
* Cobweb (2023)
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)
* Miller's Girl (2024)

Television|

* Preacher (2016–19)
* Future Man (2017–20)
* Black Monday (2019–22)
* The Boys (2019–present)
* Invincible (2021–present)
* Santa Inc. (2021)
* Pam & Tommy (2022)
* The Boys Presents: Diabolical (2022)
* Paul T. Goldman (2023)
* Gen V (2023)
* The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down (2024)
* Sausage Party: Foodtopia (2024)
* Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2024)
* Fear Agent (TBA)
* Console Wars (TBA)
* Untitled Darkwing Duck reboot (TBA)
* The Studio (TBA)

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