"I have no idea what my emotions are supposed to be."
Santa Claus, high above the North Pole in his cloud-borne castle equipped with surveillance devices, has a legion of child helpers prepare presents to deliver on Christmas Eve.
Santa is especially interested in helping Lupita, the daughter of a poor family who wants nothing more than a doll, and a young boy whose parents are so wealthy they never spend any time with him. The Devil sends his minion Pitch to foil Santa's plans to help these children. Pitch recruits three naughty boys to help him set traps for Santa.[1] Merlin the magician provides Santa Claus with supernatural assistance, including powders to keep children asleep, a golden key that opens everything, and a flower that makes him invisible.
Hi-jinks ensue. Pitch is defeated and the children's lives are improved.
The movie is closely examined in an extra track on the Shout! Factory release by Kevin Murphy, cult film archivist Charles Kilgore, and Mexican film historian David Wilt. Some of the more salient points made are that:
Santa watches us
In the late 1950s in Mexico, 'Santa Claus' was a (literally) foreign concept. While not unknown, Santa was very much a gringo construct: children didn't get their presents at Christmas from Santa, but from the three magi of the New Testament.
The movie was a very ambitious project for the time and place. Filming in color was an extravagance. The large, complex sets also added to the cost. The Mexican film industry had never done elaborate fantasy or sci-fi until this project, so the set designers seem to have been given free rein.
This film did not receive a general release in the United States. The U.S. distributor, K. Gordon Murray, booked the film as a special children's matinée attraction in which the film would only be shown once or twice.
While billed simply as "El Diablo" ("The Devil") in the credits, Pitch's character name in the original version is "Precio" ("Price").
Ángel Di Stefani (Vulcan/Llavón the blacksmith, whose scene is cut from the MST3K edit, but retained in the RiffTrax and The Mads Are Back versions) also portrayed Popoca/Aztec Mummy in The Robot vs the Aztec Mummy and a military man in The Black Scorpion.
Producer Guillermo Calderón was also producer for The Robot vs the Aztec Mummy (for which he was also story writer), Santo in the Treasure of Dracula, and The Batwoman.
Composer and musical director Antonio Díaz Conde was also musical director for The Robot vs the Aztec Mummy (as well as composer) and The Batwoman.
Sound supervisor James L. Fields was also sound supervisor for Santo in the Treasure of Dracula and The Batwoman.
Sound re-recordist and music recordist Galdino R. Samperio was also music recordist for Samson vs. the Vampire Women, sound re-recordist for Santo in the Treasure of Dracula, and re-recording mixer for The Batwoman.
Assistant editor José Li-ho was also assistant editor for The Robot vs the Aztec Mummy and sound editor for Santo in the Treasure of Dracula and The Batwoman.
