When Santa Fell To Earth...From Gallifrey?

Stop me if you've heard this one before: There's a rather quirky gentleman with unkempt hair who wears a floppy frock coat. He's on the run from a council of his peers who see things in a more serious and sinister way than he does, so he steals a conveyance that's little more than a big blue box that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside and lands in the countryside and gets a couple of young people to assist him in avoiding notice by tall, bulky mechanical men who issue threats in an electronic voice.

Who, you say? Why Niklas Julebukk, of course -- the last in the line of Santa Clauses! Niklas (Alexander Scheer) disagrees with the head of the Council of Santas, Gerold Geronimous Goblynch, who is all about the commerce and the eradication of the hope of Christmas magic. So he runs off with the help of the last surviving reindeer, Twinklestar, two Christmas angels and two Christmas elves. But when Twinklestar leaves the reins mid-flight, Santa crashes to Earth, said crash witnessed by young Ben Schuster (Noah Kraus), who's new to town and dealing with a lowering in his living standards after his father lost his cushy bank job. Ben's mother is trying to make a living out of running a candy store, but it's a rough go. And living across the street from Ben is Charlotte (Mercedes Jadea Diaz), who has her own issues with Christmas as she deals with her father leaving. These two kids both need a miracle, and as much as Santa is trying to hide, he can't help but try to help them -- while at the same time recruiting the kids to help him in the search for Twinklestar while the elves rush to repair the broken caravan.

WHEN SANTA FELL TO EARTH is based on the novel of the same name by Cornelia Funke, who wrote the fascinating INKHEART series which was also fated to be adapted into a mediocre film. The special effects in this are on the low end of computer graphics, and being dubbed in English (the original film, "Als der Weihnachtsmann vom Himmel fiel," came out in 2011 in Germany) makes it a bit unnerving at times due to the lack of mouth-to-sound synchronicity. However, younger viewers gravitate toward the simplistic plot and overlook the foibles. This one may not grab adults, but I've tested it and found that it will enchant younger viewers into multiple screenings.