A Kidnapped Santa Claus facts for kids
"A Kidnapped Santa Claus" is a Christmas story written by American author L. Frank Baum. It's known as one of Baum's most beautiful tales and has helped shape the popular ideas about Christmas.
The story first appeared in December 1904 in The Delineator magazine. This magazine also published Baum's Animal Fairy Tales later on. The story was beautifully illustrated by Frederick Richardson, who also drew pictures for Baum's book Queen Zixi of Ix.
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L. Frank Baum's Magical World
"A Kidnapped Santa Claus" was published two years after Baum's book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902). Both stories share the same magical world. In both, Santa lives in the Laughing Valley, which is near the Forest of Burzee. He gets help from magical creatures like knooks, ryls, fairies, and pixies. Sometimes, these two works are even published together in modern books.
While the short story is very similar to the novel, it also shows a slightly different view of the world. It suggests that some bad things are a natural part of life and can't be completely removed.
What Happens in the Story?
The story begins by showing us Santa's castle in the Laughing Valley. Then, it quickly moves to five special caves in the nearby mountains. These caves are home to creatures called Daemons. Four of them are quite bad: the Daemons of Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, and Malice. The fifth, the Daemon of Repentance, is a bit different.
The Daemons don't like Santa Claus. This is because children who receive his gifts rarely visit their dark caves. So, they decide to stop Santa and his good influence. Even the Daemon of Repentance joins in, because children can't reach his cave without passing through the others first.
First, the Daemons try to make Santa act like them. They visit him one by one, trying to make him selfish, envious, or hateful. But Santa just laughs at their clumsy attempts.
When tempting Santa doesn't work, the Daemons decide to kidnap him instead. On Christmas Eve, as Santa is riding in his sleigh, they catch him with ropes. They then tie him up inside their caves.
Santa isn't alone on his rounds. He has four helpers traveling under his sleigh: Wisk the fairy, Kilter the pixie, Peter the knook, and Nutter the ryl. These four are known as "The Deputies of Santa Claus." When they realize Santa is gone, they try to deliver the gifts themselves. They mostly succeed, even with a few funny mistakes, like giving a toy drum to a girl or a sewing kit to a boy. But overall, they manage to save Christmas!
After delivering the gifts, they report Santa's disappearance. The queen of the fairies in the Forest of Burzee knows what happened. She gathers an army of magical creatures to rescue Santa. However, before the army arrives, Santa is set free. The Daemon of Repentance has changed his mind about the kidnapping. Santa then meets the magical army and tells them to turn back, stopping them from attacking the Daemons.
Bringing the Story to Life: Adaptations
"A Kidnapped Santa Claus" has been published many times since it first appeared. It was included in a Christmas story collection in 1915. Later, in 1969, it was released as its own book with new illustrations.
The story has also been turned into different types of entertainment. In 1989, it became a musical play for children called Santa Claus Is Missing!. There's also an animated film called Who Stole Santa? from The Oz Kids series (1996). Another musical, also named Santa Claus Is Missing, was performed at the Staten Island Children's Museum for several years.
In 2009, cartoonist Alex Robinson adapted the story into a comic book. A Canadian film from 2018, Santa's Castle, is also based on the story, mixing in ideas from other works by Baum.
The idea of Santa Claus being kidnapped has inspired many other artists too. You can see this idea in books like The Great Christmas Kidnapping Caper (1975) by Jean Van Leeuwen. It's also a big part of Tim Burton's famous film The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
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