Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa
Written by	Colin Slater Trisha Koury-Stoops
Directed by	Colin Slater
Starring	Walter Emanuel Jones Mark Hamill Paige O'Hara Nancy Cartwright Jodi Benson Grey DeLisle Debra Wilson Clint Howard Jack Angel April Winchell
Music by	Kevin Saunders Hayes
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	James De Luca Chris Rose
Producer(s)	Colin Slater J. R. Horsting Nancy Cartwright
Editor(s)	Dave Edison
Running time	42 minutes
Production company(s)	J Rose Productions Wolf Tracer Studios
Distributor	Promark Television
Release
Original network	Broadcast syndication
Original release	December 2002 (2002-12)

Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa is an animated Christmas special from 2002. It's a musical film made for the holiday season. This special is one of only two films produced by Wolf Tracer Studios, led by Colin Slater. Famous voice actors like Walter Emanuel Jones, Mark Hamill, Jodi Benson, Paige O'Hara, and Nancy Cartwright lent their voices to the characters.

The story of Believe in Santa follows a boy named Ricky Rodgers. He celebrates Christmas after his mother has passed away. The special was shown on TV in December 2002 across many parts of the United States. It became well-known for its unique production story and for getting a lot of negative reviews. People often criticized its computer animation for looking low-quality and its story for being simple. However, some people did praise the voice acting.

After its few broadcasts in 2002, the special was never officially released for home viewing. It became quite hard to find. In 2015, a copy was found and uploaded online. This helped it gain a cult following among viewers.

The Story of Believe in Santa

Ricky's Christmas Wish

The story begins with Ricky Rodgers, a young boy who doesn't have much money. He lives on Rapsittie Street with his great-grandmother, Fran. Christmas is coming, and Ricky's class is having a gift exchange. Ricky wants to give his most special possession to a classmate named Nicole. This gift is his teddy bear, which his late mother gave him.

Nicole is a rich girl who thinks anything "cheap" isn't worth her time. After school, Ricky gives her the teddy bear. Nicole gets angry and throws it in the trash. Ricky is very upset and runs away.

The Lost Teddy Bear

Ricky writes a letter to Santa Claus. Nicole makes fun of him for still believing in Santa. Ricky goes to mail his letters, but one falls out. The wind blows it all the way to Nicole's house. Nicole reads the letter and learns something important. Ricky asked Santa for a video game console for himself. But he also asked Santa to bring toys to all the kids in his class, including Nicole. He also explained how much his teddy bear meant to him.

Feeling bad, Nicole decides to help. She teams up with her best friend, Lenee, and Ricky's friend, Smithy. They try to find the teddy bear, but they can't find it anywhere. After looking in the local garbageman's basement, Smithy thinks the bear might be at the dump.

Finding Friendship at the Dump

When the three friends arrive at the dump, they are met by guard dogs. They also run into class bullies named Todd, Tug, and Zeke. Smithy cleverly throws his sandwich at Todd. This distracts the dogs, and they chase the bullies away. Smithy then finds the teddy bear on top of a car.

Nicole takes the bear back to Ricky. Ricky explains that the bear was a gift for her. He tells her that friendship, like the teddy bear, is very important to him.

Believing in Christmas Magic

In another part of the story, Lenee starts to doubt if Santa Claus is real. Nicole had teased her about it, making Lenee feel sad. Lenee's father helps her feel better and believe in Santa again. This also helps Nicole start to believe in Santa, which makes her parents very happy.

On Christmas, Nicole and Lenee's families, along with Ricky and Fran, and Smithy, all celebrate at Lenee's house. Smithy and the others see Santa with his sleigh and reindeer flying outside. They all shout that they believe in Santa. Nicole's father tells her how proud he is of her. The special ends with Nicole's father telling everyone to close the front door.

Characters and Voice Actors

Many talented actors gave their voices to the characters in Rapsittie Street Kids.

How the Special Was Made

Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa began production in 2002. Chris Rose, one of the special's executive producers, formed a company called J Rose Productions. They hired Wolf Tracer Studios to create the animation. Wolf Tracer Studios was also known for another animated film called Wolf Tracer's Dinosaur Island.

Chris Rose trusted the animators a lot. He spent about $500,000 USD on the production without checking their work. He saw the animation for the very first time on the night the movie aired on TV. The animation for Rapsittie Street Kids was made using a program called 3D Choreographer. Effects were added using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects.

Before the special came out, the company that distributed it, Promark Television, promoted it. They said Believe in Santa was an "animated program... that seems destined to become a classic."

Music from the Special

A soundtrack for Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa was released in late 2002. It has five songs, most of which are sung in the film.

• "Ricky's Rap" (sung by Walter Emanuel Jones; music by Kevin Hayes)
• "Christmas Chimes" (music by Jason Ebs)
• "Best Kid in the World" (sung by Paige O'Hara; music by James Deluca and Greg Iovine)
• "Believe in Santa" (sung by Jodi Benson; music by James Deluca and Greg Iovine)
• "Through a Child's Eye" (sung by Paige O'Hara and Peabo Bryson; music by Colin Slater, Barry Coffin and James Deluca)

Broadcast and Rediscovery

After its first showing on The WB 100+ Station Group, the special was shown on other TV channels. It aired in different cities across the United States until Christmas Day 2002. After that holiday season, the film became hard to find.

In 2015, a person named Dycaite, who started the Lost Media Wiki website, found a copy of the special. They uploaded it to Vimeo, a video-sharing site. This helped the film become known again and gain a following. In December 2020, an article on Polygon shared more details about how Rapsittie Street Kids was made. The article included interviews with people who worked on the production.

Planned Sequel

Believe in Santa was meant to be the first of several Rapsittie Street Kids specials. At the end of the credits, there was a hint about a future special. It was going to be called A Bunny's Tale. Lenee's younger sister, Jenna, said, "I'll be back for the Easter Bunny." This Easter special was planned for 2003. However, it was never actually made, even though some TV stations had it listed on their schedules.