History Film / IBelieveInSantaClaus

As Christmas approaches, schoolboy Simon Porquier is having a difficult time: He is bullied at school, tormented by the sadistic janitor, and his parents have been kidnapped by militants in Africa. His only Christmas wish is for his parents to be returned. To be sure that Santa knows his wishes, he and his friend Elodie stow away on a plane to the Finnish city of Rovaniemi, the supposed home of Santa Claus. It's not long before Santa and the Christmas Fairy Mary Ellen are tracking down the parents while the too-curious kids end up prisoners of an ogre...

* AdultsAreUseless: Seriously, the janitor physically abuses Simon ''in front of other students and even his teacher'' and yet somehow he is not immediately fired and brought up on charges.
* AlternateDVDCommentary: Received the Podcast/RiffTrax treatment [[https://www.rifftrax.com/i-believe-in-santa-claus in 2015]] as one of that site's [[ChristmasSpecial Christmas offerings]].

-->'''Mike Nelson:''' (''as militia leader'') Yeah, right. And I'm a terrorist in a Christmas movie. Oh, wait...

* IdiotBall: The second half of the film is largely dependent on two characters picking this up.
** After explicitly being told not to go into the ogre’s woods, the normally obedient Elodie inexplicably drags Simon into those same woods the second the adults are gone to propel the film's third act conflict.
** Meanwhile back in Africa, Mary Ellen drops her wand for no good reason -- except, apparently, being an idiot -- when the plot requires her and Santa to be trapped. Unlike the previous instance, Santa calls her out on it!
* ImAHumanitarian: The ogre is a cannibal who captures all kids who wander into his woods, forces them to do all his chores for him, and then eats them.
* IndyPloy: Mary Ellen can't use magic in the ogre's woods, so to keep the kids from getting eaten she disguises herself as a maiden, allows the ogre to kidnap her, and she and the kids have to wing it from there while waiting for Santa and the elves to arrive as reinforcements. [[spoiler: She buys time by distracting him with an argument about which one he'll eat first, while Simon figures out how to burn the rope holding up a chandelier that's right over the ogre. It crashes atop him and knocks him out cold shortly before Santa and company arrive, whereupon they untie the fairy and the kids and everyone flees to safety.]]

* NonActorVehicle: The teacher and fairy are played by Karen Cheryl, a French pop singer who was popular at the time. She performs several Euro-pop musical numbers.

* RefugeInAudacity: The teacher has a whole musical number about "stop all your crying business" to the child ''whose parents were kidnapped by actual African terrorists.''
* SantaClausmas: Averted at the 11th hour: The final musical number is a song about Jesus's birth, sung at a Christmas Mass no less.
* SavingChristmas: The kids at the militia base free Santa Claus, Mary Ellen, and Simon's parents with this trope in mind.

* WorfHadTheFlu: Santa needs Mary Ellen's help to get to Africa because, [[AsYouKnow as she explains for the audience]], Santa's sleigh can only fly on Christmas Eve.
-->'''Kevin Murphy:''' (''as Santa'') "Damn teamster rules..."
* WouldHurtAChild: The janitor and his doppelganger the ogre.

* WomanInWhite: Mary Ellen the Christmas Fairy.

* YourMagicsNoGoodHere: The Christmas Fairy's powers don't work in the ogre's forest, meaning she and the kids have to deal with the ogre with an IndyPloy.

* AndImTheQueenOfSheba: "And I'm Alexander the Great!"

* IndyPloy: Mary Ellen can't use magic in the ogre's woods, so to keep the kids from getting eaten she disguises herself as a maiden, allows the ogre to kidnap her, and she and the kids have to wing it from there while waiting for Santa and the elves to arrive as reinforcements. [[spoiler: She buys time by distracting him with an argument about which one he'll eat first, while Simon figures out how to burn the rope holding up a chandelier that's right over the ogre. It crashes atop him and knocks him out cold shortly before Santa and company arrives, whereupon they untie the fairy and the kids.]]

* SpeaksFluentAnimal: All fairies understand animal language, and Mary Ellen can even talk to monkeys.

* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: The Christmas Fairy's abilities work this way. When Santa ends up menaced by a crocodile in Africa, she turns it into a bird. When she needs a disguise to infiltrate the ogre's lair, she affects an InstantCostumeChange.

* WouldHurtAChild: The janitor and his doppelganger the ogre.

* ForgotAboutHisPowers: Mary Ellen doesn't think to use her magic to send Simon's parents back to France or at least Santa's base once they're free of the militia men; instead they are driven by authorities to the nearest Red Cross outpost and from there apparently fly back to France, arriving back home on Christmas morning.
* IdenticalStranger: The teacher/fairy and janitor/ogre are played by the same actors.

* FilmingForEasyDub: The film was apparently shot with an English-language dub in mind, because the teacher writes upon the blackboard in English in her first scene; in addition all of the text on Simon's note from his dad and on Santa's computer is in English too.

* MistakenForSpies: The head of the militia believes Santa Claus and Mary Ellen to be these, despite their protests. The kids in the neighborhood are more credulous, however.

* IdiotBall: After explicitly being told not to go into the ogre’s woods, the normally obedient Elodie inexplicably drags Simon into those same woods the second the adults are gone to propel the film's third act conflict.

* SantaClausmas: Subverted: While most of the movie doesn't bring religion up, the final musical number is a song about Jesus's birth, sung at a Christmas Mass no less.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: The good fairy can talk to monkeys.
* TwistedChristmas: A mild example as some hostage-taking in Africa figures into the plot -- not the sort of thing commonly seen in kiddie fantasy films. Plus, the ogre who tries to kill and eat the kids most definitely murdered and devoured a puppy in front of them (since the dog isn't seen again)!

As Christmas approaches, schoolboy Simon Porquier is having a difficult time: He is bullied at school, tormented by the sadistic janitor, and his parents have been kidnapped by militants in Africa. His only Christmas wish is for his parents to be returned. To be sure that Santa knows his wishes, he and his friend Elodie stow away on a plane to the Finnish city of Rovaniemi, the supposed home of Santa Claus. It's not long before Santa and the Christmas Fairy Mary Ellen are tracking down the parents while the too-curious kids end up prisoners of an ogre...

* {{Bulungi}}: Simon's parents are held captive in an unnamed poverty-stricken country in Africa. Even though it's pointed out that Simon could stand to be more specific, Santa and Mary Ellen arrive what's apparently a short walk and a longer drive away from where they are. This part of the film was actually shot in Senegal.

As Christmas approaches, schoolboy Simon Porquier is having a difficult time: He is bullied at school, tormented by the sadistic janitor, and his parents have been kidnapped by militants in Africa. His only Christmas wish is for his parents to be returned. To be sure that Santa knows his wishes, he and his friend Elodie stow away on a plane to the Finnish city of Rovaniemi, the supposed home of Santa Claus.

* {{Bulungi}}: Simon's parents are held captive in an unnamed poverty-stricken country in Africa.

* IdiotBall: After explicitly being told not to go into the ogre’s woods, the normally obedient Elodie inexplicably drags Simon into those same woods the second the adults are gone to propel the films third act conflict.
** The fairy drops her wand for no good reason except apparently being an idiot when the plot requires her and Santa to be trapped. Unlike the previous instance, Santa calls her out on it.

* SantaClausmas: Although the reunited family is returned to France just in time to be at a Christmas Mass.

* TwistedChristmas: A mild example as some hostage-taking in Africa figures into the plot -- not the sort of thing commonly seen in kiddie fantasy films. Plus the ogre that tries to kill the kill kids most definitely murdered and devoured a puppy in front of the kids.

* TwistedChristmas: A mild example as some hostage-taking in Africa figures into the plot -- not the sort of thing commonly seen in kiddie fantasy films.

* AlternateDVDCommentary: Received the RiffTrax treatment [[https://www.rifftrax.com/i-believe-in-santa-claus in 2015]].

* CrappyHolidays

* TwistedChristmas: A mild example, with some hostage-taking in Africa.

''I Believe in Santa Claus'' is a 1984 French children's film that was dubbed into English and released by New World Pictures in the United States. Its original title is ''J'ai rencontré le Père Noël'' ("I Met Father Christmas"), while its original English-language title was ''Here Comes Santa Claus''.

''I Believe in Santa Claus'' is a 1984 French children's film. Its original title is ''J'ai rencontré le Père Noël'' ("I Met Santa Claus"), while its first English-language title was ''Here Comes Santa Claus''.

As Christmas approaches, schoolboy Simon Porquier is having a difficult time: he is bullied at school, tormented by the sadistic janitor, and his parents have been kidnapped by militants in Africa. His only Christmas wish is for his parents to be returned. To be sure that Santa knows his wishes, he and his friend Elodie stow away on a plane to the Finnish city of Rovaniemi, the supposed home of Santa Claus.

* NonActorVehicle: The teacher and fairy are played by Karen Cheryl, a pop singer who was popular at the time. She performs several Euro-pop musical numbers.
* SantaClausmas

''I Believe in Santa Claus'' is a 1984 French children's film. Its original title is ''J'ai rencontré le Père Noël'' ("I Met Santa Claus").