Every 178 years Santa retires after almost two centuries of service. So, fifteen years before this date, Santa combs the world searching for an orphaned boy named Nicholas with a pure heart to take up the role of Santa's Apprentice. This time a boy named Nicholas from Australia is chosen. He is brought to the north pole where he must study and learn the secrets of Santa to prepare to become the next Santa Claus.
Santapprentice is a 2006 French-Australian animated series produced by Alphanim and Yoram Gross. It's been dubbed into and episodes on the Encore Family Channel, especially around Christmas time. It also has a full series DVD release, and an Animated Film in 2010 titled Santa's Apprentice that was dubbed into English.
Santapprentice provides examples of:
- Age Without Youth: Nicholas becomes immortal and will someday grow up to become the next Santa.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Nicholas finds a meteor that infects anyone who looks at it with powerful greed. It makes almost everyone acted nuts before Nicholas finally manages to get rid of it.
- Nicholas runs across creatures called Troublies. They're basically elves who have gone nuts and try to break everything they touch.
- Butt-Monkey: Humphrey usually ends on the receiving end of slapstick humor.
- Con Man: Santa faces two of these. The first one tries to convince Santa to buy a fancy rocket sleigh that's really a lemon. The second is a woman who tries to whoo Santa, but is really just trying to steal his toy designs.
- The Determinator: Nicholas faces some seriously hard challenges to become the next Santa, but he always pulls through.
- Immortality Inducer: As part of being the next Santa Claus Nicholas must become immortal by finding the last mammoth and having it breath on him.
- Manchild: The nature of Santa leads him to be this.
- One-Book Author: This work provides Mary Pat Gleason with her only animated role in her career. In this film, she played Beatrice Lovejoy.
- Our Elves Are Different: In the series, Santa's elves are odd short beings that look like little green men. They're said to come from a hidden land.
- Tome of Eldritch Lore: Nicholas uses one of these to figure out how to stop a monster that's causing a snow storm.
