Mystery Science Theater 3000: SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS
September 10, 2015 5:54 AM - Season 3, Episode 21 - Subscribe

"Santa Claus saves Christmas for the Children of the World!" "SEE: The Martians Kidnap Santa! Santa's North Pole Workshop! The Fantastic Martian Toy Factory! Earth Kids Meeting with Martian Kids! Space-ship Journey from Earth to Mars! Santa Turn Mars-Robot Into a Mechanical Toy!" St. Nicolas is kidnapped by Martians to help their kids and it's up to two Earth children, plus a mincing Martian named Dropo, to save Christmas on both planets. With a movie like SCCTM, it's difficult even to know where to start. I admire the movie's audacity, and once in a while it almost seems to work: Martian leader Kimar is kind of awesome, and villainous martian Voldar tries to kill our heroes sure but he's only acting on what he thinks is best for his home planet. But every time Dropo shows up I have to cover my eyes and ears. Truly, he is the secret archetype of Jar-Jar Binks. It's one of the best episodes of the whole run, a real must-see. YouTube (1h37m) Premiered December 21, 1991.

Episode 321 SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS:
MST3K Wikia - Mighty Jack's MST3K Review

Movie:
Daddy-O
IMDB (2.5 stars)
"The Martians kidnap Santa because there is nobody on Mars to give their children presents."
Directed by Nicholas Webster. (He also directed one or two episodes each of The Big Valley, Get Smart, Mannix, Bonanza and The Waltons.)
Written by Glenville Mareth and Paul L. Jacobson.
Starring Leonard Hicks, Vincent Beck, and John Call as Santa Claus.

Both Cinematic Titanic (Hulu, Amazon) and RiffTrax (Purchase link) would return to this movie.
posted by JHarris (9 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Our weekly showing of MST3K Club will again be tonight (Thursday) at 9 PM Eastern time, at http://sync-video.com/tv/rodneylives. Information on our showings is in the MST3K Club FAQ.

Note: this episode was shown several times last Christmas as part of our 2014 Christmas show. Also note: we probably won't have a show next week.
posted by JHarris at 6:10 AM on September 10, 2015


I'll have to watch the MST version of this - this may be the only movie in their catalog that I've seen independent of that show, thanks to holiday season broadcasting on KTLA when I was a kid. But man, it sticks with you. Every time someone talks about some all-inclusive food product or taking pills instead of actually eating, I think of this movie.
posted by LionIndex at 8:02 AM on September 10, 2015


JHarris, you're the laziest man on Mars!
posted by Chrysostom at 8:34 AM on September 10, 2015 [5 favorites]


Hooray for Santa Claus! (Yes, I got the KTLA holiday season runs of that too!)

I hope that the reason JHarris might not do an MST3K Club next week will be that he is working on his EPIC thread about Cartoon Network Promos, and making sure he doesn't forget Boo Boo Baba Dee Dee. (I know I never will, it's one of my most painful recurring earworms).

Of course, if he's willing to pass on the duty of MST3K Club for one week, I would be willing to try to keep the SyncVideo from sinking. But I don't think he'd want to miss the next scheduled baddie for himself: "Master Ninja I" aka, "The Van Patten Project". Of course, I could always do something else with the keys to the rodneylives machine, like a festival of YouTubed RiffTrax or a replay of my p****ed copy of "Rat Fink A Boo Boo" (Baba Dee Dee, DAMMIT)
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:33 AM on September 10, 2015 [2 favorites]


By sheer coincidence, the original movie (not Mistied) is being shown outdoors at my neighborhood Arboretum this Saturday. It's probably a good thing I have other commitments or I'd annoy everyone else by quoting the episode (which is always bad form in public).
posted by charred husk at 2:01 PM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Proof that Hulu's Algorithm is bad and they should feel bad: This is the first I'm hearing that MST3K (and Cinematic Titanic, et al.) episodes are on Hulu including some of my personal favorites.
posted by ob1quixote at 4:38 PM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Also:

Santa: "Well, we've never disappointed this kids yet!"

Joel (Imitating Santa): "Except for the poor ones."
posted by ob1quixote at 5:25 PM on September 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Well, that was a healthy dose of Santarcasm! Thanks :)
posted by ilana at 7:48 PM on September 10, 2015 [2 favorites]


Still not as creepy as the St. Nick from Santa Claus.

"Santa’s tendrils reach far and wide. There is no hiding from the Klaus organization!"
posted by Chrysostom at 8:07 PM on September 10, 2015


« Older Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Good...   |  Movie: Licence to Kill... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments