The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I saw this movie on Hulu in 2009. It's a sweet movie that hints at some spirituality and incorporates a small amount of history to show how the story of Santa and Christmas has evolved. The movie says the story comes from a Dutch legend and I have seen various other locations mention a Santa and Pete Dutch legend although probably significantly different. It is enjoyable for the whole family. My children were enraptured and the adults found it fun and wholesome. At the time of this post the book that the movie is based on and the movie can be found on Amazon. I would say the phrase 'Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward Men' summarizes the goal of the multicultural angle of the movie. It is an enjoyable piece without many adult themes which is a rare find.

I love reading stories to my children. It was great seeing James Earl Jones gently tying the movie together by playing a grandfather telling his grandson this very special story. I was delighted with the setting of early America. The story was filled with a mix of familiar and less heard elements of the Santa Claus traditions. Perhaps this stems from European origins, which fits well with the early American setting. The movie also did well to transcend multi-cultural lines that so many Christmas stories fall short of. My young children love viewing Christmas stories all year around. I am anxious for this to become available on VHS or DVD. "Santa and Pete" is a must see for those of you who love the feelings surrounding the Christmas holidays.

I usually look at everything made for Christmas viewing. I wasn't sure what this one was going to be. I have seen many movies that describe themselves as Christmas stories, simply because they take place at Christmas. "One Magic Christmas" is one of that breed. When I saw "Santa and Pete" for the first time, I was hooked. This was a delightful little story of Saint Nicholas and his helper; how he visited the new world for the first time and how he became "modernized". The story held my interest from beginning to end and stayed in my heart and mind much longer than that. Using James Earl Jones as the grandfather relating the story to his grandson for the first time was a stroke of pure genius in casting. The writers could have gone anywhere with this tale, and they wisely chose to tell it as a story of hope, peace, charity, love, and family. Their are many Christmas movies in my collection, and "Santa and Pete" ranks up with the best of them. The sooner this is released on VHS and DVD, the better The ratings That have been given are understandable when I note the demographics connected with them. I urge all who voted and gave somewhat low marks, to see this picture again after a few years and see if their perspective has changed. They may be surprised! God Bless Us - everyone.

This movie takes us back to the days when the settlers came to america.And it explains how santa got his Get-up and how his reindeers could fly they should bring it to Video It's very Heart Warming.This Movie aint just a childrens movie i'ts a movie the whole family could enjoy.