Santa's Workshop

As the 1932 Christmas holiday was approaching, Walt Disney provided his fans with the first all-color cartoon of Santa Claus. In December 1932's "Santa's Workshop," the Silly Symphony short became an annual tradition in the nation's theaters during the holiday season. The cartoon was later incorporated into a Disney Production anthology television Christmas 1958 special, 'From All of Us to All of You,' a feature film that is especially embraced by Sweden and Norway, and shown annually in both countries each Christmas Eve.

"Santa's Workshop" shows Santa and his elves preparing for the big night where the gifts in the old man's will be carried by his reindeer to be delivered to all the boys and girls throughout the world. Disney's Santa is a micromanager, taking interest in the quality of all the elves' work, testing them out to make sure everything works properly. As one of cinema's first marketing campaigns, Disney allowed downtown merchants throughout the nation to set up window displays with screenshots from "Santa's Workshop," enticing holiday shoppers to buy Disney toys. A sequel the following year, 1933's 'The Night Before Christmas,' another 'Silly Symphony' installment, gave Disney a one-two punch by expanding the joys of the holiday season to movie goers by having the theaters show back-to-back stunning Christmas-themed Technicolor cartoons.