A Long December Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Edmund Gwenn played 'Kris Kringle' in the original "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947), that costarred Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, and a young Natalie Wood. Edmund Gwenn won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role, and the film won two more Oscars in addition to being nominated for Best Picture.

Leslie Nielsen was Santa in the film "All I Want for Christmas" (1991), a comedy with a young Thora Birch as one of a pair of siblings who just want their parents to get back together for Christmas.

Tim Allen reluctantly took the mantle of Santa in "The Santa Clause" (1994) when the previous holder of the job fell off of his roof. This fun Santa story was followed up with Allen as Scott Calvin (AKA Santa Claus) in sequels in 2002 and 2006, as well as a Disney+ series in 2022.

Released just one week after "The Santa Clause," Richard Attenborough reprised the role of Kris Kringle with the 1994 remake of "Miracle on 34th Street", costarring Elizabeth Perkins and Dylan McDermott, along with a young Mara Wilson.

Jim Belushi was an opportunistic mall Santa with Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Jingle All the Way" (1996), trying to sell Arnie a rip-off Turbo Man action figure for his son. The best part of this film was the fight with a warehouse-full of Santas.

Ben Affleck is forced to join a crew of thieves planning to rob a casino in "Reindeer Games" (2000), and all of the perps dress as Santa to pull off the caper on Christmas Eve. Gary Sinise and Charlize Theron costar.

Who could forget Jim Carrey in "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000)? Carey's iconic portrayal of the Grinch involved, of course, the despicably small-hearted villain dressing up as Santa Claus to steal all of the toys in Whoville.

Billy Bob Thornton is definitely a "Bad Santa" in both the 2003 original and in the 2016 sequel. This carousing, foul-mouthed Santa is a con man (along with his dwarf partner, played by Tony Cox) whose plan is to rob a shopping mall on Christmas Eve.

Ed Asner portrayed Santa Claus in 2003's "Elf." When a baby from an orphanage crawls into Santa's sack (in 1973), he is accidentally brought back to the North Pole, where he is raised amongst the elves. Of course, Will Ferrell stars in the title role.

George Wendt plays Santa Claus in "Santa Baby" (2006), but in this story Santa becomes ill and his daughter Mary (portrayed by Jenny McCarthy) must return to the North Pole to take over the job.

Released just a day after "Santa Baby", John Goodman takes on the role of a disgruntled Santa in "The Year Without a Santa Claus" (2006), which is a live-action remake of the stop motion animated film of the same name from 1974.

Paul Giamatti is the good brother in the Claus family, playing the role of Nick (Santa Claus), while his 'not as saintly' brother, played by Vince Vaughn, is "Fred Claus" (2007). When his brother Fred needs money, Nick invites him to earn it with a job at the North Pole and puts him in charge of the naughty and nice list.

Kurt Russell takes on the role of Santa in "The Christmas Chronicles" (2018) comedy, where two kids stow away on Santa's sleigh, causing it to crash. In trying to rectify the situation, Santa ends up getting arrested, and the two kids end up helping to save Christmas with hardly any time left.

Mel Gibson is a rather more violent Santa Claus in "Fatman" (2020) where he goes by Chris Cringle and becomes the target of a hired assassin sent by a rich boy on the naughty list who received a lump of coal.

David Harbour is Santa Claus with a violent Viking heritage in "Violent Night" (2022). When Santa arrives at a house just as a group of holiday-themed mercenaries come to attack the family, the not-so-jolly elf intervenes, killing the entire hit squad.