Arthur selected Fred to Narrate the TV Special. Fred created sort of a sensation, when he appeared on the Academy Awards in 1970. Actually, Rankin/Bass' The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians (Sponsored by Pepsi Co.) was the lead in to the Academy Awards, and it was the highest Rated Rankin/Bass TV Special of all-time, because of the lead in. Fred did a surprise dance routine on the Academy Awards of 1970.
When Asatire was asked about his puppet, Fred replied, "Well, Kluger is like all the characters in SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN' TO TOWN. He's an Animagic puppet, that's actually what they call them. He's carved and painted and dressed then placed on the set, and then a technician is in charge of each movement he makes, and each separate motion is photographed and then, it's sort of like an animated cartoon, you know, only these are actual figures, then they put together to make a movie out of it. The final effect is really very life-like and it is quite delightful."
When Astaire was asked about the legends the TV Special tackles of Santa Claus, through the genius of Romeo Muller's writing, Astaire explained, "Well first I'd like to say that the way the story of Santa Claus is handled here is what attracted me to the script, and lead to my doing the narration for it. The Explanations are imaginative without being too cute, you know, for instance, it tells how come Santa Claus is sometimes called Kris Kringle. Well a foundling, to explain this, there's a foundling wearing a pendant with the name Claus engraved on it, and it is adopted and raised by a family of toymakers named Kringle. The story treats other legends in the same logical way. Like how Santa came to give out presents only on Christmas eve, and how his reindeer learned to fly, and that sort of thing."
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