Will the Real Father Christmas Please Stand Up?

Every Christmas Eve, children up and down the land look forward to a visit from their beloved Santa with sacks full of gifts. The red suit, the flying reindeer, presents under the tree; all of these are typical associations we have with the beloved Patriarch of Christmas. Whether you have been naughty or nice this year, the mystery remains. Who exactly IS Santa?

Kong Studio’s ‘Long Story Short’ series is about showing that truth can be stranger than fiction, and all told in the space of a single minute. This time the festive assignment was to reveal who was the real person behind the myth and legend that is Father Christmas.

Idle chatter in the Kong studios revealed Studio stalwart, Elroy Simmons, had previously read up on some interesting theories on the origins of the big fella. According to an article in the ‘New York Times’, he was some sort of Arctic shaman, and Elroy added “Scandinavians thought Reindeer could fly because they were all high on hallucinogenic mushrooms”. What could be a better subject matter for Kong’s Christmas Long Story Short? And naturally they decided to animate it. Yes – all in under a minute. Beat that, countdown!

Kong co-founder, Tom Baker, took the Santa origins article and disappeared down a conspiracy theorist’s wormhole of Nordic history and traditions. Elroy’s theory about flying reindeer was indeed based on the realms of fact rather than fiction. “But how would they approach it this time?”, you ask. Why as a Kong-spiracy video, of course.

Kong Co-founder Tom Baker said: “I always knew there was something fishy about Santa but I never guessed he was peddling drugs. It makes my blood boil that kids are fed this sick nonsense. It’s ruined not just this Christmas but every Christmas. Ba humbug!”

On the voice-over, Bill Elliott said: “The fact it’s a silly film that has been designed in a way to make it appear like it’s a genuine conspiracy theorist’s film doesn’t mean it’s completely fake. The fact it’s based on a genuine article by the New York Times, plus additional and careful research, makes this a genuine tale.”

A conspiracy animation needs a suitable voice-over to go with it. Actor Daniel Fearn is that bloke who is in everything on TV and now he’s in a ‘Long Story Short’ too. It’s surprising this voice-over didn’t happen sooner.

Voice Over artist Daniel Fearn said: "I was in the middle of my daily vocal warm-up when the guys at Kong rang. They started selling the script to me. I stopped them mid-flow and said, ‘Guys I've got this’. After comparing the script to Shakespeare and Dickens I quickly got about getting into character. Hopefully what you hear sounds like a classic Christmas mash-up of a Winter’s Tale and being stuck in a lift with Chas 'n' Dave."

'The Santa Conspiracy' is amazing. And it’s true, but shhh, don’t tell the kids.

‘The Santa Conspiracy’ is available to watch now on Vimeo and YouTube. To watch the rest of the ‘Long Story Short’ series visit here.