Father Christmas (Raymond Briggs)

Father Christmas is the protagonist of the 1973 Raymond Briggs book Father Christmas and it's 1975 sequel Father Christmas Goes On Holiday. He is also serves as the protagonist of the 1991 film Father Christmas (which blends together the plot of the two books) and is a minor character in the 1982 short film The Snowman and it's 2012 sequel The Snowman and The Snowdog.
He was voiced by the late English comedian and actor Mel Smith in the original British version and William Dennis Hunt in the American redub.
He is based on the Christmas figure Santa Claus. However unlike most incarnations of the character, Father Christmas is unmarried (though it is hinted that he is widowed as there is a photo of a white haired woman on a wall in his hallway), does not have elves and does not live in the North Pole or Lapland, instead he lives in a village in England and makes all of the presents himself. This incarnation also doesn't have nine reindeer, instead he has only two, which are unnamed. Besides his reindeer, Father Christmas's other pets are his cat and dog.
==Appearances==
===The Snowman===
Father Christmas is seen hosting a party at the North Pole, which is attended by many Snowpeople.
He greets James and The Snowman, before taking them to a stable where his sleigh and reindeer are. He gives James his present: a blue scarf with pictures of snowmen on it, before watching him and the Snowman leave to return to James' home in Brighton as the sun rises.
To mark the film's 20th anniversary, a new opening was made featuring Father Christmas in his home getting ready to watch the film whilst telling the viewer about giving James the scarf.
===Father Christmas===
Father Christmas is first seen returning to his home in his sleigh after another delivery. After tending to his reindeer, cat and dog, Father Christmas breaks the fourth wall by telling the viewer about what he did the previous year.
It is shown that Father Christmas decided to go on holiday and chooses France as his destination. After getting packed and putting his cat and dog into kennels, Father Christmas takes his reindeer with his sleigh (which he has customised to act as a caravan) and travels to France. Upon arriving, he goes to a restaurant and has one of each food on the menu. However, he ends up with food poisoning and has to keep going to and from the toilet. After suspicions rise about his identity, Father Christmas decides that it's time to go somewhere else.
He chooses Scotland as his next destination and when arriving, goes to a pub and later buys a kilt. After the rain stops, he decides to go for a swim, only to find that the water is freezing and is shark infested. Father Christmas then decides to go somewhere warmer and chooses Las Vegas and spends over a month there. During his stay, he goes to a casino, eats out, watches a show and swims in the hotel's pool. After two people notice his resemblance to Santa Claus and after seeing his hotel bill, he decides that it is time to go home.
After returning to England, Father Christmas collects his cat and dog from the kennels. Upon returning home, Father Christmas finds heaps of Christmas lists waiting for him.
On Christmas Eve, Father Christmas sets out to deliver the presents. Afterwards, he attends the Snowpeople's party and once again meets James and the Snowman. Later he is shown by the duo that there are two presents left in the sleigh. Acting fast, Father Christmas and his reindeer fly off to deliver the presents, who turn out to be for the British Royal Family.
The film cuts back to the present where Father Christmas preparing a turkey and pudding for later. He then has a bath before giving his cat and dog their presents. After looking at the presents he got from his aunt, uncle and cousin, Father Christmas goes to bed for a few hours sleep, but not before wishing the viewer a "Merry Blooming Christmas".
===The Snowman and The Snowdog===
Father Christmas is seen attending another Snowpeople party where he meets Billy, who had participated in a skiing race with The Snowman, The Snowdog, a penguin and other snowpeople with Billy and The Snowdog winning.
Another snowperson finds a letter Billy had written to Father Christmas and reveals it to the latter. Father Christmas then gives Billy a package. The Snowman then notices that the sun is starting to rise and points this out to Billy, who bids farewell to Father Christmas before leaving to return home with The Snowman and The Snowdog.
It is revealed that the package Father Christmas had given Billy contained a dog collar. Billy puts on The Snowdog, who is then transformed into a real dog, making Billy's Christmas wish come true as in his letter, he said that he wanted a dog for Christmas to replace his previous dog who had passed away.
==Other appearances==
In 1990, Father Christmas appeared in a series of Christmas adverts for British pharmacy and retailer Boots.
In 2006, Father Christmas appeared in an advert for chocolate biscuit brand Kit Kat. In the advert, Father Christmas returns home from his Christmas deliveries and relaxes whilst eating a Kit Kat. He is once again voiced by Mel Smith.
In 2019, Father Christmas appeared in an advert for clothing company Barbour to mark 125 years of the company. In the advert, it shows a flashback to Christmas Eve 1894 where Father Christmas finds a present from his wife (referred to in the advert as Mrs. C), which is a Barbour jacket that lasts even to the present day. Upon arriving home, Father Christmas picks up a picture of his wife and gives thanks for the jacket, perhaps hinting that she passed away sometime ago. Father Christmas reappears in the 2020 advert where he is asked by a boy to repair his father's Barbour jacket, which had been damaged by the family dog. As he is not good at tailoring, Father Christmas instead takes the jacket to be repaired at the Barbour factory in South Shields. After the jacket is repaired, Father Christmas delivers it to the boy to give to his father. He is voiced in these adverts by Colin McFarlane.
==Gallery==
d2324afebef8ab6735f539aea80c7473.jpg|Father Christmas in The Snowman
a845928049258ce8f263d040a9307b5a.jpg|Father Christmas in The Snowman and The Snowdog 
barbour-thanks-mrs-c-6-1-1572953071-crop-1572968665-1680x1120.jpg|Father Christmas in the 2019 Barbour Christmas advert 
==Trivia==
*Despite appearing in The Snowman film, Father Christmas does not appear in the original book as it does not take place at Christmas.
*Father Christmas speaks in his own film, but is mute in The Snowman films.
Category:Male
Category:Book Heroes
Category:Movie Heroes
Category:Cartoon Heroes
Category:Elderly
Category:Pure Good
Category:Tricksters
Category:Honorable
Category:Sophisticated
Category:Loyal
Category:Charismatic
Category:Disciplinarians