After the box-office success of his completely demented Mexican matinee-only import, Santa Claus — where Rene Cardona apparently read a book about Salvador Dali, ate some bad Figgy Pudding, and then downed about nine pints of Mad Dog before hammering out a script and rolling the camera — kiddie matinee king K. Gordon Murray quickly commissioned three more holiday features and imported several other Cardona-lensed Fairy Tales. Santa Claus and His Helpers was only a one reel short, where Santa has to abandon his orbiting space station to arbitrate a dispute between his bickering elves to make sure all the toys are ready for Christmas.
Video courtesy of MrRootRot.
The second feature, The Queen’s Swordsman, follows the further adventures of Stinky Skunk and the Big Bad Wolf, culled from Cardona’s lavish Little Red Riding Hood series in an attempt at some form of continuity with the first feature.
Santa Claus and His Helpers (1964) K. Gordon Murray Productions / P: K. Gordon Murray / D: Manuel San Fernando / C: Gene Gropper / E: Jack Remy