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Story

Santa (voiced by Shane Jacobson) has been in the job too long and is starting to lose his memory. The law says that means it’s time for Santa to choose a boy to train as his apprentice. The boy must be named Nicholas, be an orphan and have a pure heart. After searching the world over, the council of Santas finds a suitable seven-year-old boy called Nicholas (voiced by Jack Versace) living in an orphanage in Sydney, Australia.Nicholas isn’t sure whether he’ll be able to take on the huge responsibility of being Santa. The current Santa doesn’t want to give up his job, and this adds to the challenge. Fortunately, Santa eventually realises that he must retire, so he does all he can to help Nicholas train to be the best Santa ever.

Themes

Orphans and loss of parents

Violence

This movie has some violence related to bullying. A boy – also called Nicholas – at the orphanage often bullies the other children. For example, he:

  • takes a toy from a child just to make her cry
  • grabs the good Nicholas and tries to push him
  • steals Santa’s magic ball and shrinks all the orphans and their carer
  • fights with the good Nicholas on a roof.

Sexual references

None of concern

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

None of concern

Nudity and sexual activity

None of concern

Product placement

None of concern

Coarse language

None of concern

Ideas to discuss with your children

Santa’s Apprentice is a charming Australian/French old-style animated movie that moves at a gentle pace. All the family, including younger children, are likely to enjoy it, although children aged under six years might need help with a few worrying scenes.

The main messages from this movie are about not giving up and working to get over your fears.

Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include friendship, helpfulness, generosity, kindness, selflessness and sympathy.

You could also talk about bullying and why the bully Nicholas behaves in bullying ways.

Supported By

  • Department of Social Services

Raising Children Network is supported by the Australian Government. Member organisations are the Parenting Research Centre and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute with The Royal Children’s Hospital Centre for Community Child Health.

Member Organisations

  • Parenting Research Centre
  • The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne
  • Murdoch Children's Research Institute

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