Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (1972) DVD-R

Starring Jay Ripley, Shay Garner, Pat Morrell, Bob O'Connell, Ruth McMahon
Directed by Richard Winer, Barry Mahon
Print: Color
Runtime: 96 min
Genre: Family/Animation

A few days before Christmas, in Santa's workshop at the North Pole, Santa's elves lament (via song) about how they make toys while Santa is away. Santa's reindeer return, but without Santa or his sleigh, prompting the elves to wonder (again in song) what has happened to Santa. Meanwhile, Santa has crash-landed on a beach in Dania Beach, Florida, gotten his sleigh stuck in the sand, and been abandoned by his reindeer. Santa sings, bemoaning his predicament, then falls asleep.
In his sleep, Santa telepathically summons several local children, who run to him and offer to help. Santa explains that they must find a way to pull his sleigh from the sand, as he cannot abandon it. The kids bring Santa several animals to pull the sleigh, including a horse, a donkey, a cow, a sheep, a pig and a gorilla (really a man in a gorilla suit). >br? Meanwhile, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn watch and comment on the action from a distance.