I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (Song)
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| “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” | |
|---|---|
website: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ Ten-inch shellac variant of US picture sleeve | |
| Single by Jimmy Boyd | |
| Language | English |
| B-side | “Thumbelina” |
| Released | 1952 |
| Recorded | 1952 |
| Composer(s) | Tommie Connor |
| Lyricist(s) | Tommie Connor |
“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” is a Christmas song with music and lyrics by British songwriter Tommie Connor and first recorded by Jimmy Boyd in 1952. The song has since been covered by many artists, with The Ronettes version from 1963 being one of the most famous cover versions.
Jimmy Boyd original version
The original recording by Jimmy Boyd, recorded on July 15, 1952, when he was 13 years old, reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in December 1952, and on the Cash Box chart at the beginning of the following year. It later reached Number 3 in the UK Charts when issued there in November 1953. The song was commissioned by Saks Fifth Avenue to promote the store’s Christmas card for the year, which featured an original sketch by artist Perry Barlow, who drew for The New Yorker for many decades.
The song describes a scene where a child walks downstairs from his bedroom on Christmas Eve to see his mom kissing “Santa Claus” under the mistletoe. The lyric concludes with the child wondering how his father will react on hearing of the kiss, unaware of the implication that Santa Claus is merely his father in a costume.
Boyd’s record was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church in Boston when it was released on the grounds that it mixed kissing with Christmas. Boyd was photographed meeting with the Archdiocese to explain the song. After the meeting, the ban was lifted.
Cover versions
A less successful version of the song was released in 1952 by Spike Jones (with vocal by George Rock in the little boy voice used in Spike’s hit “All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth“). Jones also recorded a parody for his personal pleasure titled “I Saw Mommy Screwing Santa Claus.”
Versions by The Beverley Sisters and by Billy Cotton and His Band charted on the UK Singles Chart in December 1953, peaking at, respectively, number six and number eleven.
The Ronettes recorded their own version in 1963 for A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. The version peaked at number eighty-four on Billboard Holiday 100 on the week ending December 9, 2016.
The Jackson 5 recorded the song for their 1970 Christmas album. The version entered the UK Singles Chart on its peak position, number ninety-one, on the week ending December 5, 1987, and charted there for four weeks total. It also peaked at number forty-five on Billboard Holiday 100 on the week ending January 6, 2012, and number one hundred in a Swiss singles chart on the week ending December 29, 2019.
John Mellencamp also filmed a music video to promote his recording for the 1987 Special Olympics charity album, A Very Special Christmas.
Amy Winehouse performed the song live at Union Chapel, Islington on 15 December 2004 for a BBC Radio 2 show “The Gospel According To Christmas” which was broadcast on Christmas Day. The live recording was released as a single in 2020.
On December 14, 2019, Saturday Night Live sketch featured a version of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. It was sung by Cecily Strong portraying a child, it also featured Scarlett Johansson as mother, Beck Bennett as Santa Claus, and Mikey Day as father. In addition, the sketch added extra lyrics implying that the singer’s parents have a cuckolding fetish.
Other artists Molly Bee,
Reba McEntire (with the title “I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus”),
Tiny Tim, The Cheetah Girls, Ray Stevens,
Bif Naked, Jessica Simpson, Teresa Brewer,
Rica Fukami, Secret Chiefs 3 and Dionne Bromfield have also covered it. The Dollyrots recorded a variation (titled “I Saw Mommy Biting Santa Claus”) with humorous lyrics. RuPaul and Kip Addotta both recorded versions with changed lyrics titled “I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus.” Twisted Sister recorded their own variation of the song onto their album A Twisted Christmas.
The Lucky Duckies
Paul Anka
Dave Monk
International versions
Danish: “Jeg så julemanden kysse mor” (Danish text: Susanne Palsbo)
French: “J’ai vu maman embrasser le Père Noël” (French text: Louis Gasté)
Norwegian: “Jeg så mamma kysse nissen” (Norwegian text: Philip A. Kruse)
Swedish: “Jag såg mamma kyssa tomten” (Swedish text: Ingrid “Ninita” Reuterskiöld)
Mexican: “Hoy vi a Santa Claus besar a mamá” (Spanish text: Anibal Pastor)
Icelandic: “Ég sá mömmu kyssa jólasvein” (Icelandic text: Hinrik Bjarnason)
Film adaptation
A made-for-television movie based on the song was released in 2001.
| I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus | |
|---|---|
 By Source, Fair use, Link. French film poster | |
| Written by | Steve Jankowski & John Shepphird and Mike Sorrentino & Randy Vampotic |
| Directed by | John Shepphird |
| Starring | Dylan and Cole Sprouse Eric Jacobs Connie Sellecca Corbin Bernsen |
| Music by | David Reynolds |
| Country of origin | United States/Germany |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Shawn Levy Steve Jankowski Jeffrey Schenck |
| Cinematography | Neal Brown |
| Editor | Geno Foster |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Production companies | Regent Entertainment ACH Medien Capital Treuhand |
| Original release | |
| Release | October 23, 2001 |
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus is a 2001 made-for-TV family film, based on the classic holiday song of the same name. The movie’s tagline was “Christmas is coming, and Santa’s a dirty rat.” I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus first aired December 9, 2001, on the PAX Network where it aired until 2007. As of 2008, it is shown in the 25 Days of Christmas programming block on Freeform.
The film is one of Sellecca’s final performances before her retirement from acting. She didn’t act again until The Wild Stallion in 2009.
Plot
Young Justin Carver (Dylan and Cole Sprouse) is having Thanksgiving dinner with his family, only for it to end with the news that his best friend Bobby’s (Eric Jacobs) bickering parents are finally deciding to divorce. When he overhears his own parents, Stephanie and David Carver (Connie Sellecca and Corbin Bernsen) having a heated argument, Justin retreats to his bedroom. A few minutes later, Justin peeks downstairs, only to see his mother Stephanie locked in a warm, romantic embrace with none other than Santa Claus (his father in a Santa suit). He takes a photo, shows it to Bobby the next day, and then sends it to Mrs. Claus. Fooled by Bobby’s own situation with his parents, Justin jumps to the conclusion that his mother is having an affair with Santa. So he decides to behave as badly as possible in an attempt to prevent Santa from coming to his house on Christmas Eve night for him to make off with Justin’s mother. The resulting hi-jinks include Justin setting traps and throwing snowballs at a street Santa, and even getting himself in trouble at school. Then, on Christmas Eve, Justin’s mother receives a letter from the post office. Inside is the photo, which didn’t get sent. In the end, Justin finds out that Santa was his father, apologizes to the street Santa and gets the toy he wanted from the real Santa.
Cast
- Dylan and Cole Sprouse as Justin Carver
- Eric Jacobs as Bobby Becker
- Connie Sellecca as Stephanie Carver
- Corbin Bernsen as David Carver
- Sonny Carl Davis as Santa/Floyd
- Tony Larimer as Grandpa Irwin
- David Millbern as Felix Becker
- Shauna Thompson as Marie Becker
- Joan Mullaney as Ms. Crumley
- JJ Neward as Jaine
- Paul Kierman as Sal Jenkins
- Caitlin EJ Meyer as Mary Poindexter (as Caitlin Meyer)
- Jeff Olson as Principal Hoke
- Frank Gerrish as Sidney
Reception
Andy Webb from “The Movie Scene” gave the film two out of five stars and stated: “What this all boils down to is that “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” is a misguided movie. It’s misguided because the fact it basically debunks Santa Clause means it doesn’t have a target audience and those who are young enough to find the jokes funny are the ones who don’t need the magic of Christmas spoilt.” Justin Oberholtzer from “Freakin’ Awesome Network” gave it a D+ and wrote: “It baffles me that it took four men to write this script. How hard is it to knock out such a simple premise? Maybe they were all friends and simply started exchanging ideas for the Santa chases. Those pranks are the only thought put into the film and they become redundant. They try to instill some heart into the film, but it comes off like a cheesy Hallmark card. Which is the best way to describe this film.”
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