The Secret World of Santa Claus
The Secret World of Santa Claus is a Canadian French children's animated television show. It is syndicated to several countries worldwide, including Teletoon in Canada, and Super RTL in Germany, and is generally seen every December during the holiday season. On December 25, 1999, Christmas Day, The Secret World of Santa Claus marathon took place from 6:00am to 7:00pm. As of 2013, it has been released on 2 DVDs from Cinedigm in the US.
Synopsis
Each episode usually starts out showing Santa Claus preparing for Christmas and doing some Christmas-related activities at his workshop. Then two recurring villains show up trying to foil Santa's plan and ruin the hopes of children. The two trolls usually end up actually finding themselves in a trap that they constructed themselves and the show usually ends showing that all of Santa's things end up turning out fine.
Characters
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is the main protagonist of the show. He owns a large workshop in the North Pole with his three elves. He owns a sleigh with reindeer. It is not clear how long he has been Santa Claus or how old he is but in the episode "The 12 Labours of Santa Claus" it is revealed that he has been Santa Claus for at least 100 years. Also in "The Christmas Conference" he stated that they had successfully ended the 451st annual Christmas Conference, so he has apparently been in the job for a long time. He is always shown in the classic Santa outfit: a red suit, hat, pants and black boots with golden buckles. He is voiced by Tony Robinow.
Thoren
Thoren is the only female elf at the workshop and she is often very caring and kind. Like the other elves, she always wants things to turn out best for Santa Claus and is the one who looks out for everyone's safety. Her powers enable her to fly, become invisible for short periods of time and she is able to translate any known language on the planet, including animals. Because she cannot hold her powers for long amounts of time, it is believed that she is the second oldest elf, next to Jordi. She is voiced by Anik Matern.
Guilfi
Guilfi is the tallest elf at the workshop and is great with mechanics. He wears a red hat and constantly has his sleeves rolled up. He has not graduated to the level of Master elf like Thoren or Jordi, hence why he is usually left at the workshop and has no powers. Santa Claus takes Guilfi with him sometimes when Jordi can't go, or goes on a mission with Jordi and Thoren. He's maybe the youngest elf, but also learned the Russian language after to go to Kalicagrad with Jordi, Balbo, Thoren and Santa Claus. He is voiced by Teddy Lee Dillon.
Jordi
Presumably the oldest elf due to his refined magical skills, he is the brains of the three and primarily involved with tech and maintenance. He has a strong sense of responsibility and is usually no-nonsense, particularly when it comes to Guilfi, but he has also been shown to goof off and have fun on occasion. He is always willing to help people but usually jumps in without thinking. He is the shortest, wears a red hat with a pompom and his undershirt is untucked. He has the power to change into any animal or inanimate object for any period of time. He is also quite a magnet with girls, being referred to as 'cute' as well as having a brief fling with a nymph. He is voiced by Thor Bishopric.
Balbo
Balbo is a polar bear that acts as Santa's assistant. In one episode it is revealed that Santa found him when he got lost at sea on an iceberg and separated from his parents. Santa found him and took him to his workshop. Balbo is very playful and also horribly clumsy. He usually watches the workshop with Guilfi. He's in love with Thoren. He is voiced by A.J. Henderson.
Gruzzlebeard
Gruzzlebeard is the main antagonist and Santa's neighbour in the series and often tries to foil his plans and ruin Christmas. He appears in almost every episode trying to foil Santa's plan, but in the end, he often ends up stuck in his own trap. He is a large Troll, almost human in appearance with a large blue "gruzzled" beard and a bald, cone-shaped head. He enjoys bossing Dudley around and playing the guitar. He usually refers to Santa as 'That Red-suited Sap' or 'Bulbnose', the elves as 'The Oafs' and the reindeer as 'The Hatracks'. Gruzzlebeard and Dudley both seem to be immortal and ageless: both have not aged when Santa travels into the year 2222, where Gruzzlebeard has become a futuristic totalitarian dictator in absence of Santa and his helpers. He is voiced by Mark Camacho.
Dudley
Dudley is a different species of Troll from Gruzzlebeard. This was confirmed in "The Story of the Trolls" where in order to find out how to defeat a Terrible Troll, Santa & the Elves had to ask a Terrible Troll themselves, in which they removed Dudley's hat while he was asleep and found out that the globe attached to his head was made of steel. Up to that episode, however, there was never anything under his hat and Gruzzlebeard had even called him an elf on numerous occasions. Dudley can be just as sneaky and evil as Gruzzlebeard, but he does have a good side. He has often helped Santa and is often fed up with the way Gruzzlebeard treats him. Like Gruzzlebeard, he is both immortal and ageless. He is voiced by Michael Rudder.
The Reindeer
Instead of the traditional team of Santa Claus's reindeer, there are only three reindeer that pull Santa's sleigh: Rudolph, his father Donner and his grandfather Blitzen. The other two don't have very big roles, but Rudolph got his own episode in the show, entitled "Rudolph is Missing", where he thought no one wanted him around. He ran away and befriended a young Inuk boy, though they eventually parted ways when Santa came looking for him.