Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. (formerly Videocraft International, Ltd.), al… Read Full Bio ↴Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. (formerly Videocraft International, Ltd.), also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American stop-motion production company, known for its seasonal television specials. With few exceptions, their library is currently owned by Entertainment Rights/Classic Media (for the pre-1974 material) and Warner Bros. (for the post-1974 material).

The company was founded by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass in the early 1960s as Videocraft International. One of Videocraft's first projects was an independently produced series based on the character Pinocchio. It was done using "Animagic", a stop motion animation process using figurines (a process already pioneered by George Pal's "Puppetoons" and Art Clokey's Gumby and Davey and Goliath). This was followed by another independently produced series using more traditional cel animation and based on already established characters, Tales of the Wizard of Oz in 1961.

In 1964, the company produced a special for NBC and sponsor (and later owner of NBC) General Electric. It was a stop-motion animated adaptation of the Johnny Marks song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (which had been made into a Max Fleischer traditional animated short almost two decades before). With narrator Burl Ives in the role of Sam the Snowman, along with an original orchestral score composed by Marks himself, Rudolph became one of the most popular and longest-running Christmas specials in television history: it remained with NBC until around 1972, and currently runs annually on CBS. The special contained seven original songs, however General Electric had one additional song, "Fame And Fortune" added in 1965.

Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Rankin/Bass Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I just came back from a lovely trip along the Milky Way
Stopped off at the North Pole to spend a holiday
I called on dear old Santa Claus
To see what I could see
He took me to his workshop
And told his plans to me, so

[Chorus]

You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is comin' to town
He's making a list and checking it twice
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is comin' to town
He sees you when you're sleepin'
He knows when you're a wake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake
Oh! You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is comin' to town

With little tin horns and little toy drums
Rooty toot toots and rummy tum tums
Santa Claus is comin' to town
And curly head dolls that toddle and coo
Elephants, boats, and kiddie cars too
Santa Claus is comin' to town
Then kids in Girl and Boy land will have a jubilee
They're gonna build a Toyland all around the Christmas tree
So! You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is comin' to town

Now Santa is a busy man, He has no time to play
He's got millions of stockings to fill on Christmas day
You'd better write your letter now
And mail it right away
Because he's getting ready
His reindeer's and his sleigh. So

[Chorus]

With little tin horns and little toy drums
Rooty toot toots and rummy tum tums
Santa Claus is comin' to town
And curly head dolls that toddle and coo
Elephants, boats, and kiddie cars too
Santa Claus is comin' to town
Then kids in Girl and Boy land will have a jubilee
They're gonna build a Toyland all around the Christmas tree
So! You better watch out, you better not cry

Better not pout, I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is comin' to town

Overall Meaning

The first verse of "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" describes the singer's journey through outer space and their stop at the North Pole to visit Santa Claus. The verse sets up the idea that Santa Claus is a magical figure who can travel through different realms, and that he is associated with holiday cheer and celebration. The verse also suggests that the singer is interested in learning more about Santa Claus and his plans for Christmas.

In the chorus, the singer warns the listener to behave themselves, because Santa Claus is coming to town and will be checking his list to see who is naughty and nice. The repetition of "You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout, I'm telling you why" emphasizes the importance of good behavior in order to receive presents from Santa Claus. The chorus lyrics also play into the idea that Santa Claus has a magical ability to know who is behaving well and who is not.

The second verse of the song describes some of the toys that Santa Claus will be bringing to children on Christmas Day. The imagery of "little tin horns and little toy drums, rooty toot toots and rummy tum tums" creates a playful, whimsical tone that fits with the idea of a magical, joyful holiday season. The lyrics go on to suggest that children all over will be celebrating with toys and festivities, building a Toyland around the Christmas tree.

Overall, "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" is a playful and lighthearted song that celebrates the magic and joy of the holiday season.

Line by Line Meaning

I just came back from a lovely trip along the Milky Way
I went on a beautiful journey through space and stars.

Stopped off at the North Pole to spend a holiday
I took a break at the North Pole to enjoy my time off.

I called on dear old Santa Claus
I visited Santa to catch up with him.

To see what I could see
To see what was going on in Santa's world.

He took me to his workshop
He showed me his manufacturing facility.

And told his plans to me, so
He shared his ideas with me.

You better watch out, you better not cry
You need to be careful and not cry.

Better not pout, I'm telling you why
You shouldn't be sulking, let me tell you why.

Santa Claus is comin' to town
Santa will be visiting us soon.

He's making a list and checking it twice
Santa is making a list of who's been naughty or nice.

Gonna find out who's naughty and nice
He's going to figure out who has been good and who has been bad.

Santa Claus is comin' to town
Santa is on his way to visit.

He sees you when you're sleepin'
Santa watches you when you're sleeping.

He knows when you're a wake
He knows when you're awake.

He knows if you've been bad or good
He knows if you've been naughty or nice.

So be good for goodness sake
Be good just for the sake of being good.

Oh! You better watch out, you better not cry
You need to be careful and not cry.

Better not pout, I'm telling you why
You shouldn't be sulking, let me tell you why.

Santa Claus is comin' to town
Santa will be visiting us soon.

With little tin horns and little toy drums
There will be lots of fun toys like tin horns and toy drums.

Rooty toot toots and rummy tum tums
There will be lots of fun sounds like rooty toot toots and rummy tum tums.

And curly head dolls that toddle and coo
There will be cute dolls with curly hair that toddle and coo.

Elephants, boats, and kiddie cars too
There will also be fun toys like elephants, boats, and kiddie cars.

Santa Claus is comin' to town
Santa is on his way to visit.

Then kids in Girl and Boy land will have a jubilee
The children in Girl and Boy land will be overjoyed.

They're gonna build a Toyland all around the Christmas tree
They are going to make a fun playland around the Christmas tree.

So! You better watch out, you better not cry
You need to be careful and not cry.

Better not pout, I'm telling you why
You shouldn't be sulking, let me tell you why.

Santa Claus is comin' to town
Santa will be visiting us soon.

Now Santa is a busy man, He has no time to play
Santa is very busy and doesn't have time to play.

He's got millions of stockings to fill on Christmas day
Santa has a lot of stockings to fill on Christmas day.

You'd better write your letter now
You should write your letter to Santa soon.

And mail it right away
And send it off immediately.

Because he's getting ready
Because Santa is preparing for his big day.

His reindeer's and his sleigh. So
He is getting ready to ride his sleigh with his reindeer.