A poor urchin boy makes his way through the blizzarding snow to the run-down old cabin he calls home, where he prepares to spend a cold hungry Christmas all alone...until he is unexpectedly visited by jolly old Saint Nick himself who bursts right through his rickety front door and whisks the little tyke away to his toy workshop where the toys are the all-singing all-dancing kind, and he finally gets to have the kind of magical happy Christmas he never dreamed he would! So I have seen far better animated vintage cartoons about Christmas over the years, including some real gems produced by the Fleischer Studios. This is nice enough though for what it is, it has some lovely rich touches to the animation here and there, like the shadows the church casts over the snow, and all the snow-covered rooftops as well as some of the backgrounds. Even in the earlier Fleischer shorts, snow in particular and backgrounds seemed to be something they were always good at, all of their snowy scenes always have the same warm dreamlike quality to me, and is always quite beautiful to look at. Some of the other designs I do not like as much though, like the button-eyed face of the boy, he looks like a white Bosko. And some of the casually racial stereotypes that seem to pop up in just about every cartoon from the 30s probably won't sit well with the more conscientious of viewers - watch out for the naughty jazz band! I really don't like when the fat lady starts to sing, as it's really bizarre and off-putting and really brings the pace of the short to a grinding halt. If there's one thing I don't care for at all with the old-time cartoons it's all the obnoxious celebrity(of the time) cameos! Overall though the style of the Fleischer animation is one that never fails to at least put a smile on my face. I love their trademark inventiveness with the kinds of sight gags that you'd only ever get in one of their cartoons, like with the makeshift multi-firehose that's hastily made out of the bagpipes! This wasn't anyway near perfect but I could appreciate what it was going for and it's enjoyable enough. It's clear they were still learning the ropes at this point. As a short, it is a shanty for sure, but it's a fun sweet one! Happy hols X

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. Some people only review one film. When it just one review you cant trust them no matter what their opinion may be. I have reviewed over 200 Holiday films. i have no agenda .The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives is a Christmas-themed Merrie Melodies cartoon short, originally released in 1933. It makes use of a Great Depression setting of Christmas where Santa Claus is seeking shelter. The short takes place at a shantytown; hence the name "The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives".Shot in black and white which adds to the tone of the overall animated short. Should be seen by everyone.

"The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives" is a 7-minute black-and-white sound cartoon from almost 85 years ago. It is a collaboration between Schlesinger Studios and Warner Bros and can be categorized under Merrie Melodies. The topic here is Christmas, not only because Santa makes an appearance, but because several Christmas tunes are included. The music is one of the film's strengths and same goes for the animation which is really clean and with more love to detail than most films from that era. Unfortunately, the story here is fairly uninteresting, almost non-existent, basically a collection of scenes with no real plot. This is also why I give this one a thumbs-down. Not even Harman and Ising can make this one work. I do not recommend it or really only during the holidays. Oh yeah, and it is not racist, do not be fooled by the politically correct plebs.

This Hugh Harmon-Rudy Ising Merrie Melodies cartoon short produced by Leon Schlesinger for Warner Bros. tells the story of a poor boy who gets invited by Santa to go with him to his shanty to watch all the toys come to life. That's basically the plot of the story with some unfortunate blackface stereotypes in some scenes. Still mostly enjoyable with some entertaining musical sequences like the title song and a Kate Smith doll singing, "Shine on Harvest Moon". It was during this period that the Merrie Melodies shorts' purpose was to showcase a song that was published by the Warner Bros. publisher in each short with the showcased song's title the name of the film. That's the case here. Recommended for anyone who are Warner cartoon completists.