It’s December 1985, I’m six years old and I’m sat next to my dad in a small-town cinema in Norfolk. Some might unkindly describe the venue as a fleapit permanently on the brink of closure. Today, though, there’s snow on the ground and magic in the air.

Instead of the usual sparse attendance, the place is packed. It’s already been a legendary festive season for the young cinemagoer: The Goonies and Back to the Future have just been released. But even those Hollywood behemoths have nothing on the excitement that has brought out this record crowd.

We’re crammed together to watch Santa Claus: The Movie, and as the house lights dim there’s a palpable hum. By the time the final credits roll, we’re all true believers. I’m certain I’ve just watched a timeless classic that will take its place in the pantheon of Christmas greats.

Four decades later, six-year-old me might be disappointed. Time and the crushing weight of critical opinion have conspired to prove me painfully wrong. At least in the UK, Santa Claus: The Movie was a massive commercial success, sitting proudly at the top of the box office for all of December and landing as one of the biggest grossing films of the year. The rest of the world? Not so much.

In the US, Santa Claus: The Movie became an infamous flop, failing to make back its hefty production budget. Since I wasn’t a regular subscriber to the New York Times in 1985, I didn’t know that the movie had been panned by Vincent Canby: “elaborate and tacky … It has the manner of a listless musical........

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