Dudley Moore as Mr. Mxyzptlk, a merry-mischiefmaking imp from the 5th Dimension whose antics are always misunderstood, mistakenly identifies megalomaniacal toymaker Winslow "The Toyman" Schott - played by John Lithgow - as a beleaguered kindred spirit and offers his aid to provide Christmas toys to all the children of the world, not realizing Schott's true plans are for deadly toys stuffed in every stocking, along with exploding candy canes. Superman saves the day and saves Christmas by introducing Mxyzptlk to his annual Christmas tradition of answering children's letters to Santa Claus and delivering real gifts to everyone.
I'm just thinking that would've been a jolly finale to Christopher Reeves stretch playing Superman..plus...this was more-or-less the plot that Alexander and Ilya Salkind had in mind for what would've been their 4th Superman, before opting to produce the Supergirl movie instead, followed by the big Santa Claus movie, which I like, but would've been potentially more interesting as a Superman film, I think. A Superman movie that focuses entirely on his acts of kindness, saving lives from spectacular disasters, advocacy for decency and good will...with flair.
Atypical from the other 3 films, but not ugly. Around the same time, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was released and was a success, in spite of relatively few action scenes with no displays of onscreen violence. I'm not sure how good a sport Reeve would have been about it, but I can picture him in costume, tugging an enormous bag of toys up in the air, wearing a Santa hat, to the tune of Sheena Easton's "It's Christmas All Over The World Tonight"...
A Superman for Christmas. That would've been neat. Quite possibly the only time they could've pulled that off.
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