The Deaf Girl

I think that in the original show it WAS to show that he was Santa and could communicate with children all over the world. I'm Dutch and happen to know that Santa Claus is sort of Dutch (a lot of the qualities and ideas commonly recognized today were German- so is a lot of the credit) but no movie maker could honestly expect every single member of the extremely diverse audience of a movie like this to know in detail the origin of Santa Claus. While you make a valid point, I just don't agree.

I grew up watching the old movie and still love that one more, probably just because it holds so much sentimental value to me personally, but I recently saw this version and did enjoy it. While I was disappointed in changes in details of the story, and this scene wasn't actually my favorite- I really like the symbol speech- I still strongly object to it being refered to as garbage.

In all honesty, I think you completely missed the point of it. Scrooge.

wow! first of all, you sound like a really angry guy... did you miss the message of Christmas either in the original OR the remake? What a bummer to have someone that's pissed off about the remake ruin a perfectly beautiful thread about a lovely scene.

It's doesn't matter what language it was - sign, French, Dutch, Russian, Pakistani, Italian or whatever, the point was Santa making a child happy and unexpectedly being able to communicate with her. Santa, no matter where he is from, is an international symbol- not just a Dutch one. I like both versions for different reasons & they both have their merit.
This version isn't "spitting" on anyone's work. The core message remains- "love thy neighbor as thyself." ALL year around. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)

This scene is pure GARBAGE! Seeing it on the trailer was enough to make me boycott this movie, as it show the true ignorance of Hollywood writers today!

In the original, Santa speaks Dutch. Now, why would the writers have picked such an obscure language (as opposed to Spanish or French) - it's because Santa Claus IS Dutch! Not Spanish, not a teacher for the deaf, but DUTCH! That is the significance of the Dutch girl in the original - to show that this was the real Santa Claus, of the same nationality. Not that he could magically speak every language! Pure ignorance!

This is one movie that did not need to be remade, and this particular version is an absolute disgrace! It spits on the wonderful work of Maureen O'Hara and the late Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn.

I have seen this movie once and I thought it was a very good remake. I believe the significance of the deaf girl scene was that Santa Claus can speak in all languages. When you remake something, most don't want to do the exact same thing that was done originally. I don't have a problem with remakes as long as they don't change the characters' character. I think that they captured the spirit of the original actors portrayals while creating a modern take on the original masterpiece.
"I hear this place is restricted, Wang, so don't tell 'em you're Jewish, okay?"

The point of the girl being Dutch in the earlier version was that she was a refugee and an orphan. I haven't read the original short story by Valentine Davies, but I know he wrote it while he was serving during WWII. I'll be willing to bet there's some kind of similar moment in there.

nyrangersguy... u have no idea how much i wanna meet u and *beep* kill u

nyranger,

There was a very sensible reason why it was changed to a deaf child.

The original was made shortly after WWII ended and people were adopting war orphans from Europe at that time. Guess they made her Dutch because as someone said, Santa Claus is Dutch. But it made sense then. It wouldn't now.

But there are always deaf children, who probably feel left out and lonely in a lot of situations. Santa speaking to her in sign language was sweet way to do it in 1994. And Richard Attenborough going to the trouble to learn sign language for the scene made it special as well.

Try to suspend disbelief when watching this sort of movie and not be so negative. People will think you're the Grinch.

But, since Santa is an international figure, he would know more than two languages, since he sees children from around the world. And SOME of them are deaf. I am. When I was a kid, I would have loved to have encountered a Santa who knew sign language.