Mrs. Santa Claus is a 1996 American made-for-television musical fantasy-comedy film starring Angela Lansbury in the title role as Mrs. Claus, the wife of Santa Claus. The film was billed as the first original musical written for television since Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella in 1957. It was originally broadcast as a Hallmark Entertainment presentation on CBS on December 8, 1996.
"Leave it to Angela Lansbury to make an almost laughably dated premise into an endlessly entertaining romp. It also helps that she collaborates again with composer Jerry Herman, the openly gay musician behind Mame and Hello, Dolly! It helps too that the movie has a talented gay screenwriter in form of seven-time Emmy winner Mark Saltzman. Mrs. Santa Claus becomes more than a standard musical telefilm, subtly confronting issues like bigotry, sexism, interfaith marriage and overzealous capitalism. It gets away with it all thanks to the frothy touch of Herman’s music, and an irresistible performance by Lansbury. Originally airing in 1996, Mrs. Santa Claus speaks with a wink and a nudge and should have become an immediate holiday classic." [Queerty]