Dear Santa… Love, Richard
PG | Family, Drama, Fantasy | Coming Soon
Disaster unfolds after seven-year-old wealthy youth, Richard Kim writes a heartfelt letter to Santa Claus in a bid to kindle his parents’ love to him.
Writer: Foo Heng Tong
Poster Illustrated by: Foo Heng Tong
Tagline: Do YOU believe in Santa?
Based On
Based on a traditional Jewish tale, ” Can It Get Any Worse?” (Story: Link)
and the myth of the existence of “Santa Claus”.
Storyline | Plot Synopsis
Richard Kim is a boy conceived on Christmas Day. He is fortunate, for he is the child of the wealthiest couple who lives in the largest house of the County.
Richard Kim’s father is a workaholic. He is a higher-up at an established firm and works long hours. Richard’s mother is a former beauty queen, and party animal who would turn up to any social gatherings. Both parents are too wrapped up in their own lives to take genuine care of Richard. Richard’s upbringing is left to the care of their humble housekeeper, Priya, who brought Richard up as a humble youth.
Richard has always been showered with toys from his parents. These material goods are the closest to his interactions with his parents. Richard can only catch glimpse of his Father every morning before he heads to work, and his Mother every night before she attends her social gatherings. Every night, as Priya tucks Richard into his bed, Richard falls asleep in the dead silence of the night. Richard longed for his parents’ love.
Christmas is arriving. Richard’s seventh birthday is coming up. Priya casually asks Richard what present he is anticipating this time. Richard slowly confines Priya for his long of his parents’ love. Priya tells Richard that he can make a wish to Santa Claus by writing a letter addressed to him at North Pole. Richard excitedly pens down his wish to Santa Claus. Priya brings Richard to the Post Box to deposit his letter.
It is the Eve of Christmas. Richard spends it with Priya as his Father is on a business trip and his mother is attending a Christmas party. After tucking in that night, Richard is awoken by a loud ‘Thud’ sound that broke the silence of the night. The sound grew increasing loud and eventually reaches his room. The door to his room opened. An obese white-bearded man in red suit and carrying a huge bag emerges from the shadows. Richard’s eyes widen as he sees Santa Claus standing in his bedroom. Santa Claus calms a frightened Richard down, reaches under his huge bag, takes out a letter and hands it to him. Santa Claus tells Richard to keep his presence a secret, and to only open the letter in the morning. Then Santa Claus leaves the bedroom, and the night became silent again. Richard springs up and tries to chase after Santa Claus but to no avail.
Dawn arrives. Richard wakes up from his bed thinking about the peculiar dream he had the night before. However, he realizes he is clutching on the letter sent by Santa Claus on his right hand. Richard opens the letter, and the letter writes, “ Your wish shall be granted. With love, Santa”.
Richard burst out of his bedroom and down to the kitchen to see Priya making breakfast. Richard’s parents are absent as usual. Priya wishes Richard a Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday. Richard opens his presents from under the Christmas tree but nothing seem to interest him as the bizarre happening filled his head.
Almost all at once, bizarre situations started unfolding. Mr. Kim started making errors at work. He began to be relieved off many duties and started spending more time at home. Meanwhile Mrs. Kim becomes an outcast due to Mr. Kim’s drop in reputation, and is subsequently chased out of a party.
Richard finds the newfound presence of his parents at home warming, albeit strange. Even as he started having small talks with his parents, he cannot shake off the guilty feeling that the whole situation began due to his letter to Santa Claus.
Slowly, luxurious items in the house started disappearing as Mr. Kim started having difficulty keeping up with the expense of their expensive lifestyle. Richard also started having less and less toys to play with. Their luxurious lifestyle is being relieved at an alarming rate.
Eventually, Mr. Kim is sacked, and is declared bankrupt. He goes home and finds a devastated Mrs. Kim. Meanwhile movers start moving their furniture out of the house. Mr and Mrs Kim quarrels but Mr. Kim reassures Mrs. Kim that he will make things better and that he loves her. They kiss and embrace.
The Kim Family moves into a one-bedroom apartment, of Priya’s, who no longer works for them. Priya hands the Kims the keys, pats Richard’s head and leaves. Mrs. Kim cooks for the family as Richard helps Mr. Kim unpack, and the family have a fun time together.
Night comes and Richard is sandwiched between his parents on a double mattress. Richard feels comfort in the warmth of his parents. However, Richard feels responsible for his father’s plight and finally confesses that the whole situation took a turn for the worse due to his letter to Santa Claus. Mr. Kim tells Richard that he is not to be blamed, and that he would like to thank Santa for bonding his precious family. He also tells Richard that whatever wish he has in future he can tell him, and he will do whatever it takes, for whatever wish Richard wishes for shall be granted. Mr. Kim winks at Richard.
As Richard lies in the warmth of his parents, he is disrupted by the snores of his father. Richard smiles and drifts off to sleep.
The scene zooms out of the bedroom and into the sky. A tall, skinny, ginger-bearded man dressed in red leather suit rides on his levitating motorcycle in the night sky, and fades into the horizon.
3 Act Structure Dissected
Story is retold in a Modern Context.
o The main protagonist of the original folklore ‘Can It Get Any Worse?’ is the farmer. This story is retold in the perspective of the farmer’s child.
o Poor farmer’s family is retold as the Wealthiest family of the County.
o Story begins as Richard sleeps in the dead silence of the night, and ends as him sleeping with the distracting snores from his accompanying Parents. This is contrary to the original folklore as the farmer had problems sleeping with his noisy family, and ends up sleeping in peace and quiet.
o Plays on the idea of the innocence of a child’s imagination/ that the disaster that unfolds is due to his wish (letter).
o Infused with the myth of the existence of Santa Claus; that Santa Claus is in fact played by the Father/ Or does Santa Claus really do exist, and if so how does he look like? Has he caught up with the trends of the current era and thus dresses differently from our expectations?
Credits
Fonts used: Schoolbell Font by Font diner/ Kindergarten by Geronimo / SF Movie Poster by ShyFonts
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I like the twist in your story whereby Richard’s wishes was granted but not the way he has ideally thought of. And even after all these unfortunate twists, the family still stays happy and knitted regardless of their state. The poster, too, is well designed to convey the concept briefly across to the audiences.
I like the juxtaposition between the original myth and your remake of the myth. It is an interesting twist. There seems to be an idea of “be careful what you wish for” behind it, but it is interesting that it may have seemed like a bad development which turned out to be something hopeful for the family. Apart from that, the theme of the story may be better consolidated. Whether it is about family love with Santa as a device or really about the existence of Santa? It is indeed a story with very strong fairytale atmosphere and development. Overall, it’s a heartwarming story. 🙂
intersting idea of the story! i like the ending of how the family is, happy but yet not rich!
Hey HT!
Firstly I would like to say I love your style in the poster! It’s very child-like, yet demented in a way (crazy santa knocking tree down, lol). This allows a little sneak-peek into the kind of story we’re promised to be shown!
Regarding the story I like that the premise of the story is simple enough to understand yet added with interesting elements, wishes gone wrong and the possibility of 2 santa claus. It makes us wonder if the father is really santa claus, then does failing in his business meant affecting the rest of the children receiving the presents too? The appearance of the skinny santa, in contrast to the first obese one also creates mystery, and a flying motocycle? Woah.
Anyway the story also reminds me of a joke which tells of a guy meeting a genie and him wishing his crotch to be of a length that will touch the floor. The genie in return gave him short legs. Lololol, okay unrelated but still. 🙂 Great story!
The logline and tagline conveys the story very well.On top of that, I like how your story ends in a way that leaves the audience to conclude the story based on their belief of Santa’s existence. Creative usage of the font as well to illustrate a handwritten message.
yes yes i feel the same as the other commenter: i like the twist. unique! christmas is usually portrayed with abundance in the form of food, presents, gatherings, but this story, the abundance is about something intangible: love.
a well thought sttion about your story, can be a form of discussion: Mr Kim is the santa? and Priya is the message deliverer? or does all of these happen because of an invisible force?ory, with deeper focus on the mystical element of the unknown santa. hence, it ables the audience to have an open interpretation abo
Sup HT. You kept my attention throughout the story despite me 5-second attention span. Thats great! However, I was earnestly expecting something more towards the end. Perhaps the ending could be further developed. Also to add in a modern or local context, maybe you could insert how the family’s car turned from a Rolls Royce to a Cherry QQ! Bahahaha
An interesting story which gave a good twist to the original myth, it adds a layer of complexity and isn’t just a typical rags-to-riches story. I like how the story is structured that the protagonist kind of caused his own demise (by making the wish), which accentuates the dramatic element of the whole story. The open ending leaves the audience in wonder and awe and I felt that it was a good touch to the story!
Hello! First of all, I really really like your poster! It looks really well done and accurately conveys the idea that the story is being told from a child’s perspective! The story had a ‘be careful of what you wish for’ vibe to it, and i’m glad i turned out to be a good thing for the Kim family. Regarding the two santas, i liked that you kept things vague. It makes me wonder if the obese santa was actually Mr Kim, and if the actual one at the end of the story was secretly watching the whole time, and whether he actually had a hand in making Richard’s wish come true. Overall, i really liked the way you developed the story and how you left some parts open to the audience’s interpretation!