Project page for Translating article on "Als der Weihnachtsmann vom Himmel fiel" by Cornelia Funke

Questions and problems that occurred during the translation

How do I translate Weihnachtszeit? Christmas? Christmas time?
How do I translate Vorweihnachtszeit? pre-christmas? the time/period before Christmas?
Do I translate "Wichteltod"?
How do I translate "das Weihnachtsland"? The Christmasland? Christmasland? The land of Christmas?

When Santa Fell to Earth

When Santa fell to Earth is a children's book by Cornelia Funke. The adventurous Christmas story is about two children, Ben and Charlotte, who help the good Santa Niklas Julebukk defeat the evil Chief Santa Waldemar Wilhelm Wichteltod (literally: "Elves' death") who wants to destroy the Christmas spirit in favor of consumerism and profit. The book was first published in 1994 along with illustrations by Regina Kehn. Since, multiple editions and translations have been published and two movies based on the book have been released.

Plot Summary

Niklas Julebukk is the last true Santa Claus. The time before Christmas, the Santas used to travel with their angels and listen to the dreams of every child to find out what they wished for. The Christmas elves then made the requested toys. The Santas attached great importance to respecting the non-materialistic wishes of the children and to help them by making them come true. But since Waldemar Wichteltod and his army of nutcrackers seized power over Christmasland, the main focus now solely lies on efficiency and profit maximisation. The presents are now industrially produced. The orders are only accepted by adults, who are encouraged to order more expensive presents. The wishes of the children are not being taken into consideration anymore. The few Santas who built the resistance were chased by Waldemar Wichteltod. He transformed them into chocolate Santa clauses and their angels into Christmas ornament. They slaughtered the reindeers as well. Niklas Julebukk was able to flee with Schneeflocke, the only reindeer that survived, the angels Matilda and Emannuel, and a group of elves. They travel in a flying trailer which is bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside and hosts a gift factory. With Christmas approaching, they start looking for a quiet place that is neglected by Wichteltod where they can make children's wishes come true without getting caught. During a storm, the trailer breaks and they fall. The reindeer gets scared and runs away.

Julebukk and his companions meet two children in the neighbourhood where they have landed. The first one, Ben, is excited for Christmas. He suffers from the fact that his parents feel no joy towards Christmas. Instead, they hate snow and are always stressed. Charlotte, the second child, is new to the neighbourhood. She is getting bullied at school and feels lonely. Ben vaguely knows her from school but wants nothing to do with her at first. While the Christmas elves are repairing the trailer, the kids help catching the reindeer that escaped. They slowly start becoming friends on this adventure. When a classmate teases Ben about still believing in Santa, Ben tells him he knows Santa personally. He also tells his classmate that he can make sure it will snow in the following days, something over which the two boys end up making a bet. Ben tells Julebukk about his wish for snow and Charlotte wishes for it as well. Seeing as he can never deny a child's wish, Julebukk agrees to make it snow. To make it happen, however, he needs to get snow from Christmasland with the help of a snow machine. There is a portal to Christmasland in his trailer, but he cannot use it with Wichteltod's army searching for him on the other side. This leads to Ben and Charlotte finding themselves in Christmasland, where they are ambushed by Wichteltod's nutcrackers and are barely able to escape with Julebukk's help.

After Ben and Charlotte went through the portal and had their adventure in Christmasland, Wichteltod is now aware of Julebuck's whereabouts. He pays him a visit at his trailer to turn him into chocolate just like he did with all the other unruly Santas. With joined forces, Julebuck, the angels, the elves and the children finally defeat Wichteltod, when he himself is now turned into chocolate. Charlotte and Ben, now close friends, spend the last few days before Christmas together in joyful anticipation. On Christmas Eve, Ben spends a rather boring day with his stressed out and annoyed parents when suddenly - at the family’s surprise - Julebuck and the angels show up. This time Julebuck does not only bring presents for Ben but also for his parents. Being amazed by the angels' singing and the magical toys from the Christmas-Workshop, Ben’s parents finally regain their childlike joy of Christmas. Through that, Ben’s biggest wish of spending and enjoying Christmas with his family comes true. At midnight Julebuck and his elves and angels depart from Ben’s hometown and go back to Christmasland to get some winter sleep. Before leaving, he promises to train new Santa Clauses so the old tradition can be revived and assures to be back in the next year.

Topics

The central theme of When Santa fell to Earth is the appropriation of the Christmas season through consumerism and greed. In the book, adults no longer value the joy of Christmas. The story focuses on Christmas as a familiy celebration and the importance of Christmas for children, as they suffer the most from the lack of a festive mood.
Aditionally, the themes of friendship and cooperation are addressed: The Christmas spirit cannot be saved by Niklas Julebukk by himself, only with the help of Charlotte and Ben it can be. Over the course of the story as the two children become friends, Ben learns to overcome his prejedice about girls and Charlotte in particular. Julebukk and his elves, too, learn of the value of cooperation and friendship and even risk their lives to bring back the Christmas spirit to the childrens' lives.
Religious aspects are not addressed in the story.