Villian(s)  Witch, mole creature

Actor(s):  Paul Farrell, Leona Hatherly, Paul Jenden, Michael Wilson

Brief Description  The Monster's Christmas is a 1981 New Zealand live-action family fantasy television film about a little girl who goes on a surreal adventure to help creatures regain their stolen voices. According to distributor Gibson Group, it was "deliberately written and planned as a location film, it incorporates many of New Zealand’s beautiful scenic spots".

Plot:
On Christmas Eve, a young, unnamed girl (played by Lucy McGrath) falls asleep reading a fictional, illustrated storybook called The Monster's Christmas to her teddy bear. Awakening to a strange noise in the house, she investigates, assuming she will find Father Christmas. Instead, she encounters a bizarre, smoke-belching, one-eyed creature straight out of her book. The friendly monster reveals that a wicked witch has stolen the voices of all his fellow creatures because they could sing Christmas carols much better than her. Filled with compassion, the little girl embarks on a surreal, dreamlike adventure into a strange world to confront the witch in her cave—which uniquely features 1980s gym equipment—and help the monsters win their voices back so they can sing once more. Written by Burton Silver and directed by Yvonne Mackay, the movie was deliberately filmed on location to showcase New Zealand's scenic landscapes. Much of it was shot in the Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland, a volcanic park whose bubbling mud and geologic features added an otherworldly, surreal vibe.