Toymaker To The King

Toymaker To The King

Some have asked about the tag line on my blog: “Toymaker To The King.” So I decided to give the full background story in today’s blog.

If you ever watched Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town, a stop motion television special made by Rankin Bass in 1970, you may recognize the title. But if not, read on.

Sombertown is a town run by the grumpy, Burgermeister Meisterburger who has outlawed toys and basically fun from his town. When an infant is left at his doorstep and he sends it away, it sets off a string of events that will forever change Sombertown and the world.

The baby is whisked away to the home of an elf family named Kringle. They adopt the child and call him Kris. As Kris grows, he learns that his real name is Claus and that his adopted family used to be the toymakers to the king, but now they are prevented from making toys for Sombertown – The toymaker history is revealed in a most enjoyable song. More on this later.

Kris vows to take toys into Sombertown and his visits and deliveries reveal how all our Christmas/Santa traditions got started. But his disobedience, or naivete, also make him public enemy #1 in Sombertown.

Later, Kris moves to the North Pole and becomes Santa Claus. He begins to deliver toys all over the world. We are told at the end that the Burgermeisters die off and are forgotten.

“Toys are hereby declared illegal, immoral, unlawful AND anyone found with a toy in his possession will be placed under arrest and thrown in the dungeon. No kidding!” — Burgermeister Meisterburger

The Lyrics to First Toymaker To The King

It’s a difficult responsibility
When you accept an appointment from His Majesty
You must strive for just the perfect quality
When you’re the first toymaker to the king!

All the soldiers must stand erect
For the kingdom they protect
The balls must bounce much higher
If they’re to please his royal sire
The ballerinas must pirouette
Upon their musical toes
And the clowns must make a king forget
All his kingly woes!

It’s a difficult responsibility
When you accept an appointment from his majesty
You must strive for just the perfect quality
When you’re the first toymaker to the king!

All the sailboats must never sink
And the dollies always wink
The teddy bears be furry
If they’re to gain his royal curry
The jack-in-boxes must always pop
At every regal command
And the kangaroos must learn to hop
Into the prince’s hand!

It’s a difficult responsibility
When you accept an appointment from his majesty
You must strive for just the perfect quality
When you’re the first toymaker to the king!

Through the years, this song has stuck with me, especially the chorus. Early in my career, a good friend asked me what I wanted to do in life. It must have come from my spirit, but I blurted out, “Toymaker To The King!”

I laughed about it at the time. But as I’ve gotten older, and gotten involved in creating children’s stories/characters and bringing joy into children’s lives, the last four lines and the title of Toymaker To The King has taken on a much more important meaning to me.

Read the last four lines and think about who the real King is and you just might hear the same truth that I heard in the lyrics.

And as they say, that is the rest of the story…

Comments

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2 Comments on “Toymaker To The King

  1. FYI, It’s not “All the soldiers must stand erect or the king don’t they protect”.

    It’s “All the soldiers must stand erect FOR THE KINGDOM THEY PROTECT”

    • That does make more sense. I visited a few sites before copying the lyrics and they all had it wrong. Thanks for the update. It has been corrected.