Burgermeister Meisterburger demonstrating his irrational hatred of children and toys
| “ | "Toys are hereby declared illegal, immoral, unlawful, and anyone with a toy in his possession will be placed under arrest and thrown in the dungeon. No kidding. | „ |
| ~ Burgermeister Meisterburger's law. |
Burgermeister Meisterburger (German for mayor; master citizen) is the main antagonist of the Christmas TV special Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. He is the sadistic mayor of Sombertown who despises toys and will arrest anyone who possesses or owns a toy.
He was voiced by the Rankin/Bass veteran Paul Frees, who also voiced his toady Grimsby, and Kubla Kraus from Jack Frost, as well as Aeon the Terrible and Winterbolt from the Rudolph specials, and Boris Badenov from the Rocky and Bullwinkle series.
Role
Meisterburger first appears in the special intro when Grimsby brings his master the infant Claus, and a letter was left for Burgermeister to take care of the baby. However, rather than raising the baby, Meisterburger instead orders Grimsby to take the baby to the local orphanage. Grimsby loses the baby while doing so, and Claus ends up rescued by animals and raised by the Kringles, an elf family who give him the name Kris. After making toys all his life, young Kris determines that the Kringles should once again give out their wonderful toys, and sets out for Sombertown.
However, unknown to Kris, Meisterburger has written a law forbidding everyone to have toys under the threat of imprisonment after accidentally slipping on a toy. When Kris Kringle brings toys to the children in Sombertown, he is chastised by a local teacher Jessica, who tells him about Meisterburger's law. However, Kris finds the law to be quite silly and gives a doll to Jessica to prove his point to her. Gaining the children and Jessica to his side, Kris starts giving the toys, which results the angry Meisterburger to declare Kris a wanted criminal.
Despite Meisterburger ordering Grimsby and his men to arrest Kris, the latter was able to make clear escape routes due to his experiences in the woods. As the months go by, Kris and the Kringle family were able to provide more better ways to delivering toys (with the help from several animals and the Winter Warlock) without attracting the authorities, such as going down chimneys and placing stockings near the fireplace. Fed up with all the failures to capture Kris, Meisterburger sets up a trap by capturing Kris' penguin friend Topper and holding him hostage to force Kris to surrender. He also gets Grimsby and his men to arrest the Kringle family and the Winter Warlock for aiding Kris, and had their factories and toys burned down.
Satisfied that he finally got Kris, the Kringle family and the Winter Warlock behind bars, Meisterburger mocks Jessica of her pleas to release them. Finally seeing what a complete megalomaniac that Meisterburger really is, Jessica manages to free the Kringle family and the Warlock by giving several reindeer the ability to fly (thanks to some magic corn that the Warlock gave to Jessica). With that in mind, the reindeer help Kris, Topper, the Kringle family and the Warlock escape into the woods, much to the anger of Meisterburger.
Declaring the Kringle family and the Warlock as wanted outlaws, Meisterburger orders his forces to hunt them down throughout the land to have them recaptured again. However, the Kringle family and the Warlock moved to the North Pole to evade capture right before Kris grows a beard and uses his original surname (Santa Claus) to avoid any unwanted attention. He even build up a new workshop at the North Pole and married Jessica (who is now known as Mrs. Claus).
As the years go by, Santa and his friends continue making toys and delivering them to Sombertown, and Meisterburger finally died after falling off from power, with the citizens finally realizing how silly his anti-toys were. For all his demands and huffing and puffing, the Burgermeister merely became the sand in the oyster's shell, the irritant that produced a legend loved by children everywhere.