A Less-Than-Jolly Christmas for Santa

A Tale of Financial Struggles and Holiday Spirit

Midjourney prompt: full body portrait of Santa Clause getting panicked and angry looking at stock markets falling, pullig his hairs in despair, stock market floor with big market charts on the screens on giant wall — ar 3:2 — q 2 — upbeta — v 4

(A father is sitting on the couch with his 4-year-old son, who is looking up at him with wide, expectant eyes.)

Father: “Well, son, I have some bad news. Santa had a really tough year financially.”

Midjourney prompt with text fixed in Adobe Photoshop: Show Santa’s toy workshop with a “Closed for Business” sign on the door, or with the workshop in disarray and abandoned-looking. — ar 3:2 — q 2 — upbeta — v 4

Son: “What do you mean, Daddy?”

Midjourney prompt: Son: “What do you mean, Daddy?” Cinematic scene — ar 3:2 — q 2 — upbeta — v 4

Father: “Well, you see, Santa’s toy workshop was hit hard by the pandemic. Sales were down, and he had to lay off a lot of his elves. Plus, he had some unexpected expenses, like a new roof for the workshop, and a big bill for reindeer acupuncture.”

Midjourney prompt: Illustrate the elves as sad or dejected, possibly with empty toy-making stations and piles of unsold toys in the background. — ar 3:2 — q 2 — upbeta — v 4

Son: “Reindeer acupuncture? What’s that?”

Father: “It’s when the reindeer go to the chiropractor to get their hooves adjusted. It’s a very expensive procedure, but it’s worth it to make sure they can deliver all those presents on Christmas Eve.”

Midjourney prompt: close up shot of hooves with acupuncture needles in it — ar 3:2 — q 2 — upbeta — v 4

Son: “So does that mean Santa can’t bring me any presents this year?”

Father: “I’m afraid so, buddy. Santa’s going to have to cut back on his gift-giving this year. He’s going to have to prioritize the really good kids and leave out the naughty ones.”

Midjourney prompt: Show Santa with a worried or stressed expression, possibly looking at a stack of bills or a ledger with red ink. — ar 3:2 — q 2 — upbeta — v 4

Son: “But I’ve been super good this year! I’ve eaten all my vegetables, shared my toys with my friends, and even put my dirty laundry in the hamper!”

Midjourney prompt: a broke and poor santa clause living a cold wintery broken house with no fire — ar 3:2 — q 2 — upbeta — v 4

Father: “I know you have, son. And I’m sure Santa knows it too. But sometimes life doesn’t go as planned, and we have to make tough decisions. We’ll just have to make the most of it and find other ways to make this holiday special.”

(The son looks disappointed but then brightens up.)

Son: “I know! We can make cookies for Santa and leave them out on Christmas Eve. And we can sing carols and decorate the tree. And we can watch our favorite holiday movies and cuddle up by the fireplace.”

Midjourney prompt: Father: “I love you too, son. And you know what they say: it’s not about the gifts, it’s about the spirit of the season.” Cinematic scene — ar 3:2 — q 2 — upbeta — v 4

Father: “That’s a great idea, son. And we can also think about ways we can help others who might be going through a tough time this holiday season. We can donate to a food bank, or make care packages for people who are alone on Christmas.”

Son: “Yeah, that would be fun! I love Christmas, even if I don’t get any presents from Santa.”

Midjourney prompt: Father: “I love you too, son. And you know what they say: it’s not about the gifts, it’s about the spirit of the season.” — ar 3:2 — q 2 — upbeta — v 4

Father: “I love you too, son. And you know what they say: it’s not about the gifts, it’s about the spirit of the season.”

(The father gives his son a hug and they both smile.)

This story was generated in collaboration with OpenAI’s #ChatGPT to generate text and #Midjourney to generate art images.

Text prompts used to generate story and art images:

- Write a comedy scene for a movie with the following concept:
"How to justify to a 4 year old kid that Santa Clause had a great financial loss this year and sadly he can not bring gifts to the good kid this year?"
- Can you please give some ideas for director how to show that on a screen, or even tell the artist to draw it on a paper as drawing? Just 1 or 3 pictures would be fine.
- can you suggest a title for this scene?
- what can be a sub-title for "A Less-Than-Jolly Christmas for Santa" title ?

Happy Holidays 🎄
— Satinder Grewal