The Brazilian Santa Claus is Papai Noel, who travels to Brazil every Christmas (in breathable silks), and lives in Greenland for the rest of the year. The deviation speaks volumes, really. America Santa lives in a magic house in the remotest part of the world. Brazil Santa lives in Greenland—a country that, while cold and remote, is still little more than a few stopover flights away. It's iffy whether the change was made in an effort to make Santa Claus' ridiculous mythology a little more plausible, or if Brazilian children are just too poor to afford plane tickets, and Greenland might as well be on the goddamn moon for all the good it would do them.

Like America, Northern Brazil enjoys the tale of Jesus in a manger. In the Brazilian version, however, the shepherds are replaced by several shapely shepherdesses. Hoo damn, yes. Also, the manger animals talk - though they don't have a lot to say. Typical dialogue: "Christo nasceu! (Christ is born!)" exclaims a rooster. "Onde? (Where?)" asks a bull. Given that they're just animals, they can be forgiven for their clunky, expository dialogue, the purpose of which seems to be endlessly restating the obvious.

In the most radical departure, a renegade gypsy actually kidnaps the Christ child, and the three wise men have to get him back. It gives us a badly needed high octane third act to the entire enterprise, and also rinses out the aftertaste of all that dull business with the talking animals ("Eu estou em um celeiro! (I am in a barn!)" says a sheep). Keep an eye peeled for the fight between the wise men and the gypsy on the top of a speeding train.