The Night They Saved Christmas is a 1984 American made-for-television fantasy drama film directed by Jackie Cooper and executive produced by Jack Haley Jr. and Robert Halmi Jr.

A billion-dollar oil company, headed by Sumner Murdock (Mason Adams), sets forth on an exploration project in the North Pole that is recommended and managed by Michael Baldwin (Paul Le Mat).

On the way home, Claudia tells Michael that she wants to move the kids back to Los Angeles where they can live in a more civilized environment.

To make matters worse for Michael, Murdock, portrayed as the stereotyped insensitive corporate boss, threatens to terminate his employment if the exploration does not produce results.

Ed informs Baldwin that their dynamiting is causing damage to North Pole City, the home of Santa Claus and his elves.

The next day, Ed arrives at the Baldwins’ house in a modified World War II-era snowcat, explaining that he intends to take Michael and his family to North Pole City to prove that Santa Claus is real and reveal the damage that is being done.

Murdock believes that Claudia and the kids were given a hallucinogenic drug by Gaylord, the corrupt head of a rival oil company, to keep them dynamiting in the wrong place.

The kids eavesdrop on this meeting and decide to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night and take a snowmobile to warn Santa.

[1] In his review for The New York Times, John J. O'Connor noted that even though "the special effects encompassing Santa and his helpers are pleasant enough ... the surrounding story doesn't generate much holiday cheer.