Most Powerful Scene in “Miracle on 34th Street”

 by Chris Lucas

Guest Column

DisneyBizJournal.com

December 23, 2023

 

The Oscar winning 1947 FOX movie “Miracle on 34th Street” is on TV quite often this season. It is also available for streaming on Disney Plus.

 

It’s a classic and heartwarming movie on its own, but one scene, in particular, stands out for me and is often overlooked.

The brief “Dutch Girl meets Santa at MACY’S” scene is very moving, but even more of a tear jerker when viewed in context.

 

The five-year brutal Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, which ended just two years before this scene is set, left thousands of children - especially Jewish ones - without parents, many sent to camps never to return while their children were hidden for safety with kindhearted and courageous friends and relatives. 

 

After the war, multitudes of Americans came forward to adopt these Dutch war orphans, who had witnessed horrors that no child ever should, as well as thousands of other refugees and immigrants from all over Europe and Asia. 

 

What this shy little girl says to Santa in Dutch when he asks her what she wants more than anything else for Christmas is, roughly translated:

 

“I don’t want anything from you Santa Claus, I only want to be able to stay here safe with this nice American family who adopted me from the orphanage.” 

 

Then, she looks over at her adoptive mother with wide eyes and gives her a beaming smile.

 

Tears. Every. Single. Time.

 

The magic of Santa. 

 

The power of love. 

 

All in one scene. 

 

__________

 

Chris Lucas is the author of Top Disney: 100 Top Ten Lists of the Best of Disney, from the Man to the Mouse and Beyond.