Matt Johnson

So, does the big guy snore? You bet he does! And Keepsake Artist Matt Johnson captured it in his animatronic Snoring Santa ornament, available in July.

Matt Johnson

Matt shares how it all began. “We’ve been using animatronics for licensed ornaments, but we wanted to explore what we could do with a classic Christmas design. The initial concept came from our team looking through images in the Hallmark archives. They found an illustration Charlie Hadley had created of Santa nodding off in a chair with a plate of cookies. From there it was up to me to reinterpret it in the sculpting process.”

Snoring Santa

Imagination and research played a big part in inspiring Matt as he prepared to bring Snoring Santa to life. “I was imagining Santa finally getting back home after a long night delivering presents. He’s worn out and finally able to rest and have a snack in his favorite chair. It reminds me of seeing my grandfather napping on the sofa after good meal.

“I also looked at a lot of photos of people chilling in armchairs and took a bit of inspiration from the 1980s Maxell audio tape ad called ‘Blown Away.’ Sculpting someone sleeping can be tiring, but that’s what cookies and coffee are for!”

While Matt did all the sculpting work (energized by cookies and coffee), he says it took great teamwork to bring the sound and motion to this ornament. “I worked closely with Charles Young (Art Director), Samantha Heryford (Engineer) and Lindsay Evans (Editorial). We loved the idea of Santa’s whiskers and the plate of cookies moving up and down on top of Santa’s belly in time with his snoring. Samantha provided me with the mechanics and general parameters to work from, and Lindsay developed the great audio with our sound studio.”

While Santa definitely needs his rest, you can also wake him up with the push of a button to hear him speak. Matt’s looking forward to your reactions to the ornament—and to people seeing it on his tree as well. “I think it will be fun to see how people respond when they come into my home. They’ll hear the snoring coming from my Christmas tree and then they’ll have to figure out where the sound is coming from. There is some discovery involved, and it’s pretty funny. Don’t wake up Santa!” (But do pick him up at Ornament Premiere!)

Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments. “Behind the scenes with Matt Johnson about his Snoring Santa ornament! Ccming at Ornament Premiere in July.” Keepsake Ornament Club Facebook Page, February 28, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/groups/KOCMembers/posts/3598560493717282/