“People hear Santa Paws and they think we are animated, but we are all living breathing really alive people,” said stage, film and television actor Obba Babatunde. “And I get a chance to sing and dance in this movie.”
Babatunde was filled with season’s greetings as he spoke of the latest contribution to a career that has spanned more than four decades. Not only does he get joy from returning to his roots as a triple threat (singer, actor and dancer) but he can now add a holiday file to his vast resume of iconic stage and film performances thanks to The Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups which was released on DVD and Blu Ray last week.
“I’m just so thrilled to be a part of it and I had a great time doing it,” Babatunde said. “This film has all of the elements of those Christmas classics. It’s singing, it’s dancing, it’s cheer and at the same time it has a beautiful story. It’s really the perfect film for the entire family because of that and because of the meaningful and heartfelt message.”
In the film Babatunde plays the mayor of a town overcome by a contagious “Christmas cold” that spreads to the Santa Pups and the entire city and threatens to dampen the spirit of the holidays.
“It’s really metaphoric in the sense that when you treat a person positively then they go and treat the next person with a positive energy,” Babatunde said. “And when you treat someone with a negative energy, that too can be passed on.”
He believes that Santa Paws 2 embodies the overwhelming spirit that is synonymous with the holidays, and illustrates the power of its presence – and its absence – and what the season means to all people.
“We talk about Christmas spirit is not necessarily relative to anyone’s religious denomination,” Babatunde said. “It is relative to the spirit of giving, loving, caring and sharing. And I hope that with this movie audiences will realize that when passing on the positivity of the Christmas spirit that they can affect change in the world’s population – because what they give will be taken and given by the next, to the next, to the next and to the next.”
And like so many of his work on stage and screen – as one of the original cast members of “Dreamgirls,” and films like “Philadelphia,” “Life” and “Miss Evers’ Boys” – Babatunde hopes to use his talent to leave a lasting, and loving impression.
“It is another pearl in a string of pearls as it pertains to my career and my life,” Babatunde said. “It is a great movie – a good story told well and I get to play a character that I enjoy doing and hopefully I’ve done with a great sense of panache; a great sense of spirit and that is perfect for the movie and it is something that people will connect with and treasure.”
He’s already been a witness to the residuals.
“I was riding in a Christmas Parade and I saw these young people and I had the pups with me – these pups are amazing,” Babatunde said. “I’m riding down the street with these puppies in my arms and the children are screaming ‘The Santa Pups, The Santa Pups’. It was just so exciting and I’m thrilled and honored be a part of it all.”
He hopes that same connection will be passed from one generation to the next and through the Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups is an illustration of the true meaning of Christmas that parents and grandparents will eagerly share with their children – and their children’s children.
“I hope that years down the line someone will say, when I was a child this movie represented to me hope,” Babatunde said. “It represented to me Joy. It represented to me all of the good things about the spirit of Christmas. And I want it to share this with you in the hopes that it will bring to your life the same kind of joy that it brought to mine – I am hoping that will happen.”
Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups is Rated G and now available on Blu Ray and DVD at retail outlets and online nationwide.
