Yule Goat in the family dressing up as the Yule goat. In this, there might be a relation to Santa Claus and the Yule goat's origin in the medieval celebrations of Saint Nicholas. The goat was then replaced by the "jultomte" (Father Christmas/Santa Claus) or "julenisse" during the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century, although he is still called the "Joulupukki" (Yule goat) in Finland, and the tradition of the man-sized goat disappeared. The Yule goat in Nordic countries today is best known as a Christmas ornament. This modern version of the Yule goat figure is a decorative
A Kidnapped Santa Claus since. In 1989 the story was adapted into a musical play for children, "Santa Claus is Missing!", by Sylvia Ashby, with songs by Scott Taylor. Another adaptation exists in the form of the animated film "Who Stole Santa?" in the Oz Kids series (1996). In 2009, cartoonist Alex Robinson adapted the story into comic form in a book released by Harper Collins. More generally, the idea of kidnapping Santa Claus has been exploited by other artists in other works, as in Jean Van Leeuwen's book "The Great Christmas Kidnapping Caper" (1975), Tim Burton's film "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993), and