Santa Cam and Related Videos for NORAD Tracks Santa
The NORAD Tracks Santa website Videos webpage is updated, generally each hour, to show a Santa Cam video of a CGI-rendered Santa flying over major cities in the different time zones where it is midnight. The videos feature a voiceover, that is typically done by NORAD staff, explaining Santa's location with facts about Santa and the country and city which Santa has just visited.[1]
Celebrity voiceovers have also been done over the years. For the London Santa Cam video, British celebrity and television presenter Jonathan Ross did the voiceover for 2005 thru 2007 and the former Beatle star Ringo Starr was an honorary Santa Tracker and voiceover for London in 2003 and 2004.[2][3] Paul Harvey was also an honorary Santa Tracker and did the voiceover for the St. Louis, Missouri Santa Cam in 2003. In 2002, Aaron Carter was an honorary Santa Tracker and provided voice updates about Santa's whereabouts as he helped NORAD track Santa's progress on Christmas Eve in 2002.[4] The Santa Cam locations announced by Aaron Carter for the 2002 NORAD Tracks Santa season were: 1) Auckland, New Zealand, 2) Athens,Greece, and 3) Colorado Springs.
The locations of some of the Santa Cam videos have changed over the years. In 2009, a record 28 Santa Cam videos were posted at the NORAD Tracks Santa website's Videos webpage. In other years, generally 24 to 25 Santa Cam videos were posted at the NORAD Tracks Santa website's Videos webpage.
Under each year is a table of locations of the Santa Cam videos posted for that year at the NORAD Tracks Santa website's Videos webpage with links to the Santa Cam video clips (where available). Then each year has a comment on which Santa Cam video locations changed (additions, updates, and deletions) from the prior year.
In December 2010, prior to Christmas Eve, the Videos webpage featured the NORAD Tracks Santa Trailer and a link to the Holiday Videos webpage that has invited student videos from around the world. See article Holiday Videos from Around the World for more information.
2009
| 2009 NORAD Tracks Santa - Santa Cam Videos | ||
|---|---|---|
| Arriving and Departing | Link | Clip |
| 1. Taking off from the North Pole and proceeding south along the International Date Line | [1] |  |
| 2. Flying Over the Pacific Ocean (a new video for 2009) | [2] |  |
| 3. Visiting Auckland and passing by Sky Tower, and then on to Picton, and Cloudy Bay, New Zealand | [3] |  |
| 4. Passing over the Sydney Opera House as he enters Australia | [4] |  |
| 5. Passing Mount Fuji and going 100 times faster than a 500 series Shinkansen "bullet train" in Japan | [5] |  |
| 6. Flying along the Great Wall of China and passing the Beijing National Stadium "Bird's Nest" | [6] |  |
| 7. Flying over Perth, Australia (a new video for 2009) | [7] |  |
| 8. Crossing the Hump (the Himalayas) in Nepal | [8] |  |
| 9. Flying over the Taj Mahal in India | [9] |  |
| 10. Climbing to an altitude of some 240 miles (385 kilometers) to visit the International Space Station (ISS) | [10] |  |
| 11. Admiring the "onion dome" architecture of Saint Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, Russia (though passing through quickly, because the Eastern Orthodox Church prefer to give presents on Epiphany) | [11] |  |
| 12. Passing the Egyptian Pyramids of Giza and heading toward Cairo | [12] |  |
| 13. Covering Italy while admiring the Colosseum in Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Grand Canal (Venice) | [13] |  |
| 14. Visiting the boys and girls in Zurich, Switzerland (a new video for 2009) | [14] |  |
| 15. Circling the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France | [15] |  |
| 16. In London, United Kingdom | [16] |  |
| 17. Passing Lajes do Pico in the Azores | [17] |  |
| 18. Circling near the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | [18] |  |
| 19. Flying over the ruins of Machu Picchu and passing Cuzco in Peru | [19] |  |
| 20. Entering the United States Northern Command by transiting up the coast of Florida past Kennedy Space Center | [20] |  |
| 21. Flying over Toronto in Ontario, Canada (a new video for 2009) | [21] |  |
| 22. Flying through Midtown Manhattan in New York City | [22] |  |
| 23. Flying slowly over Reindeer Lake in Canada | [23] |  |
| 24. Flying through the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri | [24] |  |
| 25. Flying over Mexico City, Mexico (a new video for 2009) | [25] |  |
| 26. Flying over Colorado Springs | [26] |  |
| 27. Flying Past Mount St. Helens and Circling the Space Needle, Seattle, Washington | [27] |  |
| 28. Ending his mission in Hilo, Hawaii | [28] |  |
A record 28 Santa Cam videos were posted for 2009. New Santa Cam videos for 2009 were for: 1) the Pacific Ocean, 2) Perth, Australia, 3) Zurich, Switzerland, 4) Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and 5) Mexico City, Mexico. The Santa Cam video for Zurich, Switzerland replaced the 2008 Santa Cam video for Neuschwanstein, Germany by Neuschwanstein Castle.
| 2009 NORAD Tracks Santa - Other Videos | ||
|---|---|---|
| Other Videos | Link | Clip |
| 2009 NORAD Tracks Santa Holiday Message by Kelly Rippa | [29] |  |
| 2009 NORAD Tracks Santa Holiday Message by General Renaurt, Commander of NORAD | [30] |  |
| 2009 NORAD Tracks Santa Holiday Message by Santa Claus | [31] | |
| 2009 NORAD Tracks Santa Trailer | [32] | |
| 2009 NORAD Tracks Santa Video Interview with Colonel(Retired) Harry Shoup | [33] |  |
| 2009 NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center | [34] |  |
| 2009 NORAD Tracks Santa - Santa Claus Pre-Brief on December 17, 2009 at Peterson AFB, Colorado. (Note - Covered in a news article in the Dec 17, 2009 issue of The Gazette of Colorado Springs.[5]) | [35] |  |
| 2009 KRQE News Story - KRQE News speaks with NORAD Commander, General Gene Renaurt about the NORAD Tracking Santa effort on December 24, 2009 | [36] |  |
| 2009 WHNS News Story - A Fox Carolina reporter in Greenville, S.C. speaks with NORAD Commander, General Gene Renaurt about how NORAD is tracking Santa Claus' journey to deliver toys to children all over the world on December 24, 2009 | [37] |  |
| 2009 CBC News Story - CBC News speaks with NORAD Deputy Commander, Lt. Gen. Marcel Duval, Canadian Forces about the NORAD Tracking Santa effort on December 24, 2009 | [38] |  |
| 2009 Weather Channel News Story - Weather Channel speaks with Lt. Commander Gary Ross of NORAD about NORAD tracking Santa Claus' movement around the world on December 24, 2009 | [39] |  |
| 2009 OnStar Video News Release - OnStar's Partnership with Santa and the NORAD Tracks Santa Program | [40] |  |
2008
NORAD Tracks Santa 2008 Logo
50th Anniversary of NORAD's involvement (from NORAD's founding on May 12, 1958) in supporting the NORAD Tracks Santa Program[6]
| 2008 NORAD Tracks Santa - Santa Cam Videos | ||
|---|---|---|
| Arriving and Departing | Link | Clip |
| 1. Departing from the North Pole and proceeding south along the International Date Line | [41] |  |
| 2. Flying over Auckland and passing by Sky Tower on New Zealand's North Island | [42] |  |
| 3. Passing over the Sydney Opera House as he enters Australia | [43] |  |
| 4. Passing Mount Fuji and going 100 times faster than a 500 series Shinkansen "bullet train" in Japan | [44] |  |
| 5. Flying along the Great Wall of China and passing the Beijing National Stadium "Bird's Nest" | [45] |  |
| 6. Passing the Himalayas in Nepal | [46] |  |
| 7. Flying over the Taj Mahal in India | [47] |  |
| 8. Getting a great view of Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) | [48] |  |
| 9. Admiring the "onion dome" architecture of Saint Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, Russia (though passing through quickly, because the Eastern Orthodox Church prefer to give presents on Epiphany) | [49] |  |
| 10. Passing the Egyptian Pyramids of Giza and heading toward Cairo | [50] |  |
| 11. Passing above the Colosseum in Rome, Italy | [51] |  |
| 12. Visiting the boys and girls in Neuschwanstein, Germany | [52] |  |
| 13. Circling the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France | [53] |  |
| 14. In London, United Kingdom | [54] |  |
| 15. Passing Lajes do Pico in the Azores | [55] |  |
| 16. Circling near the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | [56] |  |
| 17. Flying over the ruins of Machu Picchu and passing Cuzco in Peru | [57] |  |
| 18. Passing Cape Canaveral and Miami Beach in Florida | [58] |  |
| 19. Flying through Midtown Manhattan in New York City | [59] |  |
| 20. Flying slowly over Reindeer Lake in Canada | [60] |  |
| 21. Flying through the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri | [61] |  |
| 22. Flying over Colorado Springs | [62] |  |
| 23. Flying Past Mount St. Helens and Circling the Space Needle, Seattle, Washington | [63] |  |
| 24. Ending his mission in Hilo, Hawaii | [64] |  |
The 2007 Santa Cam video for Baghdad, Iraq was not used in 2008.
| 2008 NORAD Tracks Santa - Other Videos | ||
|---|---|---|
| Other Videos | Link | Clip |
| 2008 NORAD Tracks Santa Trailer | [65] |  |
| 2008 Sky News Story - Sky News speaks with NORAD Commander, General Gene Renaurt about the NORAD Tracking Santa effort on December 24, 2008 [7] | [66] |  |
| 2008 CBS News Story - Harry Smith speaks with NORAD Commander, General Gene Renaurt about the NORAD Tracking Santa effort on December 24, 2008 | [67] |  |
| 2008 BBC News Story - Interview with Brian McClendon, Engineering Director for Google Earth and Google Maps on NORAD Tracks Santa and Google in December 2008 [8] | [68] |  |
References
- ↑ "From NORAD Santa Tracker To Twitter: Santa Tracking For Christmas Eve 2009, Dec 23, 2009, Danny Sullivan" (in en). Search Engine Land. http://searchengineland.com/santa-tracking-for-christmas-eve-2009-32427. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
- ↑ "'Starr' helps NORAD track Santa, Dec 2, 2003 by Michael Phillips, US Air Force Press Releases" (in en). US Air Force. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_prfr/is_200312/ai_2198668072/. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
- ↑ "NORAD Missile Agency Tracks Santa By Satellite, December 24, 2007" (in en). Sky News. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/20080641298341. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
- ↑ "Aaron Carter Named NORAD's Honorary Santa Tracker, November 25, 2002 by Yahoo Music" (in en). Yahoo News. http://new.music.yahoo.com/aaron-carter/news/aaron-carter-named-norads-honorary-santa-tracker--12059763. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
- ↑ "NORAD gears up for Santa mission, Dec 17, 2009, by Lane Benzel, The Gazette (Colorado Springs)" (in en). The Gazette (Colorado Springs). http://www.gazette.com/articles/nation-90993-charge-norad.html. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
- ↑ "NORAD prepares for 50th year tracking Santa, Dec 18, 2008 by Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service" (in en). American Forces Press Service. http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123128821. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
- ↑ "US Missile Agency Tracks Santa, Dec 24, 2008 by Sky News" (in en). Sky News. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Santa-Tracker-Website-Helps-Children-Keep-Track-Of-Children/Article/200812415193030. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
- ↑ "BBC News - Hi-tech helps track Santa Claus, December 24, 2008" (in en). BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7792256.stm. Retrieved 2009-12-31.