Christmas animatronics

Animatronics are puppets that move and speak as if they were alive, thanks to hidden mechanics, and Menart’s Christmas animatronics are reindeer, bears, penguins and Santa, made in Italy. You can hire them for the season or buy them, and they arrive ready to switch on in your shopping centre, shop or Christmas village.

NEW

Chat AI Reindeer

Chat AI Reindeer is the world’s first AI talking reindeer, a Made in Italy animatronic that listens to children from its little house and answers their questions. At your Christmas village it becomes the attraction visitors have not seen anywhere else, and it brings new families in to talk to it.

Chat AI Reindeer in its green house, with a boy talking to it through a headset and microphone in a Christmas shop
NEW

Santa Smart AI

Santa Smart AI is the Santa Claus with artificial intelligence, a life-size animatronic that opens the book of stories and invents a different one for every child. With stories told in any language, every child hears one of their own and families stop as they walk through your shopping centre.

Santa Smart AI, Santa Claus in a green coat reading a book to children in a Christmas decorations shop
BEST SELLER

Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a hyper-realistic animatronic Santa, fast asleep in his rocking chair in his pyjamas and reindeer slippers. He breathes softly as if he were really asleep, and families stop in front of him, lowering their voices so as not to wake him.

Santa Claus, close-up of the animatronic Santa with round gold glasses, a white beard and a red hat

Comet

Comet the reindeer, one of Santa’s own, greets the children and tells them Christmas stories and songs, standing full-length or as an animated head mounted on the wall. With her, your shop’s Christmas display, silent until now, finally finds a voice.

Comet, an animatronic reindeer head mounted on the wall of Santa’s room, next to the Christmas tree and a red coat

Comet and Cupid

Standing on all four legs, Comet and Cupid are a pair of life-size reindeer who catch up on the latest news from the North Pole. Placed beside the sleigh in your Christmas display, they finally give it the team it was missing and complete the Santa scene that families hope to find.

Comet and Cupid, life-size reindeer with cream halters and green saddle cloths, in front of Santa

Dasher and Dancer

Santa’s choir has room for only one lead singer, and Dasher and Dancer, two singing reindeer with long white fur, compete for the spot with their Christmas songs. The contest invites young and old to join in, and your Christmas village fills with voices.

Dasher and Dancer, singing reindeer with white fur, black halters and blue eyes, in front of gold curtains

Christree

The smiling face on the snowy trunk belongs to Christree, the talking Christmas tree who tells stories and sings to children. Before he begins, he asks them to count to three and switch on the lights, and the Christmas tree section of your garden centre becomes the spot where families gather.

Christree, a talking Christmas tree with a face in its trunk and a crown of lights, beside reindeer and a golden armchair
TRENDING

Bear Band

With Christopher on guitar, Arturo on trumpet and Osvaldo on drums, Bear Band is an animatronic bear band whose musicians chat with each other and then play Christmas songs together. Children can’t help dancing to their music, and the space in front of your shop window becomes a dance floor all season long.

Bear Band, three animatronic bears with a trumpet, drums and a blue guitar on a stage with a sequin curtain and gold stars

Grandpa Bear

Grandpa Bear is an animatronic storytelling bear, with Santa’s hat on his head and a big open book between his paws. Children sit down in front of him and listen to the tale from beginning to end, and the reading corner of your bookshop becomes the place where families stop.

Grandpa Bear, an animatronic storytelling bear with glasses and a red hat, reading a green and gold book

Penguins

The Penguins are three animatronic penguins made in Italy who chat with each other like fellow explorers and then strike up a Christmas song together. Each one has its own scarf and its own personality, and children go home telling everyone which penguin at your garden centre is their favourite.

Penguins, three animatronic penguins with brown, blue and red scarves among blue-lit white fir trees and fake snow

Rudolph and Spencer

Rudolph and Spencer chat and tease each other from their little red and green house, a pair of talking reindeer who tell a Christmas story in two voices. You can add new stories, even ones written for you, so families have a reason to come back and visit them over the festive season.

Rudolph and Spencer, talking reindeer with brown fur, grey muzzles and blue eyes, close up against a red wall

Santa Claus Pianist

An animated Santa playing the piano, while a lion and a monkey pop out of their gift boxes to sing along, is the scene of Santa Claus Pianist, a hyper-realistic animatronic made in Italy. His Christmas songs arrive before he comes into view, and families passing by follow the music to the piano.

Santa Claus Pianist, Santa seated at a black piano between a plush lion and a plush monkey in gift boxes

Tommy Express

Ready to leave for the North Pole, Tommy Express is the animatronic talking train that greets children and tells them its stories. Placed at the entrance of your garden centre, it welcomes families as soon as they arrive and sets their Christmas visit in motion.

Tommy Express, an animatronic talking train with a black locomotive and a blue-eyed face, in front of a stone tunnel

What are animatronics

Animatronics are mechanical figures, usually characters or animals, that a control unit moves in a natural way while voice and music follow each movement. The name comes from Audio-Animatronics, the term Disney gave to the figures in its parks. The Enchanted Tiki Room, which opened at Disneyland on 23 June 1963, was the earliest attraction with sophisticated figures of this kind: birds and flowers that sang. Today animatronics are used in film, theme parks and Christmas displays. Menart, founded in 2011, builds its animatronics in its own workshop, where artists and engineers sculpt each face by hand, build the mechanics and write the stories. That is why a Menart reindeer or bear moves its mouth, head and eyelids as it talks, and looks like the real thing up close. Menart also presents its characters to European buyers at Christmasworld, the trade fair in Frankfurt.

Technician in the Menart workshop wiring the electronics to the metal frame of an animatronic, beneath fir branches

Animatronics: frequently asked questions

Can Menart animatronics be rented or bought?

Yes, Menart hires out and sells all its animatronics across Europe. The stories of several characters, such as Comet and Grandpa Bear, are also available in other languages. The warranty is 2 years for most models, and it remains valid if the system is serviced only by Menart-authorised operators.

Tell us which characters you have in mind and for how many weeks you need them, and we will prepare a quote.

How do I choose the right animatronic for my Christmas display?

Start from what you want to happen in front of your display. For storytelling there are Grandpa Bear and Christree; for music, the Bear Band, Santa Claus Pianist and the reindeer Dasher and Dancer; for a quiet scene, Santa Claus, who sleeps and breathes gently.

If you want children to ask questions and hear a reply, choose Chat AI Reindeer or Santa Smart AI, which use artificial intelligence.

You will find them all in the Menart Christmas 2026 catalogue.

How do animatronics work?

An animatronic works through motors and mechanisms hidden inside its body, driven by a control unit that synchronises every movement with voice and music. Menart animatronics run on 12 V and 220 V, and the show starts with a single command.

Almost all of them move their mouth, head and eyelids, and some, such as the Bear Band, also move their upper body and arms. The models with artificial intelligence need an internet connection.

Where can animatronics be installed and how much space do they need?

Menart animatronics are designed for indoor spaces, with IP54 certification and temperatures between 10 and 25 °C. With a few adjustments they can sometimes go outdoors: ask Menart via the form at the bottom of the page.

Each character is assembled by following the manual and the instruction video, and its dimensions are in its data sheet.

Are Christmas animatronics suitable for a Christmas village or a garden centre?

Yes, in a garden centre’s Christmas department or in the huts of an indoor Christmas village, each Menart animatronic works on its own, with its own control unit and sound system. You can spread several characters along the route, so families discover a different story at every stop.

Discover our animatronics for Christmas villages and garden centres.