Red One

Along with Santa Claus and Krampus, Gryla is an actual myth associated with winter, possibly the oldest one. Of Icelandic origin, Gryla was an ogre with 13 sons, the Yule Lads. Gryla would tour the world on winter nights, asking for charity for her sons. Legend has it that, if she was denied charity, her sons would enter the dwelling and cause mischief until the owner begged Gryla to retrieve them. The idea of shape-shifting abilities and handing out punishment are later additions to the myth, borrowed from the Wild Hunt, another Nordic legend in which a pack of ghost hunters (Odin's entourage) would often give worthless gifts to kind strangers, like a bag of coal or a manure. If accepted this worthless gift would turn into gold the next day.

When delivering presents in the final moments of the film, Santa is shown moving across the globe from West to East (US ' Brazil ' Paris ' Sydney). But due to timezones, children in Sydney wake up to Christmas a full day before children in the US, so Santa should be moving the opposite direction.