47 Fun Facts About The Santa Clause

In The Santa Clause, where is the contract clause that makes Scott the new Santa printed?

On a business card found in the previous Santa's suit: its plain message only says to put the suit on, and the binding clause is lettering so tiny that the head elf has to point it out.

In The Santa Clause, what happens to the previous Santa that leaves Scott with the job?

He falls off the roof when Scott shouts up at him, then vanishes and leaves only the red suit behind, which Scott's son talks him into wearing.

In The Santa Clause, what is the name of Scott's eight-year-old son, who rides along in the sleigh?

Charlie grows up wanting the job for himself, but when the 2022 series finally offers it to him he turns it down to stay with his own young family.

Which head elf, played by David Krumholtz, tells Scott he has eleven months to get his affairs in order?

Bernard is missing from the third film, where Curtis is head elf in his place: a scheduling clash was blamed, but Krumholtz later said the script had devalued the part.

In The Santa Clause, what does the doctor hear when he listens to Scott's heart?

Jingle Bells is the beat of Scott's heart at his check-up, one more sign of the change that regrows his beard the moment he shaves and whitens his hair through any dye.

In The Santa Clause, what does Scott crave after wearing the suit?

Milk and cookies, though Scott had been lactose intolerant: he puts on weight so fast that his baffled doctor has no explanation for it.

In The Santa Clause films, what is the profession of Neil, the new husband of Scott's ex-wife?

Psychiatrist Neil reads Scott's Santa talk as a delusion that is harming the boy, and that professional worry helps cost Scott the right to visit his own son.

What magical gift from the head elf lets Scott's son summon his father at any time?

A snow globe is the head elf's parting gift to Scott's son: shake it and his father will come. In the sequel the boy hands the same globe to Principal Newman to prove his father really is Santa.

In The Santa Clause, where do the police arrest Scott on Christmas Eve?

Inside Laura and Neil's home the police are waiting, because the couple reported their son kidnapped after Scott vanished with him at Thanksgiving; the elves later spring Scott from jail.

What does Scott give Laura and Neil at the end of The Santa Clause?

Childhood presents they never got: a Mystery Date game for Laura and an Oscar Mayer wiener whistle for Neil, the gifts whose absence made each of them stop believing in Santa.

Which two comedy stars turned down the lead in The Santa Clause before Tim Allen?

Bill Murray and Chevy Chase both passed: Murray wanted no second Christmas film after Scrooged and Chase had a scheduling clash, which left the part to a TV star in his first film lead.

Which Canadian town stood in for Lakeside, Illinois in The Santa Clause?

Oakville, Ontario, played Scott's snowy suburb, though the shoot ran through a warm spring and summer, so the crew had to fake its winter.

Why did child actor Eric Lloyd need fake teeth during The Santa Clause shoot?

He knocked out his own teeth in an accident on a day off, so false ones were made for the rest of the shoot and his scenes were reshuffled to hide the injury.

Why was the '1-800-SPANK-ME' joke cut from later releases of The Santa Clause?

Children were dialling the number, which belonged to a real adult phone line, and parents complained about the bills, so the joke was snipped from later home releases.

Which film opened at number one the same weekend as The Santa Clause, holding it to second place?

Interview with the Vampire won the weekend with about $36 million to the Santa film's $19 million, but the family comedy kept selling and climbed to number one two weeks later, over Thanksgiving.

In The Santa Clause, where do Scott and his son eat Christmas Eve dinner?

Denny's is the only place still open after Scott sets the turkey on fire, and his son makes it plain he would rather be eating anywhere else.

Which Canadian singer, known for Celtic folk, wrote and performed 'The Bells of Christmas' for The Santa Clause?

Loreena McKennitt learned the Celtic harp and busked in the street to pay for her first recordings; her song sits in the film beside Michael Convertino's score.

What rule from the Handbook of Christmas drives the plot of The Santa Clause 2?

The Mrs. Clause requires Santa to marry, and Scott learns he has until Christmas Eve to find a wife or he stops being Santa for good, which sends him home to Lakeside.

Why is Scott's teenage son on the naughty list in The Santa Clause 2?

He vandalised his school to get attention, defacing the walls and lockers, which is how his father first comes face to face with the strict Principal Carol Newman.

Which of these figures sits on the Council of Legendary Figures in The Santa Clause 2?

The Tooth Fairy sits beside Mother Nature, Cupid and the Easter Bunny, and saves the day: when Scott's magic runs out, a freshly lost tooth summons him to fly everyone to the North Pole.

Which Star Trek actor plays the Sandman in The Santa Clause 2?

Michael Dorn's Sandman dozes through the council's meetings, and in the third film he puts Scott's in-laws to sleep ahead of schedule because he cannot bear to listen to them any longer.

What does Curtis build so Scott can leave the North Pole to find a wife?

A life-sized animatronic Toy Santa is Curtis's stand-in; the double reads the handbook too literally, decides the whole world is naughty and plans to deliver coal to everyone.

Which actress plays Carol Newman, the school principal Scott falls for in The Santa Clause 2?

Elizabeth Mitchell's Carol starts out as the stern principal hauling Scott's son into her office and ends the film leading elves in a snowball fight against an army of toy soldiers.

In The Santa Clause 2, which clumsy reindeer-in-training does Scott ride in the final chase?

Chet, still in training and barely able to steer, is all Scott has left to ride once the impostor has taken off with the sleigh and the real team.

Which 2003 film did Tim Allen skip so he could make The Santa Clause 2?

The Cat in the Hat had cast Tim Allen as the Cat, but its shoot clashed with The Santa Clause 2 and he withdrew; Mike Myers took the role in the 2003 film.

In which Canadian city was The Santa Clause 2 filmed?

Vancouver and its suburbs hosted the sequel shoot; four years later the third film built its North Pole indoors, on stages at Downey Studios in California.

Which comedian plays Jack Frost in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause?

Martin Short's Frost is hauled before the council for upstaging Christmas and talks his sentence down to community service at the North Pole, exactly where he wants to be.

Why does Jack Frost try to steal Christmas in The Santa Clause 3?

He has no holiday of his own, and jealousy has had him promoting himself all through the Christmas season, which is what gets him summoned before the council.

In The Santa Clause 3, what job do Carol's parents think Scott has?

Toymaker in Canada is the cover story, so Jack Frost's punishment is to help the elves deck the whole North Pole in Canadian flags and signs.

Which two screen veterans play Carol's parents in The Santa Clause 3?

Alan Arkin and Ann-Margret play the in-laws whose visit forces the whole North Pole to pose as somewhere else; the same year's Little Miss Sunshine won Arkin an Oscar.

What does the Escape Clause do when Scott invokes it in The Santa Clause 3?

Undoes his taking the job: Frost tricks him into wishing he had 'never been Santa at all', and he is back on his front lawn in 1994, where Frost grabs the coat first.

In the alternate timeline of The Santa Clause 3, what has Jack Frost renamed Christmas?

Frostmas is what Christmas has become in the alternate timeline, where Jack Frost, having grabbed the Santa coat first, runs the North Pole as a commercial resort for paying tourists.

How is Jack Frost finally reformed at the end of The Santa Clause 3?

Lucy gives him a 'magic hug': Frost had frozen her parents solid and could not thaw them without thawing himself, so when her hug warms his heart, they unfreeze too.

Which Beverly Hills Cop actor plays Neil, the stepfather of Scott's son, in The Santa Clause films?

Judge Reinhold's Neil starts out as the expert certain that Santa is a delusion and ends the first film apologising to his stepson for ever doubting it.

Which child actor plays Curtis, the Keeper of the Handbook, in The Santa Clause 2?

Spencer Breslin came back for the third film with Curtis promoted to head elf, and brought family: his younger sister Abigail joined the cast as another elf.

Which actor plays Simon Choksi, Scott's chosen successor in season one of The Santa Clauses?

Kal Penn plays Simon Choksi, a widowed game inventor who dreams of being the next Jeff Bezos; once he has the coat, he decides every day should be Christmas, with instant deliveries powered by North Pole magic.

Who plays Sandra, Scott and Carol's daughter, in The Santa Clauses?

Elizabeth Allen-Dick is Tim Allen's real daughter playing his screen daughter, and her surname gives it away: the star was born Timothy Alan Dick.

Which Modern Family actor plays Magnus Antas, the Mad Santa, in season two of The Santa Clauses?

Eric Stonestreet, Cam in Modern Family, plays Magnus Antas, a tyrannical past Santa who was overthrown by the elves and trapped inside a nutcracker, until a theme-park owner sets him loose by accident.

Which folk figure, called the Christmas witch, mentors Sandra in The Santa Clauses?

La Befana is no villain here: the gift-bringing witch of Italy's Epiphany eve, played by Laura San Giacomo, is a good-natured neighbour in the woods who teaches Sandra to use her magic.

Which Disney-owned label bought the spec script for The Santa Clause in 1992 as a Tim Allen vehicle?

Hollywood Pictures was betting on beginners all round: a TV star who had never led a film, a television director making his first feature and two writers selling their first script.

Under which working title was the script for The Santa Clause first shopped around Hollywood?

Such a Clatter quotes the poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', whose narrator springs from bed at a clatter on the lawn, much as Scott is woken on Christmas Eve; the punning legal title came later.

Which Everybody Loves Raymond actor plays Scott's boss Mr. Whittle and later Father Time?

Peter Boyle's Mr. Whittle sends Scott off to get help after he fights an advert that puts Santa in a toy tank instead of his sleigh; in both sequels Boyle returns as Father Time of the council.

In The Santa Clause's first draft, how did Santa die?

Shot as a burglar by Scott in the writers' first draft; the studio's boss thought that too grim a start for a family comedy and asked for a gentler exit.

Which comedy beat The Santa Clause 3 to the number one spot on its opening weekend in 2006?

Borat won the weekend from only 837 screens, a fraction of the Santa sequel's release, taking about $26 million, and it stayed at number one the following week as well.

Which 1997 comedy first paired Tim Allen with the comedian who later played Jack Frost opposite him?

Jungle 2 Jungle, a remake of a French hit, cast the pair as business partners in New York; nine years later the same two comedians squared off as Santa and the rival after his job.

What is the name of the son Carol gives birth to at the end of The Santa Clause 3?

Buddy, named after Carol's father Bud, is born at the North Pole at the end of the third film; he returns as the teenager Cal in the streaming series.

Which NFL quarterback appears as himself, a potential replacement Santa, in The Santa Clauses?

Peyton Manning turns up as himself in the first season, pitching himself to Scott as the next Santa; the retired quarterback does not get the job.