The Santa Clause Information

The Santa Clause is a 1994 American fantasy family comedy film directed by John Pasquin. It stars Tim Allen as Scott Calvin, an ordinary man who accidentally causes Santa Claus to fall to his death from his roof on Christmas Eve. When he and his young son, Charlie, finish St. Nick's trip and deliveries, they go to the North Pole where Scott learns he must become the new Santa and convince those he loves that he is indeed Father Christmas.

This was Pasquin and Allen's first movie collaboration after they both worked together on the TV series Home Improvement. Pasquin and Allen would later work again on the films Jungle 2 Jungle and Joe Somebody, and on the TV show Last Man Standing.

The film was followed by two sequels, The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs. Clause (2002) and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006). In comparison to the original, the former received mixed critical response whilst the latter was panned by most critics.

Plot

Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) is a 38-year-old divorced father and advertising executive for a toy company in Chicago with a young son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd). On Christmas Eve, Charlie comes to spend the night with Scott before going to his mother and stepfather's for Christmas Day. Scott assures Charlie of Santa Claus' existence, despite not believing himself. That night, they are awakened by a clatter on the roof, and when Scott calls out to the trespasser, he falls into the snow on Scott's front yard and vanishes, leaving his clothing behind. Scott and Charlie discover a sleigh with eight reindeer on the roof, and deduce the man was Santa Claus. They find a card in the clothing instructing that if something should happen to Santa, whoever finds the clothes should put them on and get in the sleigh. Charlie convinces Scott to follow these instructions, and the reindeer take Scott around to children's houses to finish Santa's deliveries.

As morning arrives, the reindeer return to the North Pole, where elves take the two inside. The head elf, Bernard (David Krumholtz), shows Scott a tiny inscription on the card which says that upon the disappearance of the previous occupant, whoever wears the suit accepts the contract of "the Santa Clause", agreeing to assume the identity of Santa Claus and all the responsibilities that go with it. Bernard tells Scott he will have eleven months to get his affairs in order before he returns at Thanksgiving to assume the role of Santa Claus full-time. Scott goes to bed in Santa's room and awakens at home, dismissing it as a dream. Charlie however is enthusiastic about the adventure and is proud his father is the new Santa.

Over the next year, Scott begins gaining weight, his hair whitens, and his facial hair regrows instantly when shaven. He also subconsciously begins behaving like Santa, craving Christmas-type foods, noting which children misbehave, and wearing red and green clothing. Scott also becomes outraged at a board meeting over an ad campaign that features Santa riding in an army tank. His rapid transformation worries his ex-wife Laura (Wendy Crewson) and her new husband, psychiatrist Dr. Neal Miller (Judge Reinhold), who are concerned about Charlie as he continues to insist Scott is Santa, and that Scott's behaviour is encouraging Charlie's delusions. Subsequently, Scott's visitation rights to Charlie are suspended, and upon seeing Charlie on Thanksgiving, Charlie's insistence that Scott is indeed Santa and a reminder of the adventure they shared wins Scott over to accepting his role, and Bernard arrives to take them both to the North Pole. Laura and Neal fear Scott has kidnapped Charlie and call the police, who start a massive investigation.

Scott, Charlie, Bernard and the elves prepare for Christmas as the police are on the lookout for Charlie and set up a trap at Laura and Neal's home to capture Scott should he return. On Christmas Eve, Scott makes his deliveries, but he is caught and arrested when stopping at Laura and Neil's home. Charlie, still in the sleigh on the roof, remains undiscovered. Four elfs with E.L.F.S. (Elite Liberating Flight Squad) rescue Scott and Charlie and return them to Laura and Neal, where the two finally accept Scott's new identity as Bernard speaks to them; and Scott delivers to them the presents they always wanted as children, but never received. Scott then takes flight in full view of the police and neighborhood citizens, but he returns when Charlie calls him using a magic snow globe and takes him for a ride in the sleigh. The two then wave goodbye as they head for Cleveland.

Cast

• Tim Allen as Scott Calvin: A cynical, ordinary man who becomes Santa Claus over the course of 11 months and the protagonist.
• Eric Lloyd as Charlie Calvin: Scott's innocent son.
• Judge Reinhold as Dr. Neal Miller: Laura's second husband. A gentle, well-meaning, yet critical psychiatrist who thinks Scott is delusional.
• Wendy Crewson as Laura Calvin-Miller: Scott's ex-wife who is torn between her husband's opinions and believing that Scott is Santa.
• David Krumholtz as Bernard the Elf: A sarcastic, teenage elf as well as Santa's head elf
• Peter Boyle as Mr. Whittle: Scott's supervisor at the Toy Company.
• Larry Brandenburg as Detective Nunzio, the main antagonist
• Paige Tamada as Judy the Elf

Production

The film was mostly shot in Oakville, a town in the Greater Toronto Area, which also served as the fictional town of Lakeside, Illinois in it. The reindeer used in the film were all from the Toronto Zoo.

Reception

Box office

The Santa Clause grossed over USD $144 million in the United States and Canada, and over $189 million worldwide, making it a box-office hit.

Critical reception

The film was generally well received by critics, and maintains a "fresh" rating of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, with 31 positive reviews from 39 counted and an average rating of 6.1/10. The consensus from the site is "The Santa Clause is utterly undemanding, but it's firmly rooted in the sort of good old-fashioned holiday spirit missing from too many modern yuletide films."

Soundtrack

Note that songs listed here (and in the movie credits) cannot always be found on CD soundtracks.

• "Oh Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)"; Arranged by John Neufeld
• "Carol of the Bells"; Written by Peter Wilhousky
• "White Christmas"; Written by Irving Berlin; Performed by The Drifters
• "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town"; Written by J. Fred Coots And Haven Gillespie; Performed by Alvin and the Chipmunks
• "Think!" (Theme from Jeopardy!); Written by Merv Griffin
• "Jingle Bell Ride"; Written and Performed by Johnny Hawksworth
• "Gimme All Your Lovin'"; Written by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard; Performed by ZZ Top
• "Jingle Bells"; Arranged by John Neufeld
• "Christmas Will Return"; Written by Jimmy Webb; Performed by Brenda Russell and Howard Hewett
• "The Bells of Christmas"; Written and Performed by Loreena McKennitt

The film's soundtrack was released on November 11, 1994 in the United States.

1. Come Together
2. Immigrant Song
3. All I Want for Christmas is You
4. Let's Go
5. Believing Is Seeing
6. Sash Completes the Ensemble
7. Flight
8. Weightless
9. Away to the Window
10. Bells of Christmas
11. Listen
12. Goodnight, Goodnight...Don't Forget the Fire Extinguisher
13. Visitation " The Drifters
14. Rose Suchak Ladder
15. Give Me All Your Loving " ZZ Top
16. List " Loreena McKennitt
17. Elves with Attitude
18. Someone in Wrapping
19. Near Capture
20. Comfort and Joy
21. Not Over Any Oceans
22. Christmas Will Return

Soundtrack CD is The Santa Clause 3D (1994)

1. Christmas Is Coming" Vince Guaraldi Trio
2. Toccata & Fugue in D Minor BWV 565" Johann Sebastian Bach
3. You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" Narrator
4. Frosty the Snowman" Alvin & the Chipmunks
5. Piano Sonata K330, 3rd Movement" Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Home media

This film has been released on VHS in 1995 and again in the UK in 1996, standard Widescreen DVD in 2000 and Special Edition VHS and DVD in 2002. The Santa Clause along with The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause were released in a three-movie DVD collection in 2007. All three movies are scheduled for re-release on Blu-ray October 16, 2012.

Towards the beginning of the film a brief exchange between Scott and Laura takes place in which Laura hands Scott a piece of paper with Neal's mother's phone number on it. Scott then exclaims "1-800-SPANK-ME? I know that number!". In the United States, the exchange was removed from the 2000 DVD release as well as the 2002 Special Edition DVD and VHS releases after a 1997 incident in which a child from Steilacom, Washington called the number and racked up a $400 phone bill. On television airings, the phone number is changed to "1-800-POUND". The line remains intact on the 1995 VHS release.

Sequels

The popularity of the film spawned two sequels, The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs. Clause in 2002 and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause in 2006. Much of the character cast remains the same in each one, but with some additions.