12 Reviews of Christmas - Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and for 12 Reviews of Christmas, we'll be taking a look at the 2006 film Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. Directed by Michael Lembeck, who returns as director after The Santa Clause 2, this movie sees the return of Tim Allen as Scott Calvin/Santa Claus, along with the returns of Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Elizabeth Mitchell, Eric Lloyd, Spencer Breslin, and Liliana Mumy, with Art LaFleur, Aisha Tyler, Kevin Pollak, Michael Dorn, Jay Thomas, and Peter Boyle returning as the Council of Legendary Figures, with newcomers including the likes of Abigail Breslin, Sammi Hanratty, Ann-Margaret, Alan Arkin, and Martin Short. 

         So, it's officially been twelve years since Scott Calvin first put on the red coat and became Santa Claus, and things should be going well for him. He's got the best job in the world and is happily married to his new wife, Carol, who is having a baby. Unfortunately, this is part of the issue, as Scott is divided between his duties as a spouse and pending father, along with his duties as Santa, which is pushing productivity in the factory back quite a bit, and Carol fears that he'll be on his rounds when the baby arrives. So, to try to make her feel better, he decides to bring her parents, Bud and Sylvia Newman, to the North Pole, but only after making it over to look like it's a toy factory town in Canada. 

          The Council of Legendary Figures hold an emergency meeting, in which Mother Nature reveals something startling: a cardboard standee of Council member Jack Frost wearing a sash that reads "Merry Frostmas." As Jack arrives, the other members scold him for his various acts of attempting to upstage Santa, and Father Time and the Tooth Fairy/Molinator remind Jack that he heralds the season and is Santa's friend, he doesn't have a holiday and isn't the face of the Christmas season. Ultimately, the Council seeks to suspend Jack from the Council, and it's when Santa reveals all the pressure he's under, and his fears about being a father again. And it's here where Cupid name drops something called "the Escape Clause," which leads Jack to suggest community service instead of suspension (almost mirroring what Scott did for Charlie during The Santa Clause 2), and Scott agrees to it, but reminds Jack that if one icicle is our of place, he's gone. 

        Scott heads out to see Charlie, Laura, Neil, and Lucy, and give Charlie an early Christmas present: a snowboard. Lucy then asks to head to the North Pole with Scott, and of course Laura and Neil have to tag along given how long distance a trip it is. Scott then gets the help of the Sandman to pick up Bud and Sylvia, and Sandman uses his sleep dust to put the two of them into a long slumber. Back at the North Pole, Jack works to "help" the elves with giving the town of Elfsburg a makeover to appear like it's Canada, and it's here where we learn just what the Escape Clause is. Apparently, it's an addendum to the original Santa Clause, wherein a Santa can use his special Santa snow globe, which is held within the Hall of Snow Globes, and say the words "I wish I'd never been Santa at all," which will send him back in time to before he became Santa, undoing the events that made him Santa in the first place. This sets Jack's plan in motion: sabotage the operations in the North Pole, steal Scott's Snow globe, and trick him into invoking the Escape Clause and take the coat for himself. 

        Scott returns with his passengers in the sleigh, and Carol is happy to see everyone. Jack's acts of sabotage ultimately ruin almost everything, but Scott manages to pull through. Scott then shows Lucy the Hall of Snow Globes, and gives her her very own magical snow globe, which has her hugging a snow man, which turns pink from her warm hug. Awww. Anyway, Jack sneak in and swipes Scott's Snow globe, but when Lucy attempts to warn Laura and Neil, Jack freezes them, and locks them, along with Lucy, in a pantry. Scott, along with Carol, Bud, and Sylvia, are busy with decorating the Christmas tree, with Scott putting the topper on it, but one last bit of sabotage leads the tree to fall, shattering the antique tree topper. After an incensed argument, Jack pulls Scott away, and tricks him into saying the words "I wish I'd never been Santa at all," and with Snow globe in hand, the Escape Clause is invoked, and Scott and Jack are flung back in time twelve years to the night Scott first put on the Santa coat. Jack shouts at the old Santa the same words Scott used, "Hey you!," which leads the old Santa to fall, and after a fight with Scott, Jack puts on the coat, altering the timeline. 

        In this new timeline, Scott is a major business executive, Carol moved away, and Laura and Neil are divorced. Scott also learns that Jack, the new Santa, turned the North Pole into an amusement park for the public, effectively destroying the concept of the Secret of Santa (the reason for making the North Pole look like Canada) and undermining the true spirit of Christmas. At the North Pole, Scott runs into Lucy and Neil, the latter of whom reveals the truth: Scott was never around to be a father to Charlie, leaving all of that responsibility on Neil, whom Charlie didn't want as a father, which made things really difficult between Neil and Laura, resulting in their divorce. 

         However, Scott comes up with a plan to put the timeline back to normal: he'll trick Jack into invoking the Escape Clause just as Jack did to him. Scott then sends Lucy to fetch Jack's snow globe, whilst Jack gives a big stage show performance. Scott fights Jack and his security guards, with Lucy tossing the snow globe for Jack to catch. However, while Jack almost says he'll never say the words "I wish I'd never been Santa at all," Scott used a recording of Jack saying those words earlier. The Escape Clause invoked, the two head back in time, where 1994 Scott goes through what's supposed to happen. Scott then tells Jack that being Santa isn't something he can take, it's something that you're chosen for, and that it's too late, as 1994 Scott has the coat on, thus sending Jack and Scott back to their original timeline. 

        Things back to normal, Scott makes amends with Carol and her parents, and he finally decides to show his in-laws what he really does for a living. Upon seeing the factory, Bud realizes that Scott is Santa, even going so far as to calling him Father Christmas, and Bud starts referring to himself as Father-in-law Christmas, with Sylvia adding that she's Mother-in-law Christmas. Workshop productivity is given a boost thanks to the Council of Legendary Figures, all of whom were called in by Charlie, who himself was called to help out by Curtis, who has taken over a Head Elf from Bernard (who is absent from this movie, unfortunately). Lucy reveals that Jack froze Laura and Neil, and Jack is brought in. After revealing that he can only unfreeze Laura and Neil by unfreezing himself, Scott gets an idea. It's here where Lucy thaws out Jack by warming his heart with a warm hug. Again, awww. Laura and Neil are back to normal, albeit very cold, and Carol reveals it's time. 

       It's here where I should mention that, technically, this entire movie was one big flashback, as Carol was recounting the story to a class of elves, including an elf named Trish, and it's here that Carol reveals that she delivered the baby just before Scott had to deliver the presents to children around the world. Scott then walks in with his and Carol's newborn son: Buddy Calvin-Claus, named after his grandfather Bud. 

       Okay, so at the time it was released, Santa Clause 3 wasn't well received by critics. And even still today, most find it to be an inferior product by comparison to the original two Santa Clause movies. And I, sadly, must agree. Now, while the idea of the Escape Clause, and Santa having a means to undo the timeline and make it so he never became Santa, is neat in concept, it isn't really enough to fill a 90-minute movie. 

          Now, what elevates this movie for me? It's the family aspect. Seeing Scott preparing to be a father again is really an eye opener, and it really puts into perspective how much of a job it is to be Santa. Also, throwing in acting legend Ann-Margaret and Alan Arkin as Carol's parents Bud and Sylvia was a real treat, as both are incredible talents and they're just phenomenal. I also liked how Lucy gets more time to shine in this movie, and Liliana Mumy really showed some genuine acting chops in this movie, whereas she kinda felt sidelined in The Santa Clause 2 to focus more on the growing resentment that Charlie had for carrying around the secret of his father being Santa Claus. But here, Liliana gets a lot to do as Lucy, and she's just great. 

         Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell are fantastic as Scott and Carol once again, and we definitely see the two together quite a bit throughout the movie. I also enjoyed the returns of Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, and Eric Lloyd as Neil, Laura, and Charlie, although Charlie was pretty much a supporting player and his appearance kinda felt obligatory in this movie. I also enjoyed that we got to see the Council of Legendary Figures, and how each of them have their own unique skills. It's also important to note that this was the final film of Peter Boyle's career released before his passing in December of 2006. Really sad, but just wanted to point that out. 

        What really weakens this movie, though, is Martin Short as Jack Frost. Don't get me wrong, having Jack Frost as an antagonist is smart and makes sense. But, good God Martin Short is annoying in this movie. It's like, dude, turn down the volume. Screaming every handful of lines ain't funny, it's just obnoxious. But, I will admit, the hair and costume design were pretty cool, no pun intended. But again, it's the acting choices made by Marty that drags the character down for me. 

          Now, despite my mixed feelings towards this movie, I do actually enjoy watching it every Christmas season. Now, is it my favorite of the series? No, that's still The Santa Clause 2. But, I'll still pop this on whenever I'm marathoning the Santa Clause movies on Blu-ray. So, I'm giving The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause a rating of 3.05/5. Now, we do have one more entry for the Santa Clause franchise to discuss, which is the six-episode Disney+ miniseries The Santa Clauses, but I will get to that later. Stay tuned on December 23rd, and I will give my full review of The Santa Clauses. As for tomorrow, I will be taking a look at a different new Holiday Special currently streaming on Disney+: The Hip Hop Nutcracker. This is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys tomorrow as we continue 12 Reviews of Christmas.