12 Reviews of Christmas - The Santa Clauses (2022)

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and we're almost at the end of 12 Reviews of Christmas, with two more reviews to get through. Today, we'll be taking a look at the new Disney+ original series The Santa Clauses, which debuted last month and wrapped on December 14th. This series sees the returns of Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell, who are joined by newcomers like Austin Kane, Elizabeth Allen-Dick, Devin Bright, Matilda Lawler, and Kal Penn, with guest appearances by Eric Lloyd, Laura San Giacomo, and David Krumholtz. 

        So, it's officially been twenty-eight years since Scott Calvin first became Santa Claus, and he's starting to feel the weight of the job caving in on him. On top of that, fewer and fewer kids are on Santa's list every year due to the new modern age of convenience thanks to services like Amazon. On top of this, Scott's wife, Carol, is starting to wonder about previous incarnations of Mrs. Claus, as since there have been many versions of Santa before, where is the history of past versions of Mrs. Claus.  Oh, and remember how at the end of Santa Clause 3 where we saw Scott and Carol's infant son Buddy Calvin-Claus? Well, he's a teen now, and he goes by just Cal. Also, Scott and Carol have a teen daughter as well, Sandra Calvin-Claus. So, yeah, Scott now has three kids: Charlie, Cal, and Sandra. 

         Anyway, as Scott has more and more struggles with being Santa, his powers continue to fade, as does the Christmas Spirit. So, Scott learns from one of his top elves, Betty, of a fourth clause called the "Secessus Clause," in which Scott can formally retire from being Santa... provided he finds and appoints a worthy successor. Now, obviously, the choice seems clear: Charlie. So, Scott heads to see Charlie and his family in Florida. And although Charlie appreciates the offer, and loved all the memories of the North Pole, riding in the sleigh with Scott, and would love nothing more than to take on the job, Charlie's job and family are more important to him than taking the job as Santa. Scott's next choice, Cal, also doesn't quite work out, as he's a bit of a screw-up. 

       So, it's here where we see the list of potential successors to Scott's job as Santa. Enter game designer and entrepreneur Simon Choksi, who is a widower single father to his daughter, Grace. Simon was previously successful as a game designer, but is tragically less so with his delivery system called "Everything Now." One Christmas Eve, however, he spots Scott traveling through the North Pole's traversal system, and decides that such a rapid delivery system is exactly the thing needed to get "Everything Now" off the ground. Simon and Grace are both brought to the North Pole where, after a failed interview to appoint pro football player Peyton Manning as the new Santa, Scott gets to meet Simon, while Sandra shows Grace around the North Pole. 

         Sandra and Grace head off to meet La Bafana, who is a Christmas witch from Italian folklore. And I gotta say that Laura San Giacomo is absolutely hilarious as La Bafana. Her mannerisms, line delivery, and personality are easily a highlight, and she is just a lot of fun. Definitely one of the stand-outs of the season. Anyway, after Scott and Simon are taken by La Bafana to her house, Sandra confides in Scott that she's nervous about leaving her life in the North Pole behind and starting over in the real world. Scott admits to being nervous as well, and the two agree to share the burden of nervousness, thus making it much easier. So, Simon accepts the job, but the Santa coat doesn't go willingly. Scott, Carol, Cal, and Sandra are set up in a new home acquired for them in a Chicago suburb, and things should go swimmingly now. 

        Unfortunately, this only applies to Carol, Cal, and Sandra. Carol is back to being a school principal, Sandra is joining a horseback riding club, and Cal is getting along with a girl named Riley, and the two start going out. Scott is the only one struggling with his new life. Back in the North Pole, things are getting much, much worse, as Simon isn't officially Santa, and the Santa coat takes off, heading to the home of La Bafana for safekeeping. On top of that, he has a plan to combine the fast-delivery system in the North Pole with his "Everything Now" service to put together a brand new concept: Christmas Every Day. This idea is that people everywhere can now place an order with "Everything Now," and get it instantaneously with drones traveling from the North Pole to wherever an order is placed. This concept, along with Scott's choice to step down as Santa, is single handedly destroying the Spirit of Christmas, and is causing every elf in the North Pole to vanish. Poof. Gone. 

        However, one elf, or rather FORMER elf, is called upon to help get Scott back on track. Bernard, Scott's former head elf, has shown up to take Scott on a spirit walk through the Yule-verse, where he sees his own childhood of being generous and giving to others, as well as past incarnations of Santa and other notable Christmas figures like Saint Nicolas of Myra, and even Krampus. The Yule-verse episode really gives a deep dive into Christmas lore and I absolutely loved it. So, it's here where we learn that Scott was the first human in history to have been chosen to become Santa Claus. The four clauses (The Santa Clause, the Mrs. Clause, the Escape Clause, and the Secessus Clause) we're created by Bernard and the previous Santa as a means to guide Scott on his Santa journey. Yeah, apparently every Santa before Scott was created by the Spirit of Christmas itself, and each Santa or Santa-like figure was made to meet the challenges of the era for which he was created. And evidently, the Santa that fell from Scott's roof in the original Santa Clause movie, Santa Claus XVII, had deliberately made the fall so that Scott could take the coat and become the new Santa. It was all planned out, with the hope also being that Scott could also father children with the powers of Santa who could eventually take over when the time was right to do so. 

         Returning from the Yule-verse, Scott determines to get back to the North Pole and reclaim the mantle of Santa from Simon, with Carol, Cal, and Sandra in tow. Oh, and Scott's newest head elf Noel is also there, and he left to join Scott as he had no faith in Simon even at the start. Scott has to convince Simon that his whole plan is destroying the Spirit of Christmas, but Simon is unconvinced as he sees his program as a success and a hit with everyone. However, Scott reminds him that Christmas isn't about receiving and getting, but it's about giving. It's the feeling of giving that makes Christmas so special. It's here that Grace shows her father her special Christmas memory from within one of the North Pole Snow globes: the last Christmas spent before her mother passed away. Simon apologizes, revealing that he forgot the things that matter most. Relinquishing the coat to Scott, Simon gives up his responsibilities as the new Santa, and takes Scott to a mystical orb that showed how much Christmas Spirit there is. Scott, finally realizing what really matters, gathers his family together, along with Noel, Simon, Grace, and La Bafana in a big group hug, which in turns restores the Christmas spirit, this bringing back all of the elves that disappeared. 

          Throughout the series, we learn that Cal and Sandra both inherited special skills that are a major part of being Santa, which was the goal of the whole notion of making Scott become Santa in the first place: to see if a human Santa could father a child who would inherit the powers of Santa. So, Scott puts the coat back on, becoming Santa once again, Cal officially begins his Santa apprenticeship, and Scott goes to make the Christmas run with Carol, Cal, and Sandra all riding with him in the sleigh. The season ends with another successful Christmas, and everyone in the North Pole getting ready for next year. 

         Now, I honestly loved every episode of The Santa Clauses, as it was a great return to a previously successful Disney franchise. Seeing both Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell reprising their roles as Santa and Mrs. Claus was absolutely fantastic, and the two definitely haven't missed a beat. I also thoroughly enjoyed both Austin Kane and Elizabeth Allen-Dick as Cal and Sandra. It's especially nice to have Elizabeth here alongside Tim Allen in the series, as Elizabeth, who plays Sandra, is Tim Allen's daughter in real life. 

         Now, of course, we had to get both Charlie and Bernard back, and great job on both Eric Lloyd and David Krumholtz for making their returns in the series. Another character who returns briefly is Sara, one of the children Scott delivered Christmas presents to, as an adult now, and she was played in her one appearance by Casey Wilson, who  definitely looks like the grown-up version of the kid from the original movie. 

        Kal Penn, who of course is known for being Kumar in the Harold & Kumar series, is a really unique antagonist in this series as Simon. As opposed to Toy Santa in Santa Clause 2, who saw all children as naughty and deserving of coal, or Jack Frost in Santa Clause 3, who wanted to be Santa for the game and recognition and that's it, Simon's reason for agreeing to be Santa and taking over for Scott is because he wants to utilize the fast delivery system that Santa uses every Christmas to make his own delivery system, Everything Now, more successful and in-demand, which makes him a threat to Christmas Spirit. Again, being Santa for the wrong reason. However, unlike Jack Frost, who didn't learn on his own and had to have his heart warmed by Lucy, Simon does.learn how in the wrong he was and ultimately realizes what's most important at Christmastime. So, Simon is the first antagonist in the Santa Clause franchise to really get a happy ending. Also, I enjoyed the scenes that Simon had with his daughter Grace, played very well by Rupali Redd. 

        But what really stood out to me is how deep in Christmas and Yuletide lore we get in this series, seeing mythical Christmas figures like Saint Nicolas of Myra, La Bafana the Christmas Witch, Krampus, and Santa Clauses from different parts of history. Seeing Disney really dive into the mythos of Santa in this series was truly unique, and it definitely adds a new dimension to this franchise that you don't get from just the three movies. Plus, I like the idea that Scott is the first human to be chosen to be Santa, Carol is the very first Mrs. Claus, and Cal and Sandra are the first human children raised in the North Pole. 

        Now, in the movies, we maybe got some character development with the elves from characters like Bernard and Curtis, but this series really puts a handful of the elves front and center. Two examples are Noel and Betty, played respectively by Devin Bright and Matilda Lawler. This is the first time we see a husband and wife elf couple in the Santa Clause franchise, and their scenes together are a lot of fun. Other elves we see get lots of screen time are Edie, Crouton, Hugo, and Gary. Gary is the last standing member of E.L.F.S., the squad from the original Santa Clause, as the others are now on the toy line. 

        Overall, this is definitely one of the more fun new series of 2022 to be released on Disney+. Seeing my favorite on-screen version of Santa for the first time in sixteen years is absolutely fantastic, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm giving The Santa Clauses a rating of 5/5. Now, originally the series was announced as only a limited event series for the 2022 Holiday season. However, it was announced on the day the final episode dropped that the series will be getting a second season. So, we definitely get more of Scott and the Clauses coming our way in the future. 

        Well, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll be back tomorrow for the final review of this year's 12 Reviews of Christmas, which of course will be another adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic: A Christmas Carol.