The real reason for Bernard's absence in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause has been revealed. Play by David Krumholtz, Bernard the elf essentially served as the right hand man for Scott Calvin (Tim Allen), aka the new Santa Claus. In the original movie, it's Bernard who explains all of the rules to Scott after he unexpectedly becomes the jolly gift-giver.

The character played an essential role in the sequel as well, assisting the other elves in their rebellion against a nefarious toy Santa. It would appear that Bernard should have been right there alongside Allen's Scott Calvin in The Santa Clause 3, but the character is not present. Fans of the series were disappointed not to see Bernard included leading many to wonder why exactly Krumholtz didn't return.

It has since been reported that Krumholtz wasn't involved because he was busy at the time shooting the CBS series Numbers. In a new interview with Vulture, Krumholtz says that there's a bit more to the story than that. Saying that the story about his scheduling is "true, but also somehow untrue," the actor says he would have been willing to make the scheduling conflict work. According to Krumholtz, he was originally set to have a substantial role in The Santa Clause 3, but he later dropped out of the project because he felt they'd "devalued" the character.

"Bernard was in the third movie. They sent me the script, I had a pretty significant role. We did work out the schedule, which was going to be hellish on me, but I was going to make it work. And it was all set to go. But I would say that the character got devalued a little bit and I couldn’t in good conscience do it.”

Krumholtz is still satisfied with his portrayal as Bernard in the original two movies. He like that fans still find enjoyment in those movies so many years later, flabbergasted that it's become annual holiday viewing for many families. Whether or not he turned down the third movie, Krumholtz is surprised he's still talking so much about The Santa Clause in 2021.

“It’s wild to be part of something that’s lasted this long, that plays every single year and has become tradition in people’s homes. I could never have imagined that I’d be having this conversation years later.”

Something different about The Santa Clause compared to most other holiday movies is that the topic of divorce is central to the plot. Even with the magic of Santa Claus and the elves thrown into the mix, Krumholtz says that the film always feel grounded because of how the main characters handle these kinds of real-life issues.

“I love that it’s about divorce. It’s really about divorce at its core. I thought that really grounds the film. So no matter what you see in it after that point, once the film earns its foundation as a divorce comedy, then it becomes okay to have animatronic reindeer and little Jewish elves running around.”

The Santa Clause and its sequels will always have their place with fans of Christmas comedies. As for David Krumholtz, the actor made a special appearance on WWE Raw earlier this year and has recently been seen in movies like The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Crown Vic, and Asking for It.