The holiday season is here and everyone has their particular favorite Christmas movie. One franchise that many holds near and dear to their hearts is The Santa Clause franchise. Originating in 1994, the franchise spawned a trilogy that ran for 12 years, and for many young kids, created and defined the mythology for which they viewed Santa, and also probably caused plenty of kids to misspell his last name.
The Santa Clause franchise, being made by the Walt Disney Corporation, makes it ideal holiday viewing for safe family-friendly material, as the original is rated PG and both sequels are rated G. The franchise is back in a big way, with the new Disney+ series The Santa Clauses, which premiered on November 16, 2022, to kick off the holiday season. Now is a great time to revisit the franchise, and here is a breakdown of every The Santa Clause title in order of release and chronological order (which happen to be the same).
The Santa Clause Series in Chronological Order and Order of Release
- The Santa Clause - November 11, 1994
- The Santa Clause 2 - November 2, 2002
- The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause - November 3, 2006
- The Santa Clauses - November 16 to December 14, 2022
The Santa Clause
The Santa Clause has to work around the incredibly dark premise of killing Santa Claus, a very horrific pitch that was originally intended for a more R-rated adult movie that Disney purchased and reworked into a family-friendly film. The movie sees Scott Calvan (Tim Allen) as a divorced dad who has a strained relationship with his son Charlie. After accidentally causing Santa to fall off his roof, Scott puts on Santa's coat and inadvertently takes on the mantle of Santa Claus. Over the next year, Scott begins to transform into the new Santa while convincing those close to him that he is in fact, Santa Claus.
The Santa Clause grossed $145 million at the domestic box office in 1994 and worldwide $190 million. The film received positive reviews from critics and became a favorite among family audiences over the holiday season for years to come. With a number one hit movie and a popular sitcom on the air, Tim Allen truly became a star, and The Santa Clause helped lay the foundation for a long-term working relationship with him and Disney. The film and their working relationship helped boost the popularity of Toy Story the following year, as it had the recent Academy Award winner for Best Actor (Tom Hanks) and the number one television star (Allen) leading its film.
The Santa Clause 2
Released a surprising eight years after the original, The Santa Clause 2 sees Scott Calvan discover he needs to find a wife to become Mrs. Claus, or else he will cease to be Santa. Scott decides to go visit his son Charlie (who has found himself on the naughty list) and look for a wife, while he makes a toy Santa to act in his place in the North Pole while he is gone. Scott begins to fall for his son Charlie's principal, Carol Newman. Meanwhile, the Toy Santa begins to go rogue, taking the rules too seriously and deeming everyone naughty, threatening to give the entire world coal for Christmas with Santa needing to save the day. The movie ends with Santa and Carol marrying and Carol becoming the new Mrs. Claus.
The Santa Clause 2 was a box office hit, grossing $139 million at the domestic box office and $172 million worldwide. Although the reviews were not as well received as its predecessor, it kept the brand growing and became another holiday movie classic that Disney would replay in syndication.
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
The final installment in The Santa Clause film trilogy, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause was released in 2006 and saw Tim Allen return as Santa Claus, with comedy legend Martin Short taking on the villainous role of Jack Frost. Set 12 years after the original The Santa Clause and about four years following The Santa Clause 2, the third film sees the now pregnant Mrs. Clause's parents visiting the North Pole with Scott needing to claim the North Pole is in fact Canada.
Meanwhile, Jack Frost uses time travel and the titular Escape Clause to go back in time to 1994 when Santa fell off the roof and take the coat before Scott Calvan can. Scott wakes up in an alternate reality where he was never Santa, and must find a way to fix things and set the world right. The movie ends with Scott revealing himself to Carol's parents as Santa Claus, and Carol goes into labor and gives birth to Buddy Clause.
At this point, it seemed like the franchise was regrettably over, as the film received worst reviews than the previous film and grossed quite a bit less than its predecessors with $84 million domestic and $110 million worldwide. With Tim Allen's star power waning, it seemed like the franchise was dead, but as the years went on and generational nostalgia grew, it was only a matter of time until Disney returned to the Santa Clause franchise.
The Santa Clauses
Sixteen years after The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause opened in theaters, the franchise made its big return in the form of a Disney+ series titled The Santa Clauses. The series picks up in real-time, as Scott Calvan has been Santa Claus for 28 years. Getting up there in age, Scott Calvan decides he can't be Santa forever and decides to retire and spend more time with his family, including his wife Carol, his son Buddy 'Cal' Calvin Claus, and his daughter Sanda Calvan Claus. Scott looks to find a suitable replacement for Santa and may have found one in the form of an up-and-coming tech developer Simon Choksi.
The series spans three years, with the first episode beginning on Christmas Eve 2022 and ending on Christmas Eve 2023 with a majority of the series taking place in the build-up to Christmas 2024. The series is currently airing on Disney+ and will conclude on December 14, 2022.