The Santa Clauses is a new holiday series on Disney+ that picks up where the Tim Allen Christmas trilogy left off.
The Santa Clause franchise continues in The Santa Clauses, a new holiday series from Disney+. Tim Allen returns as Santa Claus, the spirit of the season formerly known as Scott Calvin. Along for the sleigh ride are Elizabeth Mitchell as Mrs. Claus and new addition Kal Penn, who plays a tech startup rival of Santa’s. Does this series recapture some of that movie magic, or is this a franchise that was better left on ice?
Opening Shot: A reindeer’s-eye-view of the water as we pan up to see New York City at night — on Christmas Eve, no less! And as we make our way into tech mogul Simon’s (Kal Penn) home, we see that he is on a Zoom call with his employees instead of helping his daughter decorate the Christmas tree.
The Gist: It’s been 28 years since Scott Calvin took over for Santa after St. Nick’s accidental death, and Scott — I mean, Santa has this whole Father Christmas thing down. He’s got an elf sidekick named Noel (Devin Bright) who helps him on his annual toy drives, and he’s got a whole control room of pros back in the North Pole making sure everything goes according to plan. But things aren’t going according to plan! The nice list gets shorter every year, almost as if kids are losing their Christmas spirit. And when kids lose interest in Christmas, Santa’s magic starts to dwindle! Pretty soon Santa’s not able to travel up and down chimneys with ease and he keeps losing weight. What gives?! Can Santa amp up Christmas spirit? And what will happen to Santa’s whole setup After a beleaguered tech dude and single father named Simon spots what looks like a sleigh and eight reindeer soaring through the sky…?
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Forget shows — this is definitely the Santa Clause franchise. You’ve got Allen’s irreverent take on Santa, which includes a weight-gaining montage set to “Eye of the Kringle.” The North Pole is the same, including that terrifying fireplace shaped like Santa’s head. There are even a few gratingly silly gags that kids will love and parents will tolerate, like an “Elves Just Wanna Have Fun” dance routine.
