The Santa Clause

Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) is a divorced father with a son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd). On Christmas Eve, when Charlie is spending the night, they are awakened by a noise on the roof. Going outside to investigate, Scott can see someone on the roof. He yells at the trespasser, which causes him the man to fall off the roof.

The deceased trespasser appears to be Santa Claus. He magically disappears, but his suit remains. They find a business card in a pocket stating that if something should happen to the bearer, someone should put on the suit, climb into the sleigh and the reindeer will take it from there. They find a sleigh and eight reindeer perched atop the house. Scott puts on the Santa suit to appease his son, and begins delivering toys from rooftop to rooftop.

Their last stop is the North Pole). The head elf, Bernard (David Krumholtz), shows him am inscription on the card which says that upon the death of the previous occupant, whoever dons the suit assumes the identity of Santa Claus and all the responsibilities that go with it. This is the "Santa Clause," as stated by Bernard: "You put on the suit, you're the big guy."

^[1]

Scott has 11 months (until the next Thanksgiving) to get his affairs in order before becoming Santa Claus full time, which he tries to refuse. He and Charlie spend the night at the incredible factory. The next morning they awake back in Scott's home, where the only indication of their previous night's adventure is Scott's new silk pajamas with "SC" monogrammed on them. Scott dismisses it all as a dream.

Soon, however, Scott starts gaining weight. He grows a long gray beard. Shaving it off has no effect; it regrows immediately. His hair whitens, despite attempts to dye it. He somehow knows who's been "naughty" and "nice". Children approach him with gift requests. This transformation creates trouble with his ex-wife Laura (Wendy Crewson) and her new husband, psychologist Dr. Neal Miller (Judge Reinhold), who try to terminate his visitation rights to Charlie. They question Scott's mental stability, and believe that Scott's changes are attempts at getting his son to like him.

Scott's visitation rights to Charlie are revoked. Disheartened, he still goes on with his Christmas Eve trip. Scott is arrested while delivering presents to his son's home, and is accused of kidnapping Charlie (who had been helping the elves). A team of rescue-elves free Scottr from jail, and fly Scott and Charlie home to his mother and stepfather, to whom Santa gives the presents they wanted since childhood: Laura gets a vintage Mystery Date game and Neal gets an Oscar Mayer "Weinie Whistle". Laura, realizing finally that Scott really is the new Santa, tosses the custody papers into the fireplace and welcomes Scott to come see Charlie any time he wants.

The Santa Clause was a hit, grossing over USD$144 million in the United States alone and over $189 worldwide.^[2]

It was also generally well received by critics, and holds a 78% rating on the Rotten Tomatoes film critic aggregation website.^[3]

This film has been released on VHS and standard DVD.

The popularity of the film spawned two related sequels, The Santa Clause 2 in 2002 and Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause in 2006. Much of the character cast remains the same for each film, but with some additions.

In The Santa Clause 2, Tim Allen as Santa has been declared to be the best Claus ever, but with his son on the naughty list and the work becoming more hectic, Santa learns he must find a suitable wife or give up his duties as Santa Claus.

In The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, the North Pole and its holiday operation is threatened by the villainous Jack Frost (Martin Short), who plans to take over Christmas.^[4]

• The Santa Clause at IMDb

Template:The Santa Clause