History Film / TheSantaClause

The third, ''Film/TheSantaClause3TheEscapeClause'' (2006), features a North Pole visit from Carol's parents for Christmas. Mrs. Claus is about to have a baby, and Santa must contend with jealous Jack Frost (Creator/MartinShort). The harbinger of winter is jealous that Santa gets all the winter attention and decides to exploit the escape clause of the Santa Clause in order to steal the job from an overwhelmed Scott. Scott is returned to his life as it was before becoming Santa, without Carol, but is made aware of what's gone wrong and has to set it all right before Christmas Eve.

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[[folder:Franchise-Wide]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause'']]
* BabiesEverAfter: Santa and Carol have a baby at the end of the film.
* BackToTheEarlyInstallment: Jack tricks Scott into invoking the Escape Clause, which sends the two back in time to when the original Santa fell off the roof in the original movie. Jack makes the old Santa fall off the roof before the past Scott did, and steals the suit so he becomes Santa instead.
* [[BadFuture Bad Present]]: When Jack becomes Santa after igniting the Escape Clause, Scott is still a workaholic, Laura and Neil are divorced, Carol moved away, and Jack Frost has converted the North Pole into an amusement park, forcing people to come there to get their presents and having them pay to be put on the nice list.
* BigNo: Jack Frost when Scott foils him. First when Scott is able to make him invoke the Escape Clause, and then again when he realizes Scott has prevented him from altering the timeline again as Scott's past self becomes Santa like in the first movie.
* BookEnds: The film begins and ends with Carol being rushed to the hospital. The beginning is a false alarm, but the ending has Carol finally giving birth.
* BlandNameProduct: There are Christmas versions of human products, such as Red Deer (Red Bull) and North Pole Icy Treats.
* CanadaEh: The North Pole is dressed up to look like Canada to trick Bud and Sylvia into thinking they've just landed there.
* ChekhovsGun: In the alternate timeline, Curtis shows Scott a pen with voice recording capabilities. [[spoiler:Scott uses this pen to trick Jack into getting caught unintentionally using the Escape Clause to stop being Santa Claus.]]
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Bernard is absent, and it's never explained why. In reality, his performer, David Krumholtz, was unable to reprise his role as Bernard due to contractual obligations working on ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'' and having very visibly aged. Judy and Quinton are likewise absent from the later films, though Abby serves as a replacement in the second film.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Jack Frost is this in the alternate timeline. He turns the North Pole into a theme park, makes people pay to get on the Nice List, and generally exploits his position as Santa for all its worth.
* DemotedToExtra: Charlie appears only very briefly in a few scenes.
* DisappearedDad: When [[spoiler:Frost rewrites history, Neal's attempt to bond with Charlie caused enough friction with Laura that ''they'' divorced as well]].
* FirstFatherWins: In a world where Jack Frost became Santa, Neal tried to be a father to Charlie while Scott was busy at the office. Charlie regardless preferred the absent Scott, which put pressure on Neal's relationship with Laura.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Scott asks Jack Frost (Santa Claus in the alternate continuity) to repeat the escape clause while arguing with him. [[spoiler: Simultaneously, he gets out the [[ChekhovsGun microphone pen]] and records Jack saying the escape clause without him noticing, so that Scott could use it against him later on]].
* FramingDevice: The events of the movie are bookended by Carol telling the events of the film to her elf students.
* GoodCostumeSwitch: When Jack Frost's heart is warmed by Lucy's hug, his suit changes from icy blue to pale gold, and his hair and brows lose the ice in them and become a more natural brunette.
%%* IronicEcho: "Who said ['I wish I had never been Santa at all']? Rudolph? Rudolph's... mama?"
* ItsAWonderfulPlot: Scott realizes that, without his becoming Santa, his entire family would end up as a bunch of greedy cynics.
* KickTheDog: Jack Frost does this several times. Aside from freezing Lucy's parents and exploiting the North Pole when he becomes Santa, there's this unforgettable quote:
-->'''Santa Jack Frost:''' Remember, kids. How much your parents love you depend on how much money they spend on your present!
* LargeHam: Martin Short as Jack Frost hams it up the entire time.
* LuminescentBlush: Jack Frost has one briefly when Lucy is giving him a hug to warm his heart.
* MaintainTheLie: Scott is forced to disguise the North Pole as Canada so that he can keep the Secret of Santa in effect while the in-laws visit and the elves and Millers help keep up the act.
* MeetingTheParentsSequel: Scott and Carol invite her parents to the North Pole. HilarityEnsues as they attempt to keep his identity a secret.
* NearAndDearBabyNaming: Santa/Scott names his and Mrs. Claus/Carol's new baby son Buddy at the end of the third film, after Carol's father Bud.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Curtis is easily baited by Jack Frost to give away vital information on Santa's snow globe, enabling Jack to take over Christmas. Ironically, in the alternate world, he actually unintentionally helps Scott defeat Frost.
* PutOnABus: Bernard doesn't appear at all, due to David Krumholtz having contractual obligations. Curtis, the Assistant Head Elf from the second movie, takes his place as the Head Elf.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Jack Frost is introduced as part of the Council of Legendary Figures despite being absent from the second film. This is justified by establishing that he doesn't attend the meetings, as noted by Father Time.
* RubberBandHistory: Scott goes back in time to undo the BadFuture and manages to hold Jack Frost back, letting his past self put on Santa's coat exactly as he did in the original movie.
* SadisticChoice: After Lucy catches Jack with Scott's snowglobe and freezing Laura and Neil, he forces her with an ultimatum: either he freezes her as well, or she gets locked up in the closet with them without saying a word. With no choice, she chose the latter.
* ShovelStrike: When the Escape Clause is invoked, Jack uses Scott's snow shovel to hit the latter in the face before he puts on Santa's coat. It's {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Scott, who says "You hit me with a shovel!"
* SongParody: In the BadFuture, Jack Frost performs a parody of Music/FrankSinatra's "New York, New York".
* TerminatorTwosome: Scott and Jack Frost go back in time to the first movie to fight over the previous Santa's coat so they can become the new Santa.
* TimelineAlteringMacGuffin: Santa's snowglobe, which is used in invoking an Escape Clause. Jack Frost takes it and convinces Scott to wish he'd never become Santa, which takes them both back to the night when Scott originally became Santa. Jack then steals the previous Santa's suit before Scott can, ultimately creating a BadFuture where he's a BadSanta.
* UsurpingSanta: Jack Frost wants to take over as Santa rather than be a herald of the winter season.
* WhatIsThisFeeling: Jack Frost experiences happiness and warm feelings when Lucy hugs him.
* WroteTheBook: When Lucy tries to get Jack Frost to chill, he replies that he invented chill.
-->'''Lucy''': Okay, okay, chill!\\
'''Jack Frost''': I invented chill!
[[/folder]]

The third, ‘’Film/TheSantaClause3TheEscapeClause'' (2006), features a North Pole visit from Carol's parents for Christmas. Mrs. Claus is about to have a baby, and Santa must contend with jealous Jack Frost (Creator/MartinShort). The harbinger of winter is jealous that Santa gets all the winter attention and decides to exploit the escape clause of the Santa Clause in order to steal the job from an overwhelmed Scott. Scott is returned to his life as it was before becoming Santa, without Carol, but is made aware of what's gone wrong and has to set it all right before Christmas Eve.

The third, ''The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause'' (2006), features a North Pole visit from Carol's parents for Christmas. Mrs. Claus is about to have a baby, and Santa must contend with jealous Jack Frost (Creator/MartinShort). The harbinger of winter is jealous that Santa gets all the winter attention and decides to exploit the escape clause of the Santa Clause in order to steal the job from an overwhelmed Scott. Scott is returned to his life as it was before becoming Santa, without Carol, but is made aware of what's gone wrong and has to set it all right before Christmas Eve.

The first film in the series, ''The Santa Clause'' (1994) is a modern take on the Scrooge story with a twist.

In ''The Santa Clause 2'' (2002), Scott discovers that the fine print in the magical contract that gave him his Christmas powers requires him to find a wife, and he has only until next Christmas to find a Mrs. Claus. He gets a watch with a magical indicator on it that tells him how much Christmas magic he has left; if it runs out, he can't get back to the North Pole. In order to keep the elves in the dark about the problem, a toy Santa is created to take his place. When it goes wrong, the elves try to keep a lid on it so Scott can find a lady. He finds one in Carol Newman (Creator/ElizabethMitchell), a principal at Charlie's school.

[[folder:''The Santa Clause 2'']]
* AccidentalMisnaming: The toy Santa doesn't get Bernard's name right.
* ActorAllusion: While fighting the toy Santa in mid-air, the real Santa is told [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory1 "You are a sad, strange little man."]]
* AIIsACrapshoot: Even magical Christmas elves can't always get it right, and here they make a toy Santa that ends up becoming a tyrant.
* AmicableExes: After the events of the first film, Scott is now on friendly terms with Laura and Neil, with the three working together to parent Charlie.
* ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare: Scott is not the least bit concerned about Comet eating massive amounts of chocolate, despite chocolate being toxic to many animals. Possibly justified, Comet is a magical reindeer.
* AscendedExtra: Bernard was only in a few scenes in the first movie but becomes a main character here.
* AudibleGleam: Charlie sacrifices a tooth to summon the Tooth Fairy so he can get Carol to the North Pole. When Santa's powers return, so does Charlie's tooth, with a [[TwinkleSmile visible sparkle]] that you can also hear.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: The Tooth Fairy wants a better name, so Scott jokingly calls him "the Molarnator".
* BroughtDownToNormal: After Scott hears of the Mrs. Clause and learns he has to get married by Christmas Eve, he undergoes a "De-Santafication" process where he gradually turns back into his former self.
* CallBack:
** Once again at the end Scott pull up his sleigh in the air in front of the Miller's home.
** Charlie repeats Judy's line from the first film. "Seeing is isn't believing, Believing is seeing"
* CassandraTruth: Scott confesses to Carol that he really is Santa Claus. She becomes angry with him, thinking he's mocking her hesitant confession about how much she loves Christmas. Charlie later attempts to vouch for his father, doing his first good deed since the previous Christmas in that film, only for her to think the same for him.
* CompanyCrossReferences: During Scott and Robo-Santa's fight, the latter shouts, as an ActorAllusion, [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory1 "You're a sad, strange little man!"]].
* ContinuityNod:
** The Snowglobe Charlie got from Bernard reappears in his bedroom. It also serves as a CheckovsGun to convince Carol that Scott was telling the truth.
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Toy Santa gets shrunk down to normal toy size after being defeated and is put into a toy store.
* DefconFive: The opening of the second film shows that the North Pole has the "ELFCON" system, which tracks the threat of the workshop being discovered by the outside world. It's surprisingly done correctly, with the number lowering from 5 to 1 as a plane passes closer and closer to the workshop and the threat of discovery rises.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Carol. Turns out she was an ice queen because being warm-hearted had gotten her hurt in the past.
* DemotedToExtra: Neal and Laura play a considerably smaller role than they do in the first and third films. Aside from allowing Scott to crash at their place while he looks for a wife, [[OutOfFocus they don’t do too much else in this film.]]
* DisappearedDad: Scott slips out of his son's life because of the workload involved in caring for all the children of the world.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Toy Santa is unfamiliar with the concept of a proportion of any kind -- as far as he's concerned, if a kid does anything naughty at all, all year, they count as naughty. Curtis and Bernard try to convince him this view is too harsh, but he doesn't listen.
* DIYDentistry: Having lost his magic, Scott needs a way to get back to the North Pole to stop Toy Santa's takeover. He and Curtis attempt to pull out one of his teeth to prompt a visit from the ToothFairy with both the "tie string to the doorknob" and "tie string to a toaster" tricks. Neither work on his adult teeth; thankfully, Lucy is an actual child who just naturally loses her tooth in time.
* EveryoneKnewAlready: In the beginning, Lucy is the only one in the Miller family who is not in on Scott's secret, but she openly suspects he's Santa Claus just from all the obvious clues. They eventually confirm it to her at the end.
* FirstGirlWins: Principal Newman is the first woman Scott encounters after returning from the Pole and is the one he ends up marrying.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** In the beginning, Scott/Santa remarks that his pants feel looser before he finds out about the whole Mrs. Clause/Desantafication ordeal.
** In the beginning, Curtis plays with a toy Santa. Later he creates a ''life-size'' toy Santa to take over the workshop for Scott.
* FourthDateMarriage: The plot is that Scott/Santa has to find a "Mrs. Claus" in one month or lose his powers.
* GilliganCut: When told he has to convince the other elves that the Toy Santa is the real one, Bernard insists "I'm not gonna lie to all the elves!" Cut to Bernard telling him how much better "Santa" looks now to the other elves.
* HoldYourHippogriffs: When the tooth fairy thinks he's caught, he grunts "bicuspids!"
* HomemadeSweaterFromHell: A de-Santafied Scott is forced to wear one of Neal's sweaters on his first date because it's the only thing that fits him; the prospective woman Scott dates turns out to be a Christmas freak with an even more hideous sweater.
* JumpCut: From Career Day in Charlie's class to the ensuing parent conference with his principal.
* KeepingSecretsSucks: The reason for Charlie acting out (and getting on the naughty list) is due to the stress of not being able to tell anyone the truth about what his dad really does, even though he considers it the greatest job in the world.
* LargeHam: Robot Santa in is much hammier than regular Santa.
* LetThePastBurn: When Laura finds out that Scott really is Santa, she burns the documents from the child custody ruling, effectively rescinding it.
* LetThereBeSnow: A variation. Their Chicago suburb is covered in ice, but Scott uses some of his dwindling Christmas magic to create a localized cloud of gentle snowfall while he's courting Carol.
* MissionImpossibleCableDrop: Charlie drops through a skylight in the school gym with a harness and rope, so he can paint graffiti on the wall.
* MrsClaus: The film is about Scott having to get a wife; apparently, having a Mrs. Clause is required for a Santa to keep his magic.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Curtis neglects to tell Santa about the Mrs. Clause until it's almost too late, nearly causes the Pole to be discovered by playing with a dancing Santa during a lockdown, and creates a Toy Santa that almost ruins Chrismas because Curtis kept encouraging him to follow the rules.
* NotMeThisTime: A variation: when Bernard reveals that Charlie's on the naughty list, Santa/Scott initially thinks that he's referring to Creator/CharlieSheen and remarks that he thought he straightened out. Abby then reveals that they weren't referring to Sheen, but to his son, Charlie Calvin.
* OnlySaneMan: Bernard is the only person in the know who thinks toy Santa is a bad idea. Scott realizes how unconvincing it looks but tells Bernard to convince the other elves it's him anyway, and when he does he sounds ''so'' sure of himself. Unfortunately, he admits that maybe Curtis was right that it was a good idea right before toy Santa [[TyrantTakesTheHelm goes completely bonkers]].
* ParentWithNewParamour: Scott has to get married to fulfill the conditions of the Mrs. Clause. He falls in love with Carol... who also happens to be Charlie's hated principal. When Charlie first finds out they're dating, he's devastated, [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy but later decides that his father's happiness is more important]] and tries to convince Carol to believe in Scott.
* ProductPlacement:
** The film features it in the sequence where Scott delivers to the school staff all their favorite toys from childhood, including Toss Across and Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots.
** When Carol tells Scott that it would be difficult for the Secret Santa to find said toys, he sarcastically name-drops eBay.
** The family is shown about to eat [=McDonald's=] when discussing the Mrs. Clause.
** Comet gorges himself on a variety of Nestlé chocolate bars.
* ProtectorBehindBars: Curtis has to go warn Santa that Toy Santa has gone off the deep end in Bernard's place because Bernard has been placed under house arrest. Scott is incredulous about this news.
* RaceAgainstTheClock: Scott has to get married before [[CelestialDeadline midnight on Christmas Eve]] or he'll stop being Santa forever.
* ReadTheFinePrint: The "Mrs. Clause" is so well hidden that Scott needs a gigantic magnifying glass to see it.
* RememberTheNewGuy: A whole bunch of them, the Council of Legendary Figures, who are introduced show up for a meeting as if we've always known them. Granted they are all well-known public domain characters.
* RottenRoboticReplacement: When Scott is temporarily cast away from the North Pole until he can find a woman to be his wife, a toy Santa is created to take his place. This fake Santa lacked Scott's compassion and boundaries, proclaiming a kid naughty for not doing anything bad at all and placing Head Elf Bernard under house arrest.
* SecondYearProtagonist: Charlie's being fifteen years old makes it easier to set up the scenario of his getting into trouble in high school and on the naughty list; he's used to his school, he knows his way around it, and because he hasn't just filed a college application, there's plenty of time for him to be set right again.
%%* ShootTheMessenger: From an elf in the second movie after bringing Santa the naughty and nice list.
* ShoutOut:
** In the second film -- [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} a Robo-Santa who views everyone as naughty and intends to punish them accordingly?]]
** Lucy has a ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' picture in her room.
** Scott's confrontation with Toy Santa results in Toy Santa exclaiming [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory1 "You are a sad, strange little man."]] Doubles as an ActorAllusion.
* ShownTheirWork: Lucy is almost seven, the age at which experts believe children gain the ability to tell right from wrong, and, by extension, the ability to keep a secret.
* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: Scott needs the Tooth Fairy's help to get back to the North Pole. Unfortunately, Scott has completely "desantafied" by this point and the Tooth Fairy doesn't recognize him in his regular form. Scott convinces him by rattling off the details of their last council meeting, including Scott's suggestion of "The Molarnator" as Tooth Fairy's new title.
* SpottingTheThread: Toy Santa would look just like Santa... if his face and hair weren't obviously made of inorganic material. Bernard tries to cover this by saying Santa had some work done and is sensitive about it.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Carol had her heart broken before, so Scott really has to work at making a connection with her and winning her affection.
* SurpriseSantaEncounter: Lucy finds out that Uncle Scott really is Santa Claus and gets in on being a SecretKeeper.
%%* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Abby for Judy.
* TemporaryBulkChange: Comet eats so much chocolate that he becomes too fat to fly. The Tooth Fairy takes Scott to the North Pole to defeat the Toy Santa, and Chet takes Comet's place when they deliver the toys.
* TemptingFate: Bernard remains unconvinced that Toy Santa can be an effective replacement for Scott, much to Curtis's annoyance. Eventually, Curtis convinces him to admit nothing would go wrong... ''immediately'' before Toy Santa goes off the rails.
* TheToothHurts: Left without any means to fly back to the North Pole on their own, everyone tries to pull one of Scott's teeth so that the Tooth Fairy will show up and they can ask him for a ride. Scott winds up repeatedly hurting himself without any teeth to show for it. Thankfully, Lucy just happens to lose a tooth before going to bed.
* TwoTimerDate: Scott has to spend most of December looking after Charlie and trying to find a wife. The problem is that that's exactly when he has to be at the North Pole doing his Santa duties. They create Toy Santa to get around this.
* TyrantTakesTheHelm: Toy Santa becomes a LiteralGenie dictatorial monster who nearly ruins Christmas when he decides no children are good enough to get presents so they should ''all'' get coal.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Curtis neglects to notify Santa of the "Mrs. Clause" until Scott has all four weeks to seek out a new wife if he wants to keep his job. He does eventually fess up to having let pride blind him on that one. And that's to say nothing of his creation of the Toy Santa...
* VitriolicBestBuds: Scott has become close friends with Neal and Laura in the eight-year time gap. However, Scott still likes to make fun of Neal but in a playful manner, rather than vicious.
* WeddingDeadline: Santa has to be officially married before Christmas Eve turns Christmas Day at midnight or he'll lose his powers and there will be no Santa. [[FridgeLogic Very surprising, considering the efforts the elves make to to ensure that there is always a Santa.]]
[[/folder]]

The first film in the series, ''The Santa Clause'' (1994) is a modern take on the Scrooge story with a twist. Businessman Scott Calvin is divorced and cynical, and his ex-wife Laura (Creator/WendyCrewson) doesn't want him to have much contact with his son, Charlie (Creator/EricLloyd). One fateful Christmas Eve, he startles a man who he believes is a burglar on his roof. The man falls off into the snow of their front yard, then vanishes, leaving his clothing behind- and a sleigh of flying reindeer on the roof. Scott, at Charlie's insistence, puts on the guy's red Santa coat and spends the night delivering gifts before being taken back to the North Pole, where he discovers that he inadvertently invoked a magical contract and must now take on the role of Santa permanently, being given until Thanksgiving to set his affairs in order. He tries to blow this off as a wild dream and returns to his life, but before he knows it, he finds himself craving cocoa with marshmallows and Christmas cookies, puts on weight at an alarming rate, and finds his hair whitening and a beard that grows back in five seconds. His ex thinks that he's gone crazy and tries to win sole custody of their son, and Scott has to attempt to both repair his damaged family relationships and keep Christmas going.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the-santa-clause-poster-courtesy-walt-disney-pictures.jpg]]

->''"In putting on the suit and entering the sleigh, the wearer waives any and all rights to any previous identity, real or implied, and fully accepts the duties and responsibilities of Santa Claus in perpetuity until such time that wearer becomes unable to do so by either accident or design."''
-->-- The stipulations of the titular clause

[[folder:''The Santa Clause (1994)'']]
* AccidentalMisnaming: Scott's first attempt at saying Bernard's name consists of only repeating the first syllable, then calling him "Barabas" before setting on "Barnaby".
* ActorAllusion:
** Scott [[Series/HomeImprovement repeatedly grunts "Oh no!"]]
** When Scott is first touring the North Pole, he picks up a [[Series/HomeImprovement tool belt]] and holds it to his waist.
** When Scott reluctantly agrees to put on Santa's clothes, there's a StealthPun where he says the name of his character's last name on ''Home Improvement'':
--->'''Scott''': Well I hope you're happy, Comet. I hope ''you're'' happy. But most importantly, I hope the guy that lives here IS A ''TAILOR''!
* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: International versions use [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVBzIRJgOXc "Jingle Bells"]] by Yello as the end credits song instead of "Christmas Will Return".
* AndADietCoke: Structurally inverted in the board meeting, where Scott orders an extremely light entrée of an undressed salad, then appends several desserts.
* AwardBaitSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFpNTgMiuKo&pp=ygUVY2hyaXN0bWFzIHdpbGwgcmV0dXJu "Christmas Will Return"]] by Brenda Russel & Howard Hewett.
* {{Bowdlerise}}:
** The televised version ends the doctor's office scene early, because the doctor uses his stethoscope, and the camera shows Scott's bare chest.
** Likewise, Scott muttering that he's "freezing [his] nubs off out here" as he puts on the suit and goes down the first house's chimney is typically changed to him saying that he's freezing his ''butt'' off outside in most televised airings of the first film.
* BrickJoke:
** In the beginning, the first Santa dies after falling off Scott's roof. Later in the film, it seems Scott himself has developed a minor phobia of falling off roofs.
** On one of his first visits, Scott sarcastically tells a little girl that he's lactose intolerant after she tells him to have the milk and cookies. A year later, he visits the same girl and she has put out soy milk for him.
** Judy is the name of the waitress who serves Scott and Charlie at Denny's. When Scott first arrives at Santa's workshop, the elf who gives him monogrammed pajamas also goes by Judy.
* ButNowIMustGo: Scott leaves Charlie forever because a lot of kids are counting on him and he can't let them down, so Charlie lets him go, even though he will miss him. Before Scott actually leaves though, [[JustWhistle Bernard tells Charlie he can use his snow globe to summon Scott]].
* ButtMonkey: Scott Calvin tries hard to do the right thing, but life keeps making him look like a fool.
* TheCameo: Jimmy Labriola, who worked with Tim Allen on Series/HomeImprovement, has a cameo as a truck driver.
* CavalierConsumption: Scott spends a board meeting taking his time scooping a sundae dish clean, all to the tune of [[Series/{{Jeopardy}} Think!]].
* ConsummateLiar: Ties into Scott's cynicism and bitterness, which of course means that [[CryingWolf no one believes him]] when he says he's becoming Santa.
* CrappyHolidays: At the beginning, Scott further strains his already tense relationship with Charlie, Laura, and Neal by not being home to receive Charlie, then treating them all less than politely when he does show up. Charlie is concerned that he won't have fun with his father, so he asks if he has to stay with him and requests that his mom pick him up first thing in the morning. Scott ruins his and Charlie's Christmas Eve dinner by burning their turkey, then takes Charlie out to eat. On his second try, he finds a Denny's, but they have to work that way past a crowd in the front room. Scott and Charlie don't get their first choice in anything to eat or drink, and then Santa falls off their roof. It proves to be a pivotal point in their Christmas because although Scott's SubbingForSanta is the first thing he's done to make Charlie happy in a long time, it also leads to a lot more stress for him.
* DescriptionCut: When Scott pulls into a Denny's, he describes it as "an American institution". When they get in, it's full of Japanese businessmen.
* DomesticApplianceDisaster: Scott Calvin burnt the Christmas turkey to the ashes and has to take his son to a diner. [[HilarityEnsues Turn out he's not the only dad to have to do that.]]
* DonutMessWithACop: Elves use one as a gag. Also, when the police go over their plan to trap Santa, one of the landmarks they list is the donut shop.
* DoomDoors: When Charlie encounters the reindeer atop his house, one of them groans with the exact same sound effect that ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' uses as the zombie marines' death sound.
* DramaticIrony: The audience (along with Charlie and Scott, of course) knows full well that the trip to the North Pole and Scott becoming the new Santa really happened and Scott [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody can't really help the Santa-y things that keep happening to him or that he himself does]], but to Laura, Neal, and everyone else, it looks like Charlie is becoming obsessively attached to what sounds like just a crazy dream and Scott is fostering this behavior by acting more like Santa.
* EmptyPilesOfClothing: The only thing left of Santa [[NoBodyLeftBehind after he vanishes]] is his Santa suit.
* FoodPorn: In one scene, the camera pans across a very appetizing Christmas dinner... and then pulls back to reveal that it's on a TV screen while Scott is busy extinguishing a burning turkey.
* FromTheMouthsOfBabes: Neal's influence on Charlie backfires when Charlie declares that Neal is denying his inner child.
* {{Gasshole}}:
** Comet. When Scott Calvin meets him in the first film (and warns Charlie that the Reindeer might have "Key Lyme Disease"), Comet lets out a rather pungent blast of flatulence. Comet also farts after eating too much chocolate in the second movie, and several times again in the third film.
--->'''Scott:''' Eat some roughage, will you?
** The other reindeer seem to have gas issues too, with Scott mentioning in the second film that he doesn't want to take Prancer out because he can't stand when he "eats too many apples".
** Scott himself ends up getting this during the first stages of his transformation into Santa -- when he is getting up out of bed, you can distinctly hear a farting sound.
* HiddenDepths: There are several scenes that show that, underneath his cynicism, Scott really is a good man at heart who deserves the role of Santa. Most of them are centered around his son, but there's a brief line of dialogue where he tells Charlie that he tried making things like the magic snowglobe when he first started working with toys, but no one bought them, with a definite note of sadness in his voice.
* HomemadeSweaterFromHell: Neal wears these and is mocked for it by Scott. The Santification process causes this to become HypocriticalHumor as Scott ''also'' starts wearing hideous sweaters ''far'' worse than ''anything'' Neal ever wears.
* HowCanSantaDeliverAllThoseToys: Neal tries this with Charlie, pointing out that it's not logical for one man to be able to deliver toys to all the children of the world in one night. Charlie, having been on a Christmas delivery, has a number of counterarguments, such as pointing out that a lot of children don't celebrate Christmas.
* HideYourOtherness: Scott keeps shaving and dyeing his hair, as he doesn't want to look like Santa, only to have the beard grow back immediately and the hair go back to white.
* IHaveManyNames: When arrested, Scott delays his interrogation significantly by supplying a different name for Saint Nicholas each time he is asked for his name. And then Series/TopoGigio.
* InconvenientSummons: At the end of the movie, Charlie summons Scott mere minutes after they part.
* JeopardyThinkingMusic: As Scott eats, his co-workers just watch while this plays.
* {{Jerkass}}:
** Neal is a watered-down one, portraying his logic as a bad thing when it means you shouldn't believe in magic and wonder.
** Scott Calvin is this up until he transforms into Santa Claus, mainly because of his arrogant and cynical disposition.
* KlingonPromotion: Scott gets the Santa job by accidentally killing his predecessor.
* LastSecondJokeProblem: Scott embraces his role as Santa Claus, fixes his relationship with his son Charlie, and smooths things over with his ex-wife Laura. Things look rosy as he and Charlie take off in the sleigh to deliver presents when suddenly Laura starts worrying about how long they'll be gone. The film ends with her yelling at the top of her lungs while happy music plays in the background.
* LeavingFoodForSanta: Early in his tenure as Santa, when he's still refusing to get into the spirit of it, Scott doesn't touch the food. When a small child catches him not drinking the milk she's left out, he tells her it's because he's lactose intolerant. This becomes a BrickJoke when he returns to the house at the end of the film and finds that she's remembered and left him a glass of soy milk instead.
* LetThereBeSnow: This happens near the end when a crowd is watching Santa fly off. Next, there's a MatchCut to the snow globe when Charlie uses it.
* MenCantKeepHouse: During the Denny's scene, there's a whole section of the restaurant filled with single dads who screwed up Christmas Eve dinner and are trying to make up for it.
* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: Scott gradually takes on Santa's traits and kind demeanor.%%Compare when he visits the little girl's house in the first movie as his normal jerky self, and then later as Santa.%%Compare why?
* MissingChild: Scott and Charlie disappear with no trace around Thanksgiving to work at the North Pole with no warning to Laura or Neal but also no malice or intent to hurt them. However, his mother spends an entire month believing her [[SanitySlippage seemingly mentally ill]] ex-husband has abducted her son to parts unknown and only briefly hears from him on the phone once.
* MondegreenGag: Charlie mishears the line "Arose such a clatter" as "a rose suchak ladder". Humorously, after accidentally knocking Santa off the roof, Tim runs into a ladder from the "Rose Suchak Ladder Company".
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: In order to set a good example for Charlie, Scott pushes himself to be kind to Neal at the end of the movie, referring to him as part of their family.
* MyCard: Neal gives his to Scott when the Santa issue reaches a fever pitch.
* NoAntagonist: The other characters' reactions to Scott becoming more and more like Santa are borne purely out of their not understanding of what's really happening to him. The police in particular are simply doing their jobs in light of what, in all other respects, looks like a kidnapping when Scott and Charlie vanish together. Laura and Neal even apologize to Charlie once they realize the truth about Scott.
* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Inverted; when people refer to Neal as a doctor, Scott sarcastically replies "He's not a doctor, he's a ''psychiatrist.''" Psychiatrists actually ''are'' medical doctors; it's psyc''holog''ists who are the Ph.D's.
* PaintingTheMedium:
** The movie's poster and everything based on it have the text of the titular clause printed along the edges, just as it is with Santa's business card in the film.
** Some white sparks change the title from print to cursive, then linger on the E in Clause.
* PekingDuckChristmas: Subverted -- after Scott burns the Christmas Eve turkey, he tries to make use of this trope by taking his son to a Japanese restaurant. It's closed, so he takes him to a Denny's instead, which is filled with Japanese businessmen and fellow fathers who burned the turkey.
* PhoneWord: The movie got Disney in a little bit of trouble by having Scott sarcastically identify a phone number on a piece of paper as 1-800-SPANK-ME, which turned out to be an actual phone sex hotline.
* PreAssKickingOneLiner: "We're your worst nightmare. Elves. With. Attitude."
* ProductPlacement:
** Used very effectively. Both Laura and Neal talk about toys they wanted as children that convinced them Santa wasn't real, both actual toys: ''TabletopGame/MysteryDate1965'' is what Laura wants, and an Oscar Mayer Weenie Whistle is what Neal wants. [[spoiler:[[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail Scott finally delivers them at the end of the movie.]]]]
** At the beginning of the movie, Scott and Charlie eat at Denny's.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Used by the elves at the end of the movie, who declare themselves to be "Elves. With. Attitude."
* QuizzicalTilt: Charlie does one when he sees an elf for the first time and has no idea what said elf is doing. He doesn't realize that he and his father are being let into Santa's Workshop.
* ReadTheFinePrint: "The Santa Clause: In putting on the suit and entering the sleigh, the wearer waives any and all rights to any previous identity, real or implied, and fully accepts the duties and responsibilities of Santa Claus in perpetuity until such time that wearer becomes unable to do so by either accident or design." Scott needs a magnifying glass to read the clause, which is hidden on the business card.
* RewatchBonus: At the start of the movie, a few of the children looking through the store window are [[{{Foreshadowing}} elves]].
* RunningGag: Neal's ugly sweaters. This culminates when Bernard greatly admires one and wonders if it was produced by the elves.
* SantasExistenceClause: Scott pretends to believe in Santa for Charlie's sake, to the point of trying to explain how the reindeer fly, only to discover it ''is'' real. Later, Charlie's mother and stepfather get to discover for themselves that Santa is real.
* SecondEpisodeMorning: Scott tries desperately to dismiss his first night in the North Pole as a dream and hide the Santification process.
* ShoutOut:
** Scott mentioning the Creator/DisneyChannel makes the film much easier to market and air on related networks.
** When Scott Calvin has a smorgasbord of food before a meeting at the toy company that he works at while his coworkers wait for him to finish eating, the theme tune of ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' is playing in the background.
** After Scott quickly escapes up the chimney from a guard dog, Charlie asks him what it felt like. Scott responds that "It felt like ''Series/AmericasMostWanted''!"
* ShowAndTellAntics: Young Charlie brings his dad Scott Calvin to a Dads Day at school, and insists his dad is Santa! Scott tries to explain that as a toy distributor, he's only ''like'' Santa Claus, but Charlie saw the North Pole, and isn't buying this.
* ShownTheirWork: When Scott and Charlie finish their first run, the sun has already begun to rise. When they land at the North Pole, it's dark. Why? It's ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_night polar night]]!'' Compare this to almost every other Santa film, where the North Pole has "normal" day and night cycles.
* SilentRunningMode: To avoid being detected by a passing plane, Santa has the elves shut everything down at the North Pole. Curtis almost ruins it, however, by listening to a musical dancing doll.
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Scott and Laura engage in this at the beginning of the film. Justified since they went through an apparently nasty divorce.
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: When Bernard notices Neal's ugly sweater, he approves of it and checks to see whether it was made by the elves at the North Pole.
* TakeYouAsideTalk: These situations set up discussions about the effects of Scott's becoming Santa Claus; in the later two films, Scott is usually about to receive bad news.
* TakingTheKids: Scott's wife thinks that Scott is an unfit father, starts thinking he's crazy once the Santa stuff begins happening, and ultimately wins sole custody of Charlie.
* ThemeInitials: Pointed out by Charlie with regards to '''S'''cott '''C'''alvin/'''S'''anta '''C'''laus.
* TitleDrop: When Bernard is explaining Scott's new status to him, he says that "When you put on the suit, you fell subject to the Santa Clause."
%%* TookALevelInKindness: Scott after he becomes the new Santa Claus. Also, Laura and Neal after they realize Scott is really Santa Claus.%%How are they examples?
* {{Understatement}}: In the first film, as soon as he is done shaving off his Santa beard and dying his hair dark, only for the beard to immediately grow back and his hair to turn white again, Scott exclaims, "I'm in big trouble, mm-hmm."
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Charlie's constant appraisals of his dad's new role as Santa Claus really don't go over well with his mother and stepfather, who think that Scott is emotionally manipulating Charlie. The same goes for the kids at the park who approach Scott of their own free will to share their Christmas wishes, which only alarms Laura and Neal that much more. It's justified though as they're all just kids.
* VisibleToBelievers: In the Workshop, Judy the elf says this to Scott, adding that "kids don't need to see this place to know that it's there. They just... know."
* WackyCravings: As a side effect of the Santafication process, Scott has a much greater SweetTooth and taste for milk than he did prior.
* WhatAreYouInFor: The Denny's scene. The waitress asks if Scott and Charlie are part of the corporate group which is seated in the front room of the restaurant, then seats them among other people who are in the same situation as they are.
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: When the current Santa becomes unable to fulfill their duties "by accident or design", the first person to put on the suit afterward becomes the new Santa. Over the course of the trilogy, this happens twice, both times when someone (Scott or Jack Frost) startles the current Santa, causing him to fall off a roof to his death.
[[/folder]]

* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: International versions use [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVBzIRJgOXc "Jingle Bells"]] by Yello as the end credits song instead of "Christmas Will Return".

* AluminumChristmasTrees: 1-800-SPANK-ME, the phone number Scott invents for Neal's mother, is real. It got Disney in a heap of trouble when curious kids racked up huge phone bills for their parents. The scene was edited out starting with the first DVD release.

* PhoneWord: The movie got in a little bit of trouble by having Scott sarcastically identify a phone number on a piece of paper as 1-800-SPANK-ME, which turned out to be an actual phone sex hotline.

* HideYourOtherness: Scott keeps shaving and dying his hair, as he doesn't want to look like Santa, only to have the beard grow back immediately and the hair go back to white.

The third, ''The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause'' (2006), features a North Pole visit from Carol's parents for Christmas. Mrs. Claus is about to have a baby, and Santa must contend with jealous Jack Frost played by Creator/MartinShort. The harbinger of winter is jealous that Santa gets all the winter attention and decides to exploit the escape clause of the Santa Clause in order to steal the job from an overwhelmed Scott. Scott is returned to his life as it was before becoming Santa, without Carol, but is made aware of what's gone wrong and has to set it all right before Christmas Eve.

* FoodPorn: In one scene, the camera pans across a very appetizing Christmas dinner... and then pulls back to reveal that it's on a TV screen while Scott is busy extinguishing a burning turkey.

* DramaticIrony: The audience (along with Charlie and Scott, of course) knows full well that the trip to the North Pole and Scott becoming the new Santa really happened and Scott [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody can't really help the Santa-y things that keep happening to him or that he himself does]], but to Laura, Neal, and everyone else, it looks like Charlie is becoming obsessively attached what sounds like just a crazy dream and Scott is fostering this behavior by acting more like Santa.

''Series/TheSantaClauses'' was announced in January 2022 as a limited series on the Disney+ streaming service, with Tim Allen returning as a nearly 65-year-old Scott Calvin who's realized he can't stay Santa forever and is looking for a suitable replacement so he and his family can return to the regular world again.

* BadSanta: Scott's a little rough around the edges, particularly on his first midnight run before actually transforming into Santa, but is never outright malicious. However, both of the sequels feature this. Scott takes the elves up on making a toy subsitute Santa so he can go search for a wife in the second film, but [[AIIsACrapshoot toy Santa]] takes a turn for the dictatorial. Jack Frost becomes a CorruptCorporateExecutive variety in the third film and turns the North Pole into a commercial theme park.

* ForcedSleep: The Sandman's can cause people to fall asleep. He uses it on Bud and Sylvia prior to taking them to the disguised North Pole.

* OlderThanTheyLook: The elves are all but stated to be this. Curtis in particular, looks like he's no more than 12-14 years old, but Bernard points out he's at least ''900.''
* PostModernMagik: Santa's workshop has become modernized, with the elves manufacturing toys in a factory. Santa's sleigh has been tricked out with gadgets like a cookie-cocoa dispenser, and even the literal North Pole has a keypad on the side.

---> '''Bernard:''' ...So when you put on the suit, you fell subject to [[TitleDrop the Santa Clause]].\\

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The elves are very old but all look like adorable children who happen to have pointed ears. Bernard resembles a teenager or young adult and is older than a millennium according to some of 2's behind the scenes material. An elf who Scott runs into when he first arrives at the North Pole says that he has pointy shoes older than Scott after he was called a kid by Scott. When Judy made Scott a cup of hot cocoa, she says it took her 1,200 years to get the recipe just right.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Happens in all of the sequels with the North Pole elf characters due to the long production gaps resulting in most of the child actors growing too old to reprise their roles. The only ones to appear in multiple installments are Bernard[[note]]since David Krumholtz was already a teenager when he first played the part, his aging wasn't as noticeable[[/note]] and Curtis[[note]]with Spencer Breslin still having a noticeably deeper voice in his second appearance due to just hitting puberty[[/note]].

* AccidentalMisnaming: Scott's first attempt at saying Bernard's name consist of only repeating the first syllable, then calling him "Barabas" before setting on "Barnaby".

** In the beginning, the first Santa dies after falling off Scott's roof. Later in the film it seems Scott himself has developed a minor phobia of falling off roofs.

** Judy is the name of waitress who serves Scott and Charlie at Denny's. When Scott first arrives at Santa's workshop, the elf who gives him monogrammed pajamas also goes by Judy.
* ButNowIMustGo: Scott leaves Charlie forever, because a lot of kids are counting on him and he can't let them down, so Charlie lets him go, even though he will miss him. Before Scott actually leaves though, [[JustWhistle Bernard tells Charlie he can use his snow globe to summon Scott]].

* CrappyHolidays: At the beginning, Scott further strains his already tense relationship with Charlie, Laura, and Neal by not being home to receive Charlie, then treating them all less than politely when he does show up. Charlie is concerned that he won't have fun with his father, so he asks if he has to stay with him and requests that his mom pick him up first thing in the morning. Scott ruins his and Charlie's Christmas Eve dinner by burning their turkey, then takes Charlie out to eat. On his second try, he finds a Denny's, but they have to work that way past a crowd in the front room. Scott and Charlie don't get their first choice in anything to eat or drink, and then Santa falls off their roof. It proves to be a pivotal point in their Christmas, because although Scott's SubbingForSanta is the first thing he's done to make Charlie happy in a long time, it also leads to a lot more stress for him.

* HideYourOtherness: Scott keeps shaving and dying his hair, as he doesn't want to look like Santa, only to have the beard grow back immediately and the hair to go back to white.

* LeavingFoodForSanta: Early in his tenure as Santa, when he's still refusing to get into the spirit of it, Scott doesn't touch the food. When a small child catches him not drinking the milk she's left out, he tells her it's because he's lactose intolerant. This becomes a BrickJoke when he returns to the house at the end of the film, and finds that she's remembered and left him a glass of soy milk instead.
* LetThereBeSnow: Happens near the end when a crowd is watching Santa fly off. Next, there's a MatchCut to the snow globe when Charlie uses it.

* NoAntagonist: The other characters' reactions to Scott becoming more and more like Santa are borne purely out of them not understanding what's really happening to him. The police in particular are simply doing their jobs in light of what, in all other respects, looks like a kidnapping when Scott and Charlie vanish together. Laura and Neal even apologize to Charlie once they realize the truth about Scott.

* PhoneWord: The movie got in a little bit of trouble by having Scott sarcastically identifies a phone number on a piece of paper as 1-800-SPANK-ME, which turned out to be an actual phone sex hotline.

** When Scott Calvin has a smorgasboard of food before a meeting at the toy company that he works at while his coworkers wait for him to finish eating, the theme tune of ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' is playing in the background.

* ShownTheirWork: When Scott and Charlie finish their first run, the sun has already begun to rise. When they land at the North Pole, it's dark. Why? It's ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_night polar night]]!'' Compare to almost every other Santa film, where the North Pole has "normal" day and night cycles.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Charlie's constant appraisals of his dad's new role as Santa Claus really don't go over well with his mother and stepfather, who think that Scott is emotionally manipulating Charlie. The same goes for the kids at the park who approach Scott of their own free will to share their Christmas wishes, which only alarms Laura and Neal that much more. Justified though as they're all just kids.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: The Tooth Fairy wants a better name, so Scott joking calls him "the Molarnator".

* CassandraTruth: Scott confesses to Carol that he really is Santa Claus. She becomes angry with him, thinking he's mocking her hesitant confession about how much she loves Christmas. Charlie later attempts to vouch for his father, doing his first good deed since the previous christmas in that film, only for her to think the same for him.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Toy Santa is unfamiliar with the concept of proportion of any kind -- as far as he's concerned, if a kid does anything naughty at all, all year, they count as naughty. Curtis and Bernard try to convince him this view is too harsh, but he doesn't listen.

* LetThereBeSnow: A variation. Their Chicago suburb is covered in ice, but Scott uses some of his dwindling Christmas magic to create a localized cloud of gentle snow fall while he's courting Carol.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Curtis neglects to tell Santa about the Mrs. Clause until it's almost too late, nearly causes the Pole to be discoved by playing with a dancing Santa during lockdown, and creates a Toy Santa that almost ruins Chrismas because Curtis kept encouraging him to follow the rules.

** The film features it in the sequence where Scott delivers the school staff all their favorite toys from childhood, including Toss Across and Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots.

* RottenRoboticReplacement: When Scott is temporarily cast away from the North Pole until he can find a woman to be his wife, a toy Santa is created to take his place. This fake Santa lacked Scott's compassion and boundaries, proclaiming a kid naughty for not doing anything bad at all and places Head Elf Bernard under house arrest.

** In the second film -- [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} a robo-Santa who views everyone as naughty and intends to punish them accordingly?]]

* SugarAndIcePersonality: Carol had her heart broken before, so Scott really has to work at making a connection with her and winning her affections.

* TheToothHurts: Left without any means to fly back to the North Pole on their own, everyone tries to pull one of Scott's teeth so that the Tooth Fairy will show up and they can ask him for a ride. Scott winds up repeatedly hurting himself and without any teeth to show for it. Thankfully, Lucy just happens to lose a tooth before going to bed.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Curtis neglects to notify Santa of the "Mrs. Clause" until Scott has all of four weeks to seek out a new wife if he wants to keep his job. He does eventually fess up to having let pride blind him on that one. And that's to say nothing of his creation of the Toy Santa...
* VitriolicBestBuds: Scott has become close friends with Neal and Laura in the eight year time gap. However, Scott still likes to make fun of Neal but in a playful manner, rather than vicious.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Scott asks Jack Frost (Santa Claus in the alternate continuity) to repeat the escape clause while arguing with him. [[spoiler:Simultaneously, he gets out the [[ChekhovsGun microphone pen]] and records Jack saying the escape clause without him noticing, so that Scott could use it against him later on]].

* MaintainTheLie: Scott is forced to disguise the North Pole as Canada so that he can keep the Secret of Santa in effect while the in-laws visit, and the elves and Millers help keep up the act.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Curtis is easily baited by Jack Frost to give away vital information on Santa's snow globe, enabling Jack to take over Christmas. Ironically, in the alternate world, he's actually unintentionally helps Scott defeat Frost.

* TimelineAlteringMacGuffin: Santa's snowglobe, which is used in invoking an Escape Clause. Jack Frost takes it and convinces Scott to wish he'd never become Santa, which takes them both back to the night where Scott originally became Santa. Jack then steals the previous Santa's suit before Scott can, ultimately creating a BadFuture where he's a BadSanta.

--> '''Elves:''' Welcome to Canada...eh?

-->'''Santa!Jack Frost:''' Remember, kids. How much your parents love you depend on how much money they spend on your present!

* BadFuture: When Jack becomes Santa after igniting the Escape Clause, Scott is still a worker, Laura and Neil are divorced, Carol moved away, and Jack Frost has converted the North Pole into an amusement park, forcing people to come there to get their presents and having them pay to be put on the nice list.