[[quoteright:182:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_santa_trap.jpg]]

''The Santa Trap'' is a 2002 made-for-TV Christmas Movie.

Molly Emerson (Creator/ShelleyLong) is a businesswoman who is forced to move to San Diego by her job. She misses the snow and the pressure of the move affects her and her family. When her son tells his younger sister that there is no Santa Claus, she decides to prove it by capturing Santa in a homemade trap. Amazingly, it works, but her parents assume Santa (Creator/DickVanPatten) is just a disguised thief, and he gets sent to jail. Once they realize their mistake they try to free him, but get a disguised biker (Creator/StacyKeach) instead. Can Santa be freed in time to deliver all his presents?

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!!Tropes in ''The Santa Trap'':
* ChristmasElves: And with an attitude, too! Especially the Rescue Commando, Elf-1.
* DreamingOfAWhiteChristmas: Molly's wish is granted in the end.
* MadeOfIron: Bill falls off the balcony in one scene and the only damage it does is a few cactus needles getting stuck in him.
* MarriedToTheJob: Both Molly and her husband Bill are very stressed by their jobs. This gets lampshaded in the hospital when he finds a coworker (from earlier in the film) now a victim of a heart attack.
* MuggedForDisguise: A nonviolent version between Santa and The Biker.
* NeverTrustATrailer: Two of the movie's posters are very misleading. One of them depicts Santa Claus trapped in a birdcage while Shelley Long looks at him with a mischievous smile and holding the keys which makes it look like ''she'' is responsible for trapping Santa Claus and not her daughter. The other poster (which you can see both at the top of this page as well as the film's IMDB page) shows Judy, Santa and Michael above the title along with a picture of the reindeer and sleigh leaving a house. Except the house is most definitely NOT the house the Emersons live in. Furthermore, the Santa on this poster is not even Dick Van Patten ... it's '''''the Santa from that popular stock image you see everywhere!!''''' (Proof: [[https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/QRwNO/s3/the-santa-trap-2002-moto-movie-review.jpg Poster 1]], [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347938/mediaviewer/rm2263977984?ref_=tt_ov_i Poster 2]], [[https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/santa-claus-2521117.jpg Stock Santa image]].)
** The false advertising doesn't end there. The movie's IMDB summary? "A community has mixed feelings over Santa's permanent residence in their small town."
* NoAntagonist: The movie ''seems'' to have two villains -the Biker and the Police Chief- but it turns out both are nicer than they appear. Also, technically speaking the police holding Santa were just doing their job.
* PoliceAreUseless: The two bumbling cops. They even apply the police love donuts cliché!
* ReactiveContinuousScream: Occurs when Bill discovers the reindeer on the roof.
* RubeGoldbergDevice: The Santa trap. It's just a collection of toys and household items, yet it manages to capture Santa.
* SantaClaus: Of course. This Santa's abilities are (conveniently) inconsistent; he can come down chimneys but not escape from closets or jail cells, [[PingPongNaivete he knows everyone's names and backgrounds but can get suckered easily]].
* SantasExistenceClause: The whole plot of the movie. Most amusingly, at first Bill doesn't believe in Santa until he finds Santa's reindeer on their roof!
* SavingChristmas: at least that year's.
* TooDumbToLive: Bill. Hey, come on; what's the worst that could happen when you balance with one foot on a chair and one foot on the balcony railing while you attempt to see what's on your roof? Granted, the fall doesn't kill him but still.

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