!!The past Santa ended up being {{Retgone}}
Hence why the elves avoid talking about him whenever Scott asks them about the incident.

!! The Santa Clause 4 will see Charlie getting married and having him deal with telling his fiance that his dad is Santa Claus.
* Naturally a "new" part of the clause will be discovered involving this sort of situation.
* Lucy will be absent from this one explained away by being in college.
!!The elves in this movie are child vampires of the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' variety.
* Hence the sparkles.

!!The names of the eight main reindeer (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, etc.) aren't names...
* ...but [[LegacyCharacter titles]], passed down through the generations, much like "Santa Claus" itself. Therefore, Chett won't be "Chett" forever.
** This could explain why Chett (seemingly) hasn't been seen in ''The Santa Clauses''. He has already been given a title and become one of the main Reindeer
!!Scott killed Santa for good.
* The entire film franchise is a series of stories Charlie created to distract himself from the truth: His dad killed the spirit of childhood.

!!The original Santa killed himself.
* The real Santa would know not to make so much noise. He made all that noise intentionally so Scott would go out and check, then when Scott yelled at him he pretended to be shocked and intentionally slipped.
* There is evidence in the film that the original Santa's death/disappearance was planned in advance. An elf can be spotted in the background watching Scott at Denny's...before Santa falls off the roof. Why would the elves be keeping an eye on Scott Calvin before the incident that made him become the new Santa Claus? Because they knew in advance that Scott had been chosen to become the new Santa. The original Santa and the elves arranged the whole thing so the Original Santa could pass the mantle on. Did he die? Maybe, or maybe he just retired and disappeared, leaving the suit behind. Either way, he did probably intentionally cause a ruckus to get Scott's attention.
* Confirmed in Series/TheSantaClauses. He couldn't keep up with human technology, so he decided it was time to pass the Santa Claus job to a human, eyeing Scott Calvin's good nature (having met him as a child) as a good candidate for the first human Santa Claus.

!!The Original Santa used the Escape Clause.
He went back in time because he thought he could retire, and he chose someone who had no problem taking his job.


!!The original Santa is the Film/SantaClausTheMovie Santa.
He's been doing this for centuries and thought maybe by this movie he should use the Escape Clause and retire with his wife.

!! The original Santa is not The True Original Santa.
''That'' Santa would have been the original Saint Nicholas. The Santa that died/disappeared falling off the roof had replaced one that had been around earlier, who'd replaced the one before that, who'd replaced the one before... and so on and on all the way back to Saint Nick himself. Presumably, each Santa lasts for decades, even centuries, until he no longer can do so, and someone new finds the card and suit, stepping into the position of being Santa. No doubt this might be something arraigned by the original Saint Nick, a perk of being a saint.
* Confirmed by the ''Santa Clauses'' series. Saint Nicholas was indeed the original Santa Claus, and Scott's direct predecessor was the ''seventeenth'' to hold the mantle.

!! As a young elf, Bernard was a WideEyedIdealist with big ambitions.
And the head elf back then was just as cranky as the Bernard we know and love, but Bernard swore he'd never end up like that when he was head elf.

!! Alternatively, young Bernard created the entire Santa operation for Saint Nicholas as a favor for a friend.
Over time with more expansions, the rules became more and more complicated to execute properly.

!! This movie series takes place in ''almost'' the same universe as ''WesternAnimation/ArthurChristmas'', for-want-of-a-nail
The high-tech military elves, the base underneath the north pole, and most of the elves looking rather childlike support this. The difference is that Grandsanta fell off the roof and couldn't give his kid the suit and coat when he was ready to retire, instead dying. But luckily, he had a backup plan in mind, which was the clause. If this is true, it's likely there are head elves of every nationality, to make new Santas feel more comfortable and at home. Since Scott is an American, he got an American head elf. But a British Santa would have gotten a British head elf instead. And, more importantly, the plot of Arthur Christmas is about missing a present, with one child losing it being the best-ever performance. So that's what happened to Laura's Mystery Date and Neil's weenie whistle.

!! Father Time is another LegacyCharacter
And Scott's boss became him after scheduling a meeting that was way too long one day.
:Jossed, as ''The Santa Clauses'' reveals that Scott is the first attempt at passing a Legendary Figure's mantle to a human.
!! The third movie takes place in an altered timeline.
This is why Bernard is gone and Jack Frost is suddenly a problem. Jack already managed to travel back in time through one means or another, but while he didn't get the coat that time he did manage to change things up in such a way that it made things harder for Scott. The movie's his second attempt.

!! Buddy, the baby at the end of the third movie, gets sucked into a wormhole.
It appears in [[{{Film/Elf}} another dimension]], is taken in by an orphanage, and hitches a ride with the Santa of that dimension back to the closest thing it has at home. Any alternate backstory given in that universe is purely a play on Santa's part to redeem a naughty lister.

!! The Santa who fell off Scott's roof was Joe Carruthers
And because Joe died before he could find a successor, [[{{Film/ErnestSavesChristmas}} like his predecessor did]].


[[WMG: It was the first full year for Santa that fell off the roof]]
No properly trained Santa would make so much noise or fall off the roof so easily
* That would also explain why there was no Mrs. Claus to deal with.
** This particular component was Jossed, as ''The Santa Clauses'' reveals that Scott was the first human to become Santa, meaning that there was ''no need'' for a Mrs. Claus prior

[[WMG: Legendary beings' powers ''do'' work on each other, but only partially.]]
This is why Santa magic can make Jack Frost into Santa, but not force him to be fat or have a fully recognizable beard. Everyone just tells new guys they won't work because it's hard to predict exactly what will happen, and it's a lot safer if everyone just doesn't take any risks. Frost just happened to get lucky and get a really good result that got him what he wanted without altering his look as much as normal.
* Confirmed, but not in this way. If a Legendary figure leaves the council, they can use their powers against another Legendary being. In ''The Santa Clauses'', La Befana invokes this loophole to be able to help the Elves bring down Mad Santa.

!! In The Santa Clauses, we will see Charlie becoming the next Santa
It makes the most sense. Perhaps then they may either make new films starring Charlie as Santa or continue The Santa Clauses season 2.

[[WMG: Mother Nature and Father Time are a couple.]]
Their names certainly complement one another. More to the point, remember when Scott was explaining to the other legendary figures that he needed to get married in order to remain Santa? Mother Nature was right there in the room, she’s certainly attractive enough, she already knew he was Santa so he wouldn’t have to explain anything, and she’s the only female legendary figure. But Scott didn’t even think about proposing to her and she didn’t suggest that he do so either. It probably wasn’t an option because she’s already married, and Scott knows it. Alternatively…
* ''The Santa Clauses'' reveals that Scott is the first human Santa (all the others having been magical beings), and that the Mrs. Clause didn't exist prior to him becoming Santa, so the council, having never had to deal with this issue before, probably assumed his wife would also need to be human.
[[WMG: Mother Nature is a lesbian.]]
See above.
[[WMG: Desantafication was the reason for Toy Santa's instability]]
Scott was already de-santafying when he passed through the machine to create Toy Santa. This means that Toy Santa was never a complete Santa. He was stuck in a perpetually incomplete state of transformation, not quite fully Santa or fully Scott. This could, at least partially, be why he became unstable. Maybe if Scott had been through the machine ''before'' he started to change back, the Toy Santa would have worked properly