History Trivia / TheSantaClause

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Mary Gibbs, who voiced Boo in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' was originally cast in the role of Scott's niece Lucy, before they decided to hire an older actress. Gibbs permanently quit acting afterwards.

* CaliforniaDoubling:
** Most of the film was shot in Ontario. In one scene, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Chalet Swiss Chalet]] restaurant stands in for a Denny's.
** Also played straight in the third movie; Carol's parents are led to believe that Scott is a toymaker living in Canada. The "Canada" they visit is just the North Pole decorated in [[CanadaEh a very stereotypical manner]].

* CreatorBacklash: Creator/TimAllen doesn't like how the third film turned out, saying that the budget had ballooned and it made the production team feel obligated to create an effects-heavy blockbuster rather than a clever family movie. He also hated how he and Creator/MartinShort didn't share many scenes together, as it took away opportunities for them to riff off on one another and elevate the comedy.
* MoneyDearBoy: Well, there ''is'' a reason the [[{{Sequelitis}} third film]] is referred to as [[WebVideo/JonTron "Tim Allen and Martin Short get Mad $$$ for Christmas"]]...

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Mary Gibbs, who voiced Boo in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' was originally cast in the role of Scott's niece Lucy, before they decided to hire an older actress. Gibbs permanently quit acting afterwards.
** In the climax of the third film, Bernard was going to appear last-minute to have Jack Frost arrested; due to his actor's concerns with other things, that scene was replaced for the final version to have Lucy hug Frost which turns him good.
** Filming on ''The Escape Clause'' began with Elizabeth Mitchell wearing the same Mrs. Claus makeup from the CreativeClosingCredits of ''2'', but after shooting a few scenes, the director decided it wasn't working, scrapped the makeup and reshot the scenes.

* SequelGap: The second movie was released eight years after the first. The third film was released four years after that. The limited series ''The Santa Clauses'' is releasing in 2022, sixteen years afterward.

* TropeNamer: SantasExistenceClause.

* DeletedScene: Jeffrey Katzenberg attended a test screening for the film and declared it too long, so some scenes involving Charlie dealing with Scott having become Santa Claus were cut from the film. One such scene involved another meeting with the rude boy from the classroom scene.
* EditedForSyndication: On Freeform, for the first movie, the scene where Scott burns the turkey cuts via GilliganCut to he and Charlie already being seated at Denny's after he extinguishes the turkey and triumphantly saying "It's done!", skipping the drive there and the scene where Scott and Charlie enter to find the front of the restaurant crowded by Japanese businessmen. It has also since been reinstated.
* MissingTrailerScene: The trailer for the first movie had Scott fooling around with a doll and chatting with his boss in front of a children's play area.

* NetworkToTheRescue: After Disney executives saw the final cut of the movie, they moved the project from their Hollywood Pictures imprint to Disney proper, giving it a huge promotional boost. The move paid off as the movie was a big-time smash hit.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: At the time of the first film's release, car CD players were a rarity, which is why Scott's impressed when he thinks Charlie installed one in the sled (it's actually a cocoa and cookie dispenser). Not long afterwards, CD players became standard in most passenger cars.

** Creator/BillMurray was the first choice for Scott Calvin, but turned down the offer due to Main/CreativeDifferences over the script and the film's sense of humor, as well as just having filmed the holiday comedy ''Film/{{Scrooged}}''.
*** Creator/ChevyChase was also approached for Scott, but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with ''Film/VegasVacation''.
*** Creator/TomHanks, Creator/RobinWilliams, Creator/RowanAtkinson, Creator/AlecBaldwin, Creator/KurtRussell, Creator/TomSelleck, Creator/JohnTravolta, Creator/MichaelKeaton, and Creator/HarrisonFord were also considered for Scott. Hanks would get to play Santa Claus for ''WesternAnimation/ThePolarExpress'' under Creator/WarnerBrothers (meaning both lead actors from ''Franchise/ToyStory'' would get to play Jolly Old St. Nick), Baldwin would play a Russian version of Santa for ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'' for Creator/DreamworksAnimation, while Russell would play the part for ''Film/TheChristmasChronicles'' at Creator/{{Netflix}}.
** Creator/PatriciaClarkson, Creator/PatriciaHeaton, Creator/BonnieHunt, Creator/MaryMcDonnell, Creator/AnjelicaHuston, Creator/JenniferGrey, Creator/NicoleKidman, Creator/MollyRingwald, and Creator/AllySheedy were considered for Laura Miller.
** Creator/RyanStiles, Creator/JeffDaniels, Creator/PeterMacNicol, Creator/StanleyTucci, Creator/BradleyWhitford, and Creator/BryanCranston were considered for Neal Miller.
** Creator/JoeDante, Creator/StevenSpielberg, Creator/JoelSchumacher, Creator/RichardDonner, Creator/IvanReitman, Creator/JohnHughes, and [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Rob Minkoff]] were approached to direct the film.

** The script originally called for Scott, while mistaking Santa for a burglar, to ''shoot him with a shotgun'' which would result in his death and Scott having to take over. Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg vetoed this because he knew it would traumatize the children in the audience.

* {{Bowdlerise}}:
** A scene from the first film ended up deleted when it was released on DVD. Parents complained that their children dialed the number that Scott Calvin sarcastically gave (1-800-SPANK-ME), and discovered that it was a real number for a phone sex hotline. Some TV broadcasts dubbed over the "1-800-SPANK-ME" line with "1-800-POUND."
** Other TV broadcasts of the first film removed the line after Charlie reacts to Scott floating in mid-air. Scott Calvin tells Charlie about "Living through the '60s."

* ActingForTwo: In the second movie, Creator/TimAllen plays both the real Santa and the fake toy Santa.

** Inverted; most of the film was shot in Ontario. In one scene, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Chalet Swiss Chalet]] restaurant stands in for a Denny's.

* EditedForSyndication:
** The Freeform broadcast of the second film has the scene with Toy!Santa playing football with the elves removed, and instead cuts to the scene where Charlie is chased by the police officer. This was probably done for time constraints. It has since been reinstated.
** Also on Freeform, for the first movie, the scene where Scott burns the turkey cuts via GilliganCut to he and Charlie already being seated at Denny's after he extinguishes the turkey and triumphantly saying "It's done!", skipping the drive there and the scene where Scott and Charlie enter to find the front of the restaurant crowded by Japanese businessmen. It has also since been reinstated.

** Mary Gibbs, who voiced Boo in WesternAnimation/MonstersInc was originally cast in the role of Scott's niece Lucy, before they decided to hire an older actress. Gibbs permanently quit acting afterwards.

* WrittenInInfirmity: After horrific skin problems from the prostheses he wore in the first movie, Tim Allen had "desantification" added to the sequel so he could limit his time in the Santa makeup. However, the later addition of a robot Santa meant he had to be in costume even longer than the first movie.

** In the French dub, Creator/MichelPapineschi replaced Nagui as Scott Calvin starting with ''The Santa Clause 2''.

* OldShame: Tim Allen adores the movies but always felt he was miscast as Scott/Santa. He does praise the make-up team for making him really look like Santa, even though he struggled to stay in character as [[IAmNotSpock the adolescent elf actors really thought he was Santa]].

* MissingTrailerScene: The trailer for the first movie had Scott fooling around with a doll and chatting with some guy in front of a children's play area.

** Creator/BillMurray was the first choice for Scott Calvin, but turned down the offer due to Main/CreativeDifferences over the script and the film's sense of humor.