The Santa Clauses is an American Christmas fantasy comedy television series created by Jack Burditt for Disney and based on The Santa Clause film series. Serving as a sequel to The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006), Tim Allen, Elizabeth Mitchell, Eric Lloyd, and David Krumholtz all reprise their roles from the film series. Jack Burditt serves as showrunner and executive producer. It premiered on November 16, 2022. In December 2022, The Santa Clauses was renewed for a second season which premiered with two episodes on November 8, 2023.
Plot
The series follows Scott Calvin, a former businessman who became Santa Claus in 1994, his wife Carol Calvin (Mrs. Claus), and their children Buddy "Cal" Calvin-Claus and Sandra Calvin-Claus. Scott Calvin, having served as Santa Claus for almost 30 years, believes that he is losing his magical abilities due to age and decides to choose a successor and retire.
Cast and characters
Main
- Tim Allen as Scott Calvin / Santa Claus: A former successful businessman, who became Santa Claus in 1994 and chose to remain in the role out of the goodness of his heart. After almost 30 years in his role, Calvin believes that he is losing his magical abilities due to aging and chooses to retire after choosing a successor. He is revealed to be the first human to take up the mantle of Santa Claus after the army of previous Santa Clauses determined that the world needed someone who would be familiar with the development of technology and given the nature of Santa Claus that Calvin had naturally within; all of his traits being what the world needs. Liam Seja portrays Calvin as a child during a flashback sequence.
- Elizabeth Mitchell as Carol Calvin / Mrs. Claus: Calvin's wife, whom he married during The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs. Clause. Unhappy with her lack of purpose as "Mrs. Claus", Carol is receptive to her husband's decision to retire. Finding success once again in her role as a school principal when they move out of the North Pole, she begins to believe that Calvin's decision was best for the entire family.
- Austin Kane as Buddy "Cal" Calvin-Claus: Scott's youngest son, Carol's only son, Sandra's brother, and Charlie's paternal half brother. Cal at first is excited to experience life in his own way, having become distraught and fearful at the prospect of succeeding his father. Over the course of the series, it is revealed that he possesses magical abilities due to being born in the North Pole and the spirit of Christmas. The character first appeared in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, where he was named Buddy after his maternal grandfather.
- Elizabeth Allen-Dick as Sandra Calvin-Claus: Scott and Carol's daughter and youngest child; Buddy's sister and Charlie's paternal half-sister. Sandra enjoys living in at the North Pole and is hesitant to move away when her father decides to retire. At the confusion of her parents, she often develops close friendships with animals. Over the course of the series, it's revealed that she has magical abilities that she inherited from Santa Claus and the spirit of Christmas.
- Matilda Lawler as Betty (season 1; recurring: season 2): Chief of Staff at the North Pole, and Noel's wife.
- Devin Bright as Noel: The current right-hand elf at the North Pole, Betty's husband, and one of Santa's best friends.
- Rupali Redd as Grace Choksi (season 1): Simon's kind-hearted daughter, who believes in the spirit of Christmas. Grace is excited to live at the North Pole and experience the joys of Christmas every day. Her mother expressed desires for the feelings of Christmas every day, prior to passing from a major illness.
- Kal Penn as Simon Choksi / Santa Claus (season 1): The man that Scott Calvin chooses to be his successor as Santa Claus at the North Pole. Prior to his new role, Choski is a game inventor, product developer, and single father with aspirations to become the equivalent of "the next Jeff Bezos" in the technology world. When he is appointed as the next Santa Claus, he views the efficiency at the North Pole as an opportunity to realize his unsuccessful business aspirations. Leading in his new role forcefully, Simon determines that every day will be Christmas, providing the world with instant gratification through a combination of his business technology and the North Pole's magic. Over time, however, he becomes disillusioned and bitter with his new role, and indifferent to the survival of the North Pole. As the spirit of Christmas begins to fade, Choksi finds himself at odds with Calvin who returns to reclaim his role as Santa Claus.
- Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias as Kris Moreno / Kris Kringle (season 2), the head of failing theme park Santapolis who finds Magnus Antas and frees him.
- Eric Stonestreet as Magnus Antas / The Mad Santa (season 2), a rogue past Santa Claus who was imprisoned in a nutcracker and seeks to take over the North Pole.
Recurring
- Isabella Bennett as Edie: An elf at the North Pole who regularly reviews the List with Santa, to ensure that good children receive what they want on Christmas. Edie is an advocate for the naughty children as well.
- Sasha Knight as Crouton: An elf at the North Pole who assists Santa.
- Izaac Wang as Hugo: An elf at the North Pole who helps run the machinery that monitors Santa Claus while he makes his deliveries on Christmas Eve.
- Miya Cech as Doc Martin: An elf doctor who helps manage Santa's health problems.
- Laura San Giacomo as La Befana: The good-natured Italian folkloric holiday figure, known as the Christmas witch, who lives in the Wobbly Woods.
- Liam Kyle as Gary, an elf in charge of the E.L.F.S. (Effective Liberating Flight Squad).
- Ruby Jay as Riley: Cal Calvin's supportive first girlfriend. The pair first meet when the Calvin family moves to Chicago, and though Cal is an outsider at school, Riley immediately takes a liking to him.
- Marta Kessler as Olga (season 2): A gnome who sides with Magnus.
Guest stars
- Eric Lloyd as Charlie Calvin: Scott's oldest son from his previous marriage, and Carol's step-son. Charlie is Buddy and Sandra's paternal half-brother, and though he expressed interest in following in his father's footsteps as a child, he now states that his current job and young family prevent him from being able to be the successor when his father chooses to retire.
- Peyton Manning as himself, a potential candidate for a replacement Santa.
- David Krumholtz as Bernard: The former right-hand elf to Calvin as Santa, who's revealed to have served in the role for thousands of years with the previous figures who held the mantle of Santa Claus, before briefly retiring to marry Vanessa Redgrave.
- Mitch Poulos as Saint Nicholas of Myra: The historical figure who served as inspiration for the legend of Santa Claus. Through his benevolent good acts of kindness and example in the spirit of giving, the spirit of Christmas created magic that resulted in the creation of ethereal figures including the role of Santa, elves, and flying reindeer.
- Mauricio Mendoza as Papa Noel / Santa Claus: One of the ancient successors to St. Nicholas, a Frenchman who carried the mantle for a time and completed his role as Santa Claus.
- Dirk Rogers as Krampus: The ancient folklore anthropomorphic horned being, who served during the Dark Ages as the successor to St. Nicholas; known for his role in scaring children into behaving for their parents. In the series, Krampus is shown to be stealing toys from children on the naughty list.
- Jim O'Heir as Santa Claus XVII: Calvin's predecessor and the seventeenth successor to Saint Nicholas, referred to amongst the various previous holders of the Santa Claus mantle as number "17". This man acted in the role of Santa for decades, from the Great Depression to the night that Scott Calvin became Santa Claus. He chose Scott after interacting with him as a child one night on Christmas Eve. Previously thought to have randomly passed away after falling off Scott's roof in the '90s, it is revealed that he retired to the afterlife after choosing his successor correctly. O'Heir takes over the role from Steve Lucescu, who appeared in The Santa Clause and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.
- Casey Wilson as Sara: Now fully grown, she was once the little girl Scott first encountered as Santa in the first film. Wilson replaces Melissa King, from The Santa Clause.
- Kevin Pollak as Cupid
- Tracy Morgan as The Easter Bunny. He replaces Jay Thomas from previous films, due to his death in 2017.
- Michael Dorn as Sandman
Episodes
Series overview
Season 1 (2022)
Season 2 (2023)
Production
Development
In January 2022, it was announced that a limited series that would serve as a legacy-sequel to The Santa Clause films was in development, with Tim Allen reprising his role in addition to serving as executive producer. Initially given the working title of "The Clauses", the project was conceptualized with intent for a streaming release exclusive to Disney . Jack Burditt serves as showrunner and executive producer, while Jason Winer is a director in addition to serving as an executive producer.
According to Allen, "It originally had a lot of otherworldly characters, and ghosts, and goblins. I said no, this is Christ-mas. Its Christ-mas. It literally is a religious holiday. We don't have to blow trumpets, but I do want you to acknowledge it. That's what this is about. If you want to get into Santa Claus, you're gonna have to go back to history, and it's all about religion." On December 14, 2022, The Santa Clauses was renewed for a second season, with Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell set to return.
Casting
Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell were announced to be reprising their roles as Scott Calvin / Santa Claus and Carol Calvin / Mrs. Claus, respectively. In addition, Kal Penn joined the cast as a character named Simon Choski. Elizabeth Allen-Dick, Tim Allen's real life daughter, had been cast in her acting debut as Scott's daughter. Austin Kane, Rupali Redd and Devin Bright also joined the cast. Matilda Lawler joined the cast as a series regular. In late July 2022, it was confirmed that David Krumholtz would be reprising his role as Bernard, while the following month, Laura San Giacomo was announced to be portraying the Christmas Witch. On February 24, 2023, Eric Stonestreet joined the cast in undisclosed capacity while Marta Kessler was cast to guest star for the second season. Three days later, Gabriel Iglesias was cast as a series regular for the second season. On May 3, 2023, it was announced that Tracy Morgan was set to make a cameo and Stonestreet was cast as a series regular for the second season.
Filming
The series began filming in March 2022 in Los Angeles, with JP Wakayama serving as the cinematographer. Filming wrapped in June 2022. Production for the second season began in February 2023.
Music
In November 2022, it was revealed that Ariel Rechtshaid would compose the score for the series.
A digital soundtrack for the series' second season became available on December 8, 2023.
Release
The Santa Clauses was released on November 16, 2022 on Disney , with its first two episodes available immediately.
The first 2 episodes made its linear premiere on Freeform on December 16, 2022 followed by airings on FX on December 17, 2022, ABC on December 24, 2022 and on Disney Channel on December 25, 2022. The second season premiered on November 8, 2023, with two new episodes.
Reception
Audience viewership
According to the streaming aggregator JustWatch, The Santa Clauses was the tenth most streamed television series in the U.S. during the week of November 14 to November 20, 2022. According to Whip Media's TV Time, which tracks viewership data for the more than 21 million worldwide users of its app, it was the fifth most streamed television series in the U.S. during the week of December 11, and the fourth during the week of December 18, 2022. The Santa Clauses was the ninth most streamed television series in the U.S. during the week of November 19, the eighth during the week of November 26, the sixth during the week of December 3, and the fourth during the week of December 10, 2023.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 55% of 22 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Santa Clauses is a bit ho ho ho-hum as a continuation of the holiday franchise, but it's hardly a lump of coal thanks to Tim Allen's spirited return as Father Christmas, along with a dash of yuletide nostalgia." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 55 out of 100 based on six critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Accolades
See also
- List of Christmas films
- Santa Claus in film
Notes
References
External links
- The Santa Clauses on Disney
- The Santa Clauses at IMDb
