Kitch's Top 5 Christmas Movie Countdown - #2 The Santa Clause

Released: November 11, 1994

Starring: Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold & Wendy Crewson

Director: John Pasquin

Producer:  Brian Reilly

Writer: Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick & Karey Kirkpatrick

Music By: Michael Convertino

The second of two films on this list from 1994, and it’s not a stretch to say that Tim Allen was dominating American media when The Santa Clause was released late in 1994. He had a top-rating sitcom – the excellent Home Improvement – a book atop the New York Times bestseller list, and then, with the release of The Santa Clause, a box-office topping film.

Allen is Scott Calvin, just an ordinary guy from the Chicago suburbs, trying to raise his kids after a divorce, when he accidentally causes Santa Claus to fall off the roof of his house. And so, the Santa Clause is invoked, and Calvin is soon transported to the North Pole, where he meets Bernard, the head elf, and is told that, by way of the Santa Clause, whoever puts on the suit is automatically the next Father Christmas.

The problem is that no one believes Scott, except his son, Charlie, who tells his school class that his father is Santa Claus, and is therefore thought to be negatively influenced by his father. Scott’s ex-wife (Crewson) and her psychologist boyfriend (Reinhold) warn him to stop making Charlie believe that his father is Santa Claus. So Scott is forced to ask Charlie to keep it a secret, and throughout the year, is slowly but surely transformed into Santa Claus – he puts on weight, loves milk and cookies, grows and beard, and can suddenly tell which children have been naught and which have been nice.

Due to Scott’s transformation (his ex-wife thinks that he's doing it to encourage Charlie), his visitation rights to Charlie are suspended, and the two are taken to the North Pole on Thanksgiving night, leading authorities in Chicago to believe that Scott has kidnapped Charlie. The manhunt catches up to Santa Claus halfway through Christmas Eve, and he is arrested, leaving Charlie and the reindeer-led sleigh on a suburban roof.

So, Bernard deploys the E.L.F.S. (Effective Liberating Flight Squad) – this is perhaps the best scene of all, with soundtrack backing from ZZ Top – to rescue Santa, so that he can continue his present run. Scott convinces his ex-wife and her boyfriend that he really is Santa, and Charlie is allowed to go with his father for the conclusion of the delivery run.

Like Miracle on 34^th Street, the main character, Calvin, goes from being a Christmas cynic to a true believer, and, along the way, turns others (like his ex-wife and into believers, as well. It’s an easy film to watch and enjoy, with plenty of laughs and a feel-good ending. Tim Allen doesn’t venture far from the character he plays in Home Improvement, and some of his jokes remind you of Tim ‘The Toolman’ Taylor, but it really works. If you love Christmas, there’s not a thing to hate about The Santa Clause.

Directed by John Pasquin, a regular Tim Allen offsider – they collaborated previously on Home Improvement, and more recently on Jungle 2 Jungle and the new sitcom Last Man Standing – The Santa Claus collected more than $144 million at the United States and nearly $190 million worldwide.

The soundtrack features a great song called "Christmas Will Return”, performed by Brenda Russell and Howard Hewett.

The Santa Clause is deservedly recognised as a modern Christmas classic, spoken of in the same breath as Home Alone, and is always a sure-fire ratings winner when it’s played on television during the festive season.