The Santa Clause 2, by its very title, suggests there was another clause that Tim Allen’s Scott Calvin and his seemingly endless party of elves ignored in the first film. That would be the clause stating that Calvin, aka Santa Claus, has until Christmas Eve to find a Mrs. or he’ll cease being Santa. Call it the “Missus Claus.”
If you accepted the first Santa Clause for its innovative premise and its ostensibly thankless desire to ascribe some sort of logic to Santa’s ability to fit down chimneys, enter homes lacking in one, and keep track of the “naughty” or “nice” status of every child on the face of the Earth, then, by my assumption, you should be able to accept The Santa Clause 2 for its completely outlandish but simultaneously heartwarming continuation of a story that shouldn’t work nearly as well as it does.
The film begins with Scott planning for another Christmas of globe-trotting and present-delivering when two problems arise. The first involves his now-teenage son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd), who has popped up on the “naughty” list. The second is the aforementioned “Missus Claus,” if you will, of which Scott is informed at the 11th hour by head elf Bernard (David Krumholtz) and his apprentice Curtis (Spencer Breslin). These elves have presumably endured many changes of the guard (Santa), but somehow no one informed Scott of this rule until it was almost too late. Furthermore, has anyone thought to ask what happened to the previous Santa’s wife? You know, the one who tumbled off of Scott’s roof?
With only 28 days to find his soulmate, Scott heads back to his hometown where he begins losing weight and shedding his thick, white beard. The “de-Santafication” process has begun. Meanwhile, Scott’s ex-wife, Laura (Wendy Crewson) — you know, the one who nearly had his visitation rights to Charlie nixed? Yeah, they’re somehow still friends — and her husband, Neal (Judge Reinhold), are struggling to keep a lid on Charlie’s shenanigans. He’s taken up graffiti art in school, attracting the attention of Principal Carol Newman (Elizabeth Mitchell), who also starts to attract the attention of Santa. Ho ho ho.
And then finally, in what is quite the plot-heavy children’s movie upon further reflection, the absence of Santa at the North Pole. In his absence, Bernard and company commission a “Toy Santa” clone of Scott’s likeness to man the ship. Toy Santa, however, stages a military coup and establishes a fascist dictatorship that involves Nazi costuming and militaristic marches.
And how can I forget the Council of Legendary Figures? They are a panel of famous mascots of our childhood, comprised of Mother Nature (Aisha Tyler), Father Time (Peter Boyle), the Easter Bunny (Jay Thomas), Cupid (Kevin Pollak), the Tooth Fairy (Art LaFleur), and the Sandman (Michael Dorn). They are the panel who, along with Santa Claus, conjure up a plan for Scott to leave the Pole in search of a wife. Seeing these forces personified and banter with one another is great fun, but it begs the question: does the same clause that applies to Santa apply to them as well? What iteration of Mother Nature is this?
Similar to Pixar’s Cars universe (which wouldn’t exist until four years after The Santa Clause 2, but just go with it), the inner-machinations of the premise invite more mostly irrelevant, yet still burning questions into the mix.
Despite all the story I had to relay, The Santa Clause 2is a remarkably easy watch. Some of the narrative clutter is likely attributable to the five credited writers. If anything, the Toy Santa subplot could’ve been left in the draft-stages, but with a sequel that doubles down on an already wacky premise, I suppose there was some kind of a studio mandate that the film begin and end with a sound-and-lights show of some kind.
That said, 22 years later, in a cinematic landscape saturated with artificiality thanks to an overreliance on CGI and computer wizardry, there’s something oddly wholesome about seeing a colorful North Pole that looks like an elaborate holiday display at a store. It’s warmer, more inviting, easier on the eyes too. Allen’s geniality has only increased, particularly in his first couple dates with Carol and his gentle parenting attempts with Charlie.
You can say there’s no reason this sequel needs to exist, and you’d be correct in the same way you’d be correct if you said there was no reason for the first film to exist. Existence isn’t a right, and I, for one, am grateful these two films not only are amongst an already plenty diverse Christmas movie landscape, but are worthwhile enough to justify their incessant presence on cable TV during the month of December.
My review of The Santa Clause (1994)
My review of The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
Starring: Tim Allen, Elizabeth Mitchell, Wendy Crewson, Judge Reinhold, Eric Lloyd, David Krumholtz, Spencer Breslin, Liliana Mumy, Danielle Woodman, Aisha Tyler, Peter Boyle, Jay Thomas, Kevin Pollak, Art LaFleur, Michael Dorn, and Molly Shannon. Directed by: Michael Lembeck.
Steve Pulaski has been reviewing movies since 2009 for a barrage of different outlets. He graduated North Central College in 2018 and currently works as an on-air radio personality. He also hosts a weekly movie podcast called "Sleepless with Steve," dedicated to film and the film industry, on his YouTube channel. In addition to writing, he's a die-hard Chicago Bears fan and has two cats, appropriately named Siskel and Ebert!