10 Harsh Realities Of Watching The Santa Clause, 29 Years Later

The Santa Clause has been a beloved cult classic for almost 30 years, but it is not without flaws. The Santa Clause is about divorced father Scott Calvin (Tim Allen), who inadvertently becomes Santa Claus when the previous Santa falls off Scott’s roof. Scott’s journey to becoming Santa is interwoven with his relationship with his young son Charlie (Eric Lloyd). While Scott makes some bad decisions along the way, other plot holes are also still confusing.

Christmas movies tend to favor sentiment over plot, and some issues with The Santa Clause are commonplace. There are also moments in The Santa Clause that are creepy or frustrating in retrospect, especially concerning how Scott becoming Santa disrupts the Calvin-Miller family. However, The Santa Clause and its sequels are still favorites for Christmastime.

10 The Elves Moved On From The Last Santa Really Fast

Can Scott Calvin replace the old Santa so easily?

When Scott and Charlie arrive at the North Pole, the Elves immediately inform Scott that he is in charge. No one seems to be fazed by the fact that their previous boss fell off a roof and supposedly died hours earlier. Scott is seen developing friendships with the Elves in this movie and the sequels. They presumably had a similar relationship with the previous Santa. The new TV show The Santa Clauses addresses this Santa predecessor plot hole, revealing that the old Santa is still alive and his retirement was planned. However, watching this movie by itself, it looks like the Elves don’t care at all that their friend just died.

9 The Soccer Game Scene Was Sketchy

Where were all the parents at Charlie’s soccer game?

Scott is at Charlie’s soccer game when kids start lining up to tell him what they want for Christmas. He has put on some weight, grown a beard, and is wearing a red sweatshirt, so the kids thinking he is Santa is understandable. Yet, no parents at the soccer game in The Santa Clause are concerned by their children interacting with a stranger. Charlie’s mother and stepfather Laura (Wendy Crewson) and Neil Miller (Judge Reinhold) get there and are disturbed, but more so by Scott supposedly pretending to be Santa to win Charlie’s affection. They don’t tell him that he could get arrested for acting this way.

8 Scott Should Have Read The Entire Santa Contract

Isn’t Scott Calvin a businessman?

When Bernard the Elf (David Krumholtz) explains the contract that makes Scott the new Santa, he tries to put it in terms Scott will understand, saying, “You’re a businessman, right?” Scott was an executive at a toy company before becoming Santa. Yet even after accepting his new role as Santa, Scott never thoroughly read the contract. He is surprised in the sequel to find out that he needs to get married on short notice, which is stipulated in the contract. As the franchise continues, the rules of the Santa Clause get more confusing. Scott should have read the contract—or had his lawyers look it over.

7 Laura & Neil Stopped Believing In Santa Because They Didn’t Get What They Wanted For Christmas

Are Laura and Neil saying this is what happens to every kid?

Laura and Neil, believing that Scott is lying to Charlie, request that Scott’s visitation rights be suspended. While Charlie is speaking with the judge, Laura and Neil explain how they stopped believing in Santa. As a child, Laura wanted a Mystery Date board game and “wrote Santa a letter every week that year,” while Neil wanted an Oscar Mayer Weenie Whistle. They stopped believing because they did not get these presents, which Scott delivers to them at the end of the movie. The scene in The Santa Clause suggests that children give up on Santa when they don’t get what they want for Christmas, which is inherently selfish.

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Christmas movies occasionally state that Santa cannot bring children anything they want because of logistical concerns. This scene between Laura and Neil makes the children in these movies look spoiled. Despite getting other presents for Christmas, they are ungrateful and lose their faith because of the one thing they didn’t get. Laura even tells Neil that the Christmas she did not get Mystery Date, “I got dozens of presents. I got everything.”

6 Bernard Could Just Be Santa

Why does Scott need to be Santa anyway?

Bernard tells Scott, “Toys have to be delivered. I’m not gonna do it. It’s not my job. I’m just an Elf. It’s Santa’s job.” This statement is a fundamentally paradoxical excuse for Santa’s necessity. Bernard then sends Scott home until next Thanksgiving. Bernard seems to be doing a fine job of running the North Pole on his own, and there are even scenes where he magically appears and disappears to and from Laura and Neil’s house. So why do the Elves and Charlie need to convince Scott to abandon his life and become Santa?

5 The Movie Is Mean To Neil

What did Neil do wrong?

Scott constantly makes fun of his ex-wife’s new husband Neil, mocking his psychiatric profession and his collection of sweaters. Yet Neil genuinely cares about Charlie and does what he thinks is best for his stepson. There is a sad moment when Neil hangs up Charlie’s Christmas stocking while he and Laura are terrified because Charlie has disappeared with Scott. Yet the movie frames Neil as an antagonist for not believing in Santa and butting heads with Scott.

4 Scott’s Transformation Is Terrifying

Why didn’t Scott get a CAT scan?

Scott’s transformation is evidence that The Santa Clause is secretly a horror movie. Imagine waking up having gained 20 pounds overnight or seeing a beard grow back at an alarming rate. Scott possibly dismisses these things because, deep down, he knows he is Santa and is in denial about the magical things happening around him. However, his joke from his first night as Santa, “When I wake up, I’m getting a CAT scan!” resonates. It is surprising Scott doesn’t think he is losing his mind.

3 Everyone Sees Santa At The End

Why didn’t Scott show the reindeer to Laura and Neil earlier?

At the end of the movie, neighbors and police officers see Scott take off in Santa’s sleigh from the roof of Laura and Neil’s house. This is very cavalier of him when several plot points in the following movies are concerned with preserving the “Secret of Santa.” No one ever believes the few dozen people on the scene, so it creates another problem in the story. If Santa has no problem showing off the sleigh, reindeer, etc., Scott could’ve just showed these things to Laura and Neil earlier so they wouldn’t stop thinking he was delusional.

2 Scott Taking Charlie Was A Bad Idea

What did Scott think Laura and Neil were going to do?

When Scott has his epiphany of realizing that he is Santa, Charlie says he wants to go to the North Pole with Scott. Scott and Bernard accede to this, and Laura and Neil predictably call the police on Scott for kidnapping. Scott must have known this was going to happen.

When he brings Charlie back on Christmas Eve, Scott then tells his son that he has to stay with Laura and Neil. If they had this conversation a month earlier, they could have saved Laura and Neil a lot of worry. Christmas also would not have been disrupted by police officers hunting Scott. Laura and Neil had to realize that Scott was Santa to make it easier for them to share custody of Charlie, but it did not need to happen because Scott kidnapped him.

1 The Plot Hole Of Every Santa Claus Movie

Where do the parents think Santa’s presents come from?

The Santa Clause features the same problem as almost every movie about Santa Claus: How do parents like Laura and Neil not believe in Santa? There are always non-believing parents who think their children writing letters to Santa are adorable. Yet on Christmas Eve, presents that the parents did not buy show up at their house. If Laura and Neil don’t believe in Santa, where do they think these presents come from every year? Most movies where Santa appears are more concerned with Santa’s association with the Christmas spirit rather than strict logic. But these cozy movies about saving Christmas delight people year after year.