The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

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The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
Directed by Michael Lembeck
Produced by Robert F. Newmyer
Brian Reilly
Jeffrey Silver
Written by Leo Bevenuti (characters)
Steve Rudnick(characters)
Ed Decter
John J. Strauss
Starring Tim Allen
Elizabeth Mitchell
Martin Short
Chantel Valdivieso
Judge Reinhold
Wendy Crewson
Ann-Margret
Eric Lloyd
Alan Arkin
Spencer Breslin
Liliana Mumy
Charlie Stewart
Music by George S. Clinton
Cinematography Robbie Greenberg
Editing by David Finfer
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Release date(s) November 3, 2006
November 24, 2006 (UK)
Preceded by The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs. Clause
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause is a 2006 American film, the sequel to The Santa Clause and The Santa Clause 2.

Tim Allen again plays Scott Calvin (Santa Claus), while Martin Short plays Jack Frost, a competing holiday character. David Krumholtz, who previously played the head elf Bernard, does not make an appearance in this third installment because of contractual issues.

Production was completed in February 2006. The movie was released in theaters on November 3, 2006 in the US followed by a release date of November 24 for the UK.

The film was rated G by the MPAA, and a G rating from the Office of Film and Literature Classification in Australia. It was given a U certificate in Britain by the British Board of Film Classification. The DVD and Blu Ray were released on November 20, 2007 in the US and November 12, 2007 for the UK.

'Taglines:
Twas the fight before Christmas
His time at the North Pole is about to go South.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Scott Calvin, a.k.a. Santa Claus (Tim Allen), is having difficulties managing Christmas this year. His wife, Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell), her same youthful self despite her transformation in the second film, is expecting their first child and afraid that Santa will be delivering his gifts as she is delivering hers. Elyse, played by (Chantel Valdivieso) is her elfin helper there whenever she is needed. Wanting her to feel more comfortable, he invites his in-laws, Silvia and Bud Newman (Ann-Margret and Alan Arkin), up to the North Pole (disguised as a Canadian toy factory), along with his ex-wife, Laura (Wendy Crewson), her husband Neil (Judge Reinhold), Scott's son Charlie (Eric Lloyd), and their daughter Lucy (Liliana Mumy) to keep Mrs. Claus company.

Santa is summoned to a meeting of the Council of Legendary Figures, which shows him a cardboard cutout of Jack Frost that reads, "Merry Frostmas". Mother Nature (Aisha Tyler) accuses Jack Frost (Martin Short) of attempting to upstage Santa, and all the other Legendary Figures, including Cupid (Kevin Pollak), the Easter Bunny (Jay Thomas), the Sandman (Michael Dorn), and Father Time (Peter Boyle), agree that a punishment needs to be invoked against Frost. Frost manages to convince them to put him into community service with Santa Claus. Santa reluctantly agrees, and Frost helps to disguise the North Pole as Canada for the arrival of the in-laws. However, Frost, who wants to have the power and influence of Santa, goes around the North Pole and uses his powers to create technical problems with some of the equipment.

Meanwhile, Santa takes a quick break to give Lucy a tour, since she has never been to the Workshop before, and shows her a beautiful room called the "Hall of Snow globes", where a snowglobe representing each Santa is held. The current Santa's sits on a pedestal in the middle of the room. Santa gives Lucy a magical snow globe that shows her hugging a snowman, which turns pink because her hugs are so filled with love. Outside, Jack Frost talks to Curtis (Spencer Breslin) about the Hall of Snow globes, and discovers that the snow globe can be used to activate the "Escape Clause", the most powerful clause of all the Santa Clauses. This clause can help the current Santa escape from his job as Santa; if he holds his snow globe and says, "I wish I had never become Santa at all", the Clause is triggered, and he can return to the point where he becomes Santa and prevent the event from occurring.

Frost breaks into the Hall of Snow globes and steals Santa's, and traps Lucy and freezes Neil and Laura in the process. Then, he unscrews the tree as Santa puts the star on top, making the tree fall. He takes Santa for a walk, telling him he needs to cool off. Jack Frost gives him a small present, saying "I was going to give this to you tomorrow, but you need a pick-me-up now." He then tricks Santa into saying the Escape Clause just as he holds the snow globe. It starts to glow, and Frost grabs onto Santa as they are catapulted 12 years into the past.

Santa and Jack land in front of Scott Calvin's yard, where, twelve years earlier, Scott and his son Charlie, who had been spending the night at his father's house, were awakened by a noise on the roof, saw someone -- the prior Santa -- on the roof, yelled at him, startled him, and that prior Santa fell off the roof to the snowy ground below, presumably dead, in the first Santa Clause. Jack screams at the Santa on the roof, and he falls off. He hits Scott with a shovel and puts on Santa's coat, instead, and both are whisked away back into the present day.

However, things are different. Scott has been the CEO for his old company for the last twelve years, where he works even on Christmas Eve. He drives over to Charlie's house, and Laura, who is dressed as a waitress, treats him very coolly. She then reveals that she and Neil also broke up after having Lucy. Scott frantically asks where Carol is and Laura says "Charlie's old principal? Probably terrorizing more kids at her school." As he leaves to spend Christmas Eve with his friends, Charlie barely acknowledges his father. Scott sees a magazine that shows the North Pole; it is now a tourist attraction, where wealthy parents take their kids and pay for them to be on the Nice List. Scott, wanting his old job back, returns to the North Pole.

He sees that elves are enslaved by the new Santa, and incredibly unhappy with their new lifestyle. He also runs into Curtis, not listening when Scott tries to talk to him. He then sees Lucy and Neil, who barely recognize him. Neil tells him how since he was not around, Charlie refused to accept Neil as a father figure, and that is why he and Laura got a divorce. Santa Frost comes over to him. Scott is upset that he was tricked, and he gets Jack to mimic the line "I wish I had never become Santa at all". Scott then sits down to watch the show, and tells Lucy about the Hall of Snow globes. He tells her to bring back the one on the pedestal-Jack Frost's-as he provides a distraction.

Lucy sneaks into the Hall of Snow globes, and finds Jack Frost's. Meanwhile, for his promised distraction, Scott swings down from a rope and knocks Santa offstage, fighting off his security guards. Lucy comes down the steps, and Scott tells her to throw the globe. She does, and Frost catches it; and by doing so, falls into Scott's trap. He plays the recording of Jack Frost saying, "I don't want to be Santa at all", and the two are whisked back to that night twelve years ago. Scott holds down Jack Frost as the Scott from twelve years ago comes out, accidentally causing the previous Santa to fall off the roof. Events play out as they were supposed to, and Scott and Jack are whipped back to the present day, which is now unaltered.

He reunites with his wife, even though no time has passed since he left, and he promises to make her life better. He then shows his in-laws the truth about his workshop, ending the Canada ruse for good. Charlie even brought the Legendary Figures over to help fix the toy shortage. Just as it seems things are going perfectly, Curtis and Lucy appear, and Neil and Laura are wheeled in, frozen solid. Jack Frost is dragged in, and he refuses to undo his spell on them. By unfreezing them, Frost will reluctantly "unfreeze himself", and so they will be forever frozen.

However, Scott has an idea. He tells Lucy to give Jack one of her heart-warming hugs, telling her that if she believes she can, anything is possible. Her tight hug, full of love and warmth, breaks Jack Frost down, changing his clothes and hair from icy to normal, and breaks the spell around Neil and Laura. Everyone celebrates with a hug, and Carol suddenly announces that her package is coming. She gives birth to a baby named Buddy Claus just two hours before Santa has to leave for sleigh duty.

[edit] Cast

Actor Role
Tim Allen Santa Claus/Scott Calvin
Elizabeth Mitchell Mrs. Claus/Carol Newman-Calvin
Martin Short Jack Frost
Judge Reinhold Dr. Neil Miller
Chantel Valdivieso Elyse
Wendy Crewson Laura Miller
Ann-Margret Silvia Newman
Eric Lloyd Charlie Calvin
Alan Arkin Bud Newman
Spencer Breslin Curtis
Liliana Mumy Lucy Miller
Charlie Stewart Dr. Hismus

[edit] Critical reaction and box office

Critic ratings were dismal, earning a 13% freshness rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Eric D. Snider, a reviewer, said that Tim Allen did The Santa Clause "the first time with enthusiasm, the second time with affection, and the third time for a paycheck." [1] Kyle Smith wrote "We're getting a turkey and a ham for the holidays. [...] Santa is so dumb he should be demoted to cleaning up after Geoffrey the Giraffe at Toys 'R' Us." Manohla Dargis dismissed the movie (in a three-paragraph review) as "squeaky clean, but you might die of boredom." Finally, Nathaniel Bell wrote off the film as "holiday filler, stuffed with unearned emotion and trite sentimentality." In the UK, Mark Kermode described it in 2006 on BBC Radio Five Live as "the cinematic equivalent of tertiary syphilis".

As of February 7, 2007; The Santa Clause 3 has made $84,500,122 in the US and a worldwide gross of $160,768,122. [2] Although very successful, The Santa Clause 3 is currently below the other Santa Clause films. The first film made $189,833,357 worldwide at the box-office while the second film made $172,842,355 worldwide at the box-office.

[edit] DVD & Blu-ray Disc Release

The film has been released on both standard DVD and high-definition Blu-ray Disc on November 20, 2007.

[edit] Trivia

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  • Instead of Toy Story 2, Tim Allen and Martin Short previously collaborated on Jungle 2 Jungle as the characters Michael Cromwell and Richard Kempster.
  • Jack Frost was seen wearing a black and white outfit with a pale and white look, possibly referring to Jack Skellington from the film The Nightmare Before Christmas, another character who believed that he could take over for Santa Claus. In the trailer, the tracks "What's This?" and "Making Christmas" (from the soundtrack of The Nightmare Before Christmas) are heard in the background.
  • Two people from this film series died on the same date, a year apart. Santa Clause producer Robert Newmyer and actor Peter Boyle both died on December 12, in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Newmyer died of a heart attack and Boyle while suffering from multiple myeloma and heart disease.
  • "The Escape Clause" was originally a working title for The Santa Clause 2. [3]
  • Allen voiced a Hewlett-Packard The Computer is Personal television commercial as Santa Claus, where Santa demonstrates what he does with his HP laptop. This version of the ad aired in November and December, but a new version of the ad aired in January, this time without Allen as the voice of Santa.
  • Despite Bernard's non-appearance in the film, the novelization still uses his character. This could mean that the script was written before knowing David Krumholtz could not appear and the book was based from the original script. Despite the novelization, the use of Bernard in the story is not considered to be canon by most fans and Krumholtz stated he was locked in two other projects.
  • This is the only time the Punch and Judy puppets did not appear.
  • This is the fourth film with both Tim Allen and child actor Spencer Breslin, the first three being the second Santa Clause, The Shaggy Dog, and Zoom.
  • Spencer's sister Abigail Breslin and Alan Arkin featured in Little Miss Sunshine.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Santa Clause Films

The Santa Clause | The Santa Clause 2 | The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
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