Before Buzz Lightyear, Tim Allen was flying through the air as Santa!
Here are 15 things you didn’t know about The Santa Clause (Make sure you read #15. It’s a crazy story!)
1) Tim Allen has a criminal record and Disney has a no hiring of ex-cons policy. An exception was made in this case.
2) When Scott and Charlie are leaving the North Pole in the sleigh and pass by the moon, the moon has a Mickey Mouse logo on it.
3) For one week in November 1994, Tim Allen had the #1 movie at the box office (“The Santa Clause”), the #1 rated television show (“Home Improvement”), and the #1 New York Times best-selling book (“Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man”).
4) The role of Scott Calvin/Santa Claus was written with Bill Murray in mind. Chevy Chase was also considered but had a scheduling conflict.
5) The tech-savvy elf Quentin’s name is a nod to the James Bond character “Q”, who is the technology master for James Bond’s vehicles.
6) The scene where Scott takes Charlie to the Denny’s on Christmas Eve is filmed at a Denny’s location in Scarborough, Ontario. The Zoo scene is filmed in Scarborough as well.
7) The dance that Tim Allen does during the montage before his second Christmas Eve was improvised and done in one take. The Director kept it because it was so good.
8) The ladder Scott and Charlie use to get to the roof was made by the “Rose Suchak Ladder Co.”, a reference to the line “There arose such a clatter” from the The Night Before Christmas.
9) The movie was originally going to be called “Such a Clatter,” and was not supposed to include a child in the main cast.
10) Director John Pasquin has worked with Tim Allen many times. He directed Jungle 2 Jungle, Joe Somebody, episodes of Home Improvement and episodes of his current sitcom Last Man Standing.
11) David Krumholtz (Bernard the Elf) appeared in Santa Clause 1 and 2 but had to sit out The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause because filming conflicted with the shooting schedule for his TV show Numb3rs.
12) Eric Lloyd, who played Charlie in all 3 installments, fell while playing off set, knocking out a couple of his front teeth in the process. He wore prosthetic teeth for most of the filming.
13) A lot of people think Charlie’s mom, Laura, was recast for the sequels but Wendy Crewson played the role in all three movies. Her hair, and demeanor change dramatically after the first movie, so she seems like a completely different person.
14) Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick co-wrote all 3 Santa Clause movies. They also co-wrote Space Jam and the Will Ferrell movie Kicking and Screaming
15) On older releases of the film, Tim Allen makes a sarcastic remark in the movie, which included the line “1-800-SPANK-ME.” During the film’s release, a woman in Ohio called the supposedly-fictional number for her curious grandchildren; it turned out to be a phone sex line. However, it wasn’t until 1997, when Disney received complaints from parents whose children called the number and racked up huge phone bills, did the studio take action and cut the line for future releases. Disney also said that they would purchase the phone number to disconnect the service. This part of the film is also cut in the DVD’s release.
