Tim Allen first donned the Santa Suit in The Santa Clause in 1994. Now, almost 30 years later, he’s contemplating retirement in the new Disney+ series, The Santa Clauses.
The limited series will be set over six episodes and they see Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) as he struggles with the fact that being Santa means he’s never with his family on Christmas. He’s been on the job for 28 years and the magic that gives him Santa “powers” is fading. Not only does that hamper his ability to deliver presents but it worries his wife, Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell), and kids Buddy (Austin Kane) and Sandra (Elizabeth Allen-Dick). He needs to figure out a) why his magic is diminishing, and b) how to spend more time with his family.
With the comedic chops that Tim Allen brings to all his projects, The Santa Clauses, at least the first two episodes that we made available for review, has laughs for all, including an elf that pukes glitter.
The elf administrators at the North Pole are all played by children, which makes for some really funny scenes, like when the doctor (Mia Lynn Bangunan) checks out why Scott’s losing weight and when Betty (Matilda Lawler), the head elf, updates Carol on Scott’s mishaps with no-nonsense business seriousness.
We’ve already got a glimpse of Charlie (Eric Lloyd), Scott’s son from the first movie and rumor has it we’ll see some other familiar faces over the next few episodes.
New to the franchise is Kal Penn playing Simon Choksi, a delivery business owner who’s looking for solutions to save his dying company. The first couple of episodes drop little hints that Simon may be a candidate for Scott’s replacement. After all, his initials are S.C.
Those who loved the movies as kids will now have something to show their own kids. The first two episodes, at least, are family friendly and will keep everyone with a smile on their faces. Here’s to hoping the rest of the series delivers as much fun as the first two without any reason for the faith-based audience to be disappointed.
The Santa Clauses premieres with two episodes on November 16th on Disney+.
