I came to The Santa
Clause franchise already in progress, the result of a yuletide review
assignment last year, but I’d certainly seen enough of the trailers and TV ads
for the first two films to grasp what was going on. The series began, in 1994,
as the ultimate collision of
workaholic-Dad-snapped-into-line-by-fantastical-intervention cinema (see The
Family Man, Liar Liar, Click, et al) and high concept piffle
(ordinary guy becomes… Santa Claus). The movies have since served as one of the
two twin pillars, alongside the Toy Story films, in star Tim Allen’s
otherwise negligible big screen career. Eight years passed between the original
and its sequel, but the $172 million worldwide gross of The Santa Clause 2
(almost on par with its forebear) cemented plans for a trilogy.
an engagingly colorful villainous performance by Martin Short
as the jealous Jack Frost.
After having become Santa in the first movie, Scott Calvin
(Allen) has tried to juggle the demands of the job with his personal life. The
Escape Clause finds Santa taking on new challenges as his extended family
continues to grow. At the risk of giving away its secret location, Scott
invites his in-laws, Sylvia and Bud Newman (Ann-Margret and Alan Arkin, a rich
pair) to the North Pole to share in the holiday festivities and be near their
daughter, Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell), as she prepares for the eagerly
anticipated birth of Baby Claus. The problem, of course, is that Carol’s
parents don’t know about Scott’s secret identity (they just think he’s a north-of-the-border
toymaker), so he disguises the North Pole as Canada, instructing all his elves
to cover up their pointy ears and go about appending, “ehh?” to the end of
every other sentence. Further complicating matters are Scott’s own blended
brood — ex-wife Laura (Wendy Crewson), her new husband Neil (Judge Reinhold),
their daughter Lucy (a very effective Liliana Mumy) and Scott’s son Charlie
(Eric Lloyd) — who beg on for a trip of their own, and have to be entertained
as well as keep the secret from the Newmans.
The main complication, though, is Jack Frost (Short), an
icy-browed outcast on the Council of Legendary Figures, a group which includes
the Easter Bunny, Father Time, Mother Nature, Cupid, et al. Jack wants his own
holiday, and when rebuffed by the council he hatches a mischievous scheme to
wreck Scott’s holiday and make him unwittingly invoke the titular “escape
clause,” thus freeing the path for Jack to become the new Santa Claus. Jack’s
ploy works — for a bit, at least — and we get to see him commercialize the
North Pole, turning it into a theme park where the richest parents can bump
their kids to the top of the “nice list” for a price. Naturally, Scott
reconnects with just how much being Santa Claus really means to him, and how
important separate time for family is, and makes a play to save the day and
reverse Jack’s plot.
Nuance surely isn’t Santa Clause 3’s name, but its
performances are far the most part pleasing — Martin in particular brings a smirky, self-centered
glee to his role — and its story isn’t condescending, which is something these
days. It’s brisk and colorful, right on spot for its chief target demographic,
and to that end certainly worthy of inclusion on the “nice list.”
Santa Clause 3
comes presented in two versions — 1.33:1 full-screen or the Disney-dubbed
“family-friendly” 1.78:1 widescreen, each free of edge enhancement or grain.
Housed in a regular Amray case in turn stored in a cardboard slipcase with
slightly raised, foil-embossed lettering, its audio is presented in an English
language Dolby digital 5.1 track, with slapstick effects work mixed to the
front. French and Spanish language tracks are also included, making for a
release of even broader appeal.
As with almost all Disney DVD releases, the bonus material
is a mix of behind-the-scenes featurettes and tidbits geared specifically toward younger viewers,
like a music video from Aly and AJ, “Greatest Time of Year,” here. A blooper
reel cops a bit of material from the end credit sequence, but still provides
some genuine laughs via Short’s mock-piqued improvisations. Director Lembeck sits for an audio commentary track, in which he naturally dishes out praise
left and right for his cast and crew. There’s an alternate opening sequence,
and also a featurette which looks at alternate character mock-ups and costumes
and design for both Carol Claus and Jack Frost — work that was re-tooled on the
fly once production commenced. Wrapping things up are a look at some of the
movie’s special effects work, and an interactive “Carol-oke” feature that
younger tykes will surely enjoy. B- (Movie) A- (Disc)