The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

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The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
Image:SC3.jpg
Directed by	Howard Rodman
Produced by	Henry Margolis
Written by	Ed Decter Sebastian Gutierrez
Starring	Tim Allen as Santa/Scott Elizabeth Mitchell Martin Short as Jack Frost Judge Reinhold Ann-Margret Alan Arkin Spencer Breslin as Curtis Liliana Mumy as Lucy Charlie Stewart as Dr. Hismus
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release date(s)	November 3, 2006 November 24, 2006 (UK)
Preceded by	The Santa Clause 2
All Movie Guide 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 due to contractual issues.

Production was completed in February 2006. The movie was released in theaters on November 3, 2006.

The film was rated G by the MPAA. It was given a U certificate in Britain by the British Board of Film Classification. The DVD will be released on November 20, 2007.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Critical reaction and box office 3 Trivia 4 External links

Plot

Scott Calvin, aka Santa Claus, is having difficulties managing Christmas this year. His wife, Carol, is expecting their first child (Second to Scott) any day now and she is afraid that Santa will be delivering his gifts while she is delivering hers. Wanting her to feel more comfortable, he invites his in-laws, Silvia and Bud Newman, up to the North Pole (simply disguised as a Canadian toy factory), along with his ex-wife, Laura, her husband Neil, Scott's son Charlie, and their daughter Lucy to keep Mrs. Claus company.

Santa is summoned to a meeting of the Council of Legendary Figures, which show him a cardboard cut-out of Jack Frost that reads, "Merry Frostmas". Mother Nature accuses Jack of attempting to upstage Santa. All the Legendary Figures agree that a punishment needs to be invoked against Frost, and he 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. He shows her a beautiful room called the "Hall of Snowglobes", where a snowglobe representing each Santa is held. The present Santa's sits on a pedestal in the middle of the room. Santa gives Lucy a magical snowglobe that shows her hugging a snowman, which turns pink because her hugs are so filled with love. Outside, Jack Frost talks to Curtis about the Hall of Snowglobes. Curtis reveals that the snowglobe 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 snowglobe and says, "I wish I had never been Santa Claus 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 Snowglobes 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 snowglobe. 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 he accidentally killed Santa in The Santa Clause. Jack screams at the Santa on the roof, and he falls off. He hits the other Santa (Scott Calvin) with a shovel and puts on Santa's coat, and both are whisked away back into the present day.

But things are different. Scott still works for his old company, where he is now the CEO, even on Christmas Eve. He drives over to Charlie's house, and Laura treats him very coolly. She then reveals that she and Neil also broke up after having Lucy. Charlie also 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, who insists on giving him a free recording pen, not listening when Scott tries to talk to him. He then sees Lucy and Neil, who barely recognize him, and then Neil tells him how since he wasn't around, Charlie refused to accept Neil as a father-figure, and that's why he and Laura got a divorce. Jack Frost as Santa Claus comes over to him. Scott is upset that he was tricked, and he gets Jack Frost to mimic the line "I don't want to be Santa at all." Scott then sits down to watch the show, and tells Lucy about the Hall of Snowglobes. He tells her to bring back the one on the pedestal-Jack Frost's-and he'll provide a distraction.

Lucy sneaks into the Hall of Snowglobes, and finds Jack Frost's. Meanwhile, for his promised distraction, Scott swings down from a rope and knocks Santa offstage, and fights 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 12 years ago. Scott holds down Jack Frost as the Scott from 12 years ago comes out, accidentally killing the previous Santa. Events play out like 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 unspell them. Since only he can unfreeze them, but in the process will take away his powers, and he doesn't want to, they are stuck that way for good.

However, Scott has an idea. He tells Lucy to give Jack one of her heart-warming hugs. He tells 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 hours before Santa has to leave for sleigh duty.

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 Feb 7th, The Santa Clause 3 has made over $84,500,122 in the US and a worldwide gross of $112 million[2] Although very successful, The Santa Clause 3 is currently below the other Santa Clause films. The first film made over $144 million at the box-office while the second film made over $139 million at the box-office.

Trivia

• 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.
• Aly & AJ have a song included in the movie called "Greatest Time of Year".
• Charlie Stewart from another Disney production, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, co-stars as Dr. Hismus, the doctor in the "elfirmary".
• 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 died of heart disease.
• Tim Allen and Martin Short previously co-starred in Jungle 2 Jungle.
• "The Escape Clause" was originally a working title for The Santa Clause 2. [3]
• Some trailers claim this to be the "final chapter" of the Santa Clause movies.
• The film contains a scene from the original Santa Clause, in which Scott calls out to the man he believes is an intruder, causing him to fall off the roof and disappear instantly; it is discovered that the man who fell off the roof is Santa himself, and Scott has no choice but to don the red suit. This scene is played when Scott and Jack Frost switch the roles of Santa.
• Other well-known worldwide icons, like Cupid (played by Kevin Pollak), the Easter Bunny (played by Jay Thomas), the Sandman (played by Michael Dorn), Mother Nature (played by Aisha Tyler) and Father Time (played by Peter Boyle), have prominent roles in the film.
• This is Peter Boyle's final film role.
• As a part of his community service, Jack Frost helps the elves decorate the North Pole to make it look like a Canadian town. In addition, they adopt other Canadian stereotypes, such as their love for ice hockey and the addition of "Eh?" at the end of their sentences.
• As with The Santa Clause 2, another Claus is added, in the form of baby Buddy Claus.
• The Piano-Playing Elf was played by Aviv "The Füzz" Gilad.
• The entrance to the Hall of snow globes includes a vending machine that says, "Red Deer," a pun of the energy drink, "Red Bull."
• Despite that Bernard did not appear 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. Many fans figured that Bernard died, assuming that as an elf gets older, the taller it gets.
• 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.
• Although she is seen going through a transformation during the credits of The Santa Clause 2 that makes her older, Mrs. Clause is her same youthful self in this film.

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