Santa Claus It evolved into one of the most rewatchable Christmas movies, but it may not have been a success if Disney hadn’t stepped in and made a fundamental change to the way Scott Calvin gained the power of Santa Claus. The iconic 1994 classic features Tim Allen as a father who, through a twist of fate, becomes the new Santa Claus. Santa’s magic is transferred to him after the previous Santa died following a fall from his roof on Christmas Eve during the gift-delivery process, but the original script called for something much more macabre.
Although the often cited Santa Claus was a little more grounded (or as grounded as a show about a man becoming the real Santa Claus can be), the two sequels and the legacy sequel show on Disney+ became even more kid-friendly and silly. This would have been practically impossible if the original script had been followed. This would have made Scott Calvin seem almost like a villain and started the film on an entirely different note.
Scott Calvin originally shot and killed his Santa Claus predecessor in the Santa Claus script
Santa’s magic transition was much more morbid
In 2018 in Tonight’s program with Jimmy Fallon, Tim Allen revealed that the original script for Santa Claus called to Scott Calvin will actually shoot and kill Santa Clausput USA today. Santa Claus was written by two comedians, Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick, and as a result, boundaries were evidently crossed in the story’s first pass. As Allen tells it, Scott Calvin believes that Santa Claus is actually a thief, and shoots and kills him before he falls off the roof; in the final version, Scott just scares Santa Claus into slipping and falling.
Happily, Santa Claus was produced by Disney, which famously has limitations on the type of content that can earn the House of Mouse seal. This was especially prevalent in the 1990s, and the head of Disney at the time, Jeffrey Katzenberg, but the argument over the terrible opening. As Allen told Fallon:
“I’m laughing really hard, but the head of Disney at the time, (Jeffrey) Katzenberg, said, ‘Well, we can’t start a movie like that,’ and I said, ‘Why not?’ …and he said, ‘We can’t start a Disney movie with you murdering Santa Claus.’ ”
The original Santa Claus death twist wouldn’t have been a mistake
That’s a very dark tone to set a children’s film on.
Having your main character murder Santa Claus right off the bat would have been a horrible mistake for any children’s film, but especially for a Christmas film that aims to inspire positivity and belief in magic. While Santa Claus still technically starts with Santa’s death, his death is almost slapstick in natureand ends with Santa in a silly position, sprawled out in the snow. The transition from Santa’s magic is treated as an accidental/coincidental twist of fate that was supposed to happen, whereas the shooting would have muted that element entirely.
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Santa Claus Key Film Franchise Details |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Film |
Release date |
Budget |
Gross box office |
RT Tomatometer Score |
RT Popcorn Meter Score |
|
Santa Claus |
1994 |
US$22 million |
US$470 million |
73% |
66% |
|
Santa Claus 2 |
2002 |
US$65 million |
US$173 million |
55% |
43% |
|
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause |
2006 |
US$12 million |
US$111 million |
17% |
39% |
This opening may have killed the film’s success from the start, and if Santa Claus does not become a success, so the entire franchise will probably never happen. Neither the sequels nor the TV show have ever compared to the original when it comes to critical reception, but in total the film franchise has grossed nearly $475 million worldwide. The dark original script by Santa Claus It would have been a big mistake that fortunately never happened.
Source: USA today