Do you have to watch The Santa Clause movies before The Santa Clauses on Disney+?
In a way, we watched actor Eric Lloyd grow up over the course of the three The Santa Clause movies, and now we’re going to see him as an adult in Disney+’s upcoming series, The Santa Clauses!
The new limited series will have a total of six episodes, and serves as a sequel to the films. Don’t worry, we won’t have to wait until December to get this holiday show! The comedy will make its debut on Wednesday, Nov. 16 with the first two episodes.
Disney+ shares that The Santa Clauses will see Scott Calvin 30 years since he became Santa Claus. He’s as happy as ever with the job, but the holiday’s popularity is declining and so is his Santa magic. He also realizes he needs to spend more time with his family. And so, the longtime Old St. Nick decides to retire and has to find a worthy successor. Who could possibly be as good as Scott? We’ll find out soon enough!
If the show has piqued your interest but you’ve never seen the films, then you might be wondering whether the series can serve as a standalone.
Do you have to watch The Santa Clause movies before The Santa Clauses on Disney+?
So should you watch the first three movies first? I would say, yes! There’s certain plotlines that happen that you’ll need to understand. Plus with sequels that happen years later, there’s usually easter eggs and callbacks that you wouldn’t understand unless you watched its predecessors.
But if you don’t have time, here’s what you need to know about the productions. The Santa Claus came out in 1994 and introduces us to divorced dad Scott and his son Charlie. The two are able to spend Christmas Eve together. When Scott accidentally kills a man in a Santa suit, they’re transported to the North Pole. Now, Scott has to take Santa’s place and that’s how he ends up taking the most important job.
2002 saw the arrival of The Santa Clause 2, where Scott has been the big man in red for eight years. Old St. Nick has two major dilemmas to deal with this year – his son Charlie has ended up on the naughty list, and Scott has to get married within a month by Christmas Eve or he will stop being Santa Claus forever. Spoiler alert – he does end up finding a love, Carol Newman!
The third film in the franchise is The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, which was released in 2006. Scott’s holiday season is a busy one with a nefarious twist. He invites his in-laws for a visit, but at the same time has to deal with Jack Frost who is scheming up a way to take over the North Pole. Once again, spoiler alert – Santa of course comes out the victor.
There’s still plenty of time until the sequel series premieres. If you have the time, I really recommend streaming all three movies now on Disney+. They’re a holiday staple for a reason!
The upcoming show will see Tim Allen reprise his role as Scott/Santa Clause, Eric Lloyd as Charlie, Elizabeth Mitchell as Carol/Mrs. Clause, and David Krumholt as Bernard The Head Elf. A number of new characters will also be introduced.
The Santa Clauses premieres Wednesday, Nov. 16 with the first two episodes on Disney+.