He put on the suit! Tim Allen brought Father Christmas to life in 1994’s The Santa Clause — and fans are still enchanted by his hilarious depiction of the iconic holiday figure.
Scott Calvin (Allen) is thrown for a loop after Santa falls off his roof on Christmas Eve while he is watching his son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd). After putting on the red coat and hat, Scott magically becomes the white-bearded man, even if it takes him a while to believe it.
One year later, Scott must embrace the role and deliver gifts to children near and far with help from the No. 1 elf, Bernard (David Krumholtz), and his son, who never stops believing in Santa — or his dad.
In 2002, Disney released The Santa Clause 2, which shows Scott living happily in the North Pole full time. The hiccup, however, is that he must find a wife before Christmas Eve or else he will have to forgo being Santa.
Allen again slipped on the red suit for 2006’s The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. This time around, Scott battles Jack Frost (Martin Short) after being tricked into wishing away his role as jolly old Saint Nick.
The Last Man Standing alum surprised fans in January 2022 when he confirmed that he would again play the dual role of Scott Calvin and Santa Claus in Disney+’s series, The Santa Clauses. In the show, which premiered in November 2022, Scott must decide whether he’s ready to hand over his Christmas duties to someone else now that he’s turning 65.
“Getting back into the Santa Claus suit was a complicated affair because I’d forgotten — the worst part of it is they have to make a mold of your face,” Allen exclusively told Us Weekly in November 2022, noting, “I hate to give up all these secrets. It’s like watching any of those movies done on a blue screen or green screen. It takes away all the magic.”
The Toy Story star tried not to spoil anything for viewers but explained to Us that when his face was fitted with a plaster mold, he panicked.
“I almost had a nervous breakdown because they put a heavy liquid plaster over your face to get an image and you gotta sit there for 30 minutes as it hardens with two straws up your nose,” he revealed. “Not a good experience. And the people that did it said a lot of people don’t make it through the 15 [minute mark]. It’s kind of a torture test.”
Allen’s negative experience didn’t affect his on-set charm, according to costar Elizabeth Mitchell, who plays his wife, Carol a.k.a. Mrs. Claus.
“He’s a generous comedian. He wants other people to be funny and he wants them to feel fulfilled and it’s really important to him and he cares,” she exclusively told Us. “He’s a live wire but also a very constant joy.”
Scroll down to see what the original stars of The Santa Clause and The Santa Clause 2 are doing now: