The Santa Clauses Season 1 Premiere Review: A Childhood Reborn (Season 1 Episodes 1 & 2)

Please note this review contains spoilers for The Santa Clauses Season 1 Episodes and 2.

It is hard to know whether bringing beloved characters back to life will be a hit or miss, but The Santa Clauses does it right. By mixing some of our favorite characters from the original movie with new characters, we are experiencing a new holiday feeling.

Of course, the mood is set from the very beginning: magic is struggling and retirement is near.

How can fans get ready to say goodbye to Santa/Scott so fast after winning him back? The show does this extremely well by preparing us for his retirement and his replacement.

The Santa Clauses is a family show, and as such is keeping the business in the family. As we see Santa struggle with his magic, Scott mentions his first son, reminding fans of little Charlie’s dream of following in his dad’s steps.

The reality is that this doesn’t happen. And truth be told, it feels better that way. Those viewers who grew up with Charlie and are now adults understand that his priorities lay elsewhere.

However, this plot twist sets the mood perfectly for a new character to step up and become the new Santa. This goes hand-in-hand with several problems introduced in The Santa Clauses Season 1 Episode 1, “Chapter One: Good to Ho.”

Magic is lacking, The Clauses are struggling to lead normal lives at the North Pole, and Scott needs to find a replacement.

The perfect way to introduce Scott’s struggle with magic is having him tap his nose and nothing happening. However, it is visually more effective when we are shown the magic sphere Bernard left behind.

The center is lacking its usual shimmer — clear evidence that something is wrong.

What The Santa Clauses is doing properly from the beginning is to introduce clear storylines for each of its main characters. This allows us viewers to see more of the characters we love (Mrs. Claus) and get to know the new ones (Sandra, Cal, and Simon).

It isn’t an easy task to keep the magic of Christmas alive while adding drama and twists, but the first episodes do deliver.

While Scott is shown struggling, his wife and children are too. One of the best ways to showcase this is Sandra only having fury friends and Cal living in an imaginary world (the best twist being that the imaginary world is actually “the real world”).

Will they be able to keep up? Will every storyline combine in a way that makes sense?

In the end, The Santa Clauses Season 1 Episode 2, “Chapter Two: The Secessus Clause,” proves that every character will have to face the reality of whether they have the capability or desire to do their job or fulfill the role they were assigned by marriage or birth.

Even though Mrs. Claus seems a step closer to her freedom and her desire when she lets her hair down, her children seem to still be lost. This is particularly obvious for Sandra who does not want to be part of “the real world.”

The way in which each character faces their new adventure will be what keeps us coming back for more episodes.

The Santa Clauses takes place in the universe created by The Santa Clause, so it is normal for fans to already go in assuming something will happen to Santa and he will need a replacement.

It’s a nice nod to the movie to see Santa fall off the rooftop (how he got the job in the first place), but even nicer to see nothing happened to him!

The real challenge for him is finding someone who can replace him. However, the show still portrays how hard it is for Scott to make this decision and that proves the massive respect he has for the job.

But there are nods to the perfect Santa following in his steps. Who could be better than Simon?

He is obsessed with finding ways to deliver things faster to his customers. Clearly, being Santa would be the fastest option.

An option he doesn’t seem to be too opposed to. We as the audience don’t know yet if this will happen after he is summoned to the North Pole, but there is a feeling he will.

From the beginning of the show, he is obsessed with finding that “other 17%” and how his daughter’s locket ended under the tree. For us, the answer is quite obvious, but it’ll be fun to watch him discover it.

One of the things that stuck with the audience from the movies was the challenge Scott/Santa faced to be a good father. The Santa Clauses proves history is repeating itself.

Scott believes he has given his children a better life and more attention, but, as Betty says, it turns out children raised in the North Pole can be a bit weird. Scott is oblivious to this, which is obvious when he says the North Pole is the best place for children.

This may have influenced his decision to retire, but as viewers, we aren’t completely sure. He is still ignoring Sandra’s feelings, and something tells me that will impact the storyline moving forward.

It will be interesting to explore this family’s dynamic as it’s something completely new.

Stray Observations

• Taking famous songs and changing the lyrics to fit the lives of the elves is a great move.
• It is interesting to explore the different ways in which Mrs. Claus has been portrayed and how this has affected her. Hopefully, they continue this storyline in future episodes.
• Mentions of characters from previous movies is a nice way to connect everything.
• Sandra’s storyline definitely promises to be a good one.
• The Jurassic Park references are always great.

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What did you think of this episode of The Santa Clauses? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Santa Clauses premieres Wednesday, November 16th on Disney+.

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