The Santa Clause 2

The Santa Clause 2 is a 2002 Christmas family comedy film directed by Michael Lembeck. It is a sequel to The Santa Clause (1994) and the second installment in the Santa Clause film series. All the principal actors from the first film, including Tim Allen, Eric Lloyd, Wendy Crewson and Judge Reinhold, reprise their roles.

Released on November 1, 2002, the film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $172 million worldwide on a $65 million budget. It was followed by another sequel, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, released in 2006.

Plot
Eight years have passed since Scott Calvin took on the mantle of Santa Claus and became subject to The Santa Clause. Now he has become a great Santa at the North Pole, until Head Elf Bernard and Curtis, the Keeper of the Handbook of Christmas break the news that there is another clause – the "Mrs. Clause".

Scott is now pressed to get married before the next Christmas Eve, or the clause will be broken and he will stop being Santa forever. At the same time, Abby the Elf delivers news that is more distressing: Scott's own son Charlie is on the naughty list. Scott must return to his home to search for a wife and set things right with Charlie. He brings this up when visited by the Council of Legendary Figures consisting of Mother Nature, Father Time, Cupid, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman. To cover for Santa's prolonged absence, Curtis helps Santa create a life-size toy replica of Santa, much to Bernard's horror.

Because of the impending end of his contract, Scott undergoes a "de-Santafication process" that gradually turns him back into Scott Calvin. He has a limited amount of magic to help him. Scott returns home to his ex-wife Laura, her husband Neil, their eight-year-old daughter Lucy, and Charlie, who Scott realizes has been vandalizing his school to get attention. He and Charlie both face the ire of the school principal Carol Newman when Charlie defaces the lockers.

At the North Pole, Toy Santa follows the rulebook too literally and begins to think that everyone in the world is naughty because of their small mistakes. As a result, Toy Santa takes over the North Pole using giant toy soldiers which he made himself and places Bernard under house arrest. He then unveils his plan to the elves to give lumps of coal to the world.

After a few failed dates, Scott finds himself falling for Carol. He accompanies her in a horse-drawn sleigh to the faculty Christmas party, during which she confesses that she used to believe in Santa as a child, until she was forced to stop doing so by her parents after fighting with children who told her that Santa is not real. Using a little of his Christmas magic, Scott enlivens the otherwise dull party by presenting everyone with their childhood dream gifts. He makes a special presentation to Carol, and, with his last remnant of magic, wins her over and they kiss passionately under mistletoe. However, when Scott attempts to explain to her that he is Santa, she does not believe him, thinking that he is mocking her childhood, and throws him out. After which, Charlie confesses to Scott how hard it is for him that Scott is never around like other fathers, and reveals the pressure he is under to conceal the secret that his father is Santa. Lucy manages to convince Charlie not to be mad at Scott since he is his father, which causes Charlie to convince Carol that his father is Santa by showing her his magic snowglobe.

Curtis flies in to deliver the news about the Toy Santa's plan. However, Scott has used up the last of his magic wooing Carol, and cannot return to the North Pole. With a little help from the Tooth Fairy, Scott and Curtis manage to do so, only for Toy Santa to find them and tie them up, but Charlie and Carol spring him free by summoning the Tooth Fairy to fly them to the North Pole. Scott goes after the Toy Santa, who has already left with the sleigh, riding Chet, a reindeer-in-training, and they both crash back into the village. With an army of elves, Carol, Bernard, Charlie and Curtis lead them into a snowball fight to overthrow the toy soldiers. Toy Santa is defeated and reduced to a six-inch height, Scott marries Carol in a ceremony, Scott transforms back to Santa, and Christmas proceeds as it always has. In addition, Scott and Charlie reveal the truth to Lucy about Scott being Santa Claus and she cannot tell anyone about his secret, but that it's more of a gift than a burden.

Cast

 * Tim Allen as Scott Calvin / Santa Claus and Toy Santa
 * Eric Lloyd as Charlie Calvin
 * Elizabeth Mitchell as Principal Carol Newman
 * Wendy Crewson as Laura Miller
 * Judge Reinhold as Dr. Neal Miller
 * Liliana Mumy as Lucy Miller
 * David Krumholtz as Bernard the Elf
 * Spencer Breslin as Curtis the Elf
 * Danielle Woodman as Abby the Elf
 * Aisha Tyler as Mother Nature
 * Peter Boyle as Father Time
 * Jay Thomas as Easter Bunny
 * Kevin Pollak as Cupid
 * Art LaFleur as Tooth Fairy
 * Michael Dorn as Sandman

Production
A teaser trailer for this film originally referred to it as Santa Clause 2: The Escape Clause, scheduled for release in November 2001. The subtitle would later become the subtitle of the following sequel in 2006.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 55% based on 113 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Though it's harmless as family entertainment and has moments of charm, The Santa Clause 2 is also predictable and forgettable." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

The Santa Clause 2 was nominated for Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film.

Box office
The Santa Clause 2 grossed $139.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $33.6 million in other territories, for a total of $172.8 million, against a production budget of $65 million. It was the fifth-highest-grossing holiday movie.

Soundtrack
Original Release Date: November 1, 2002
 * 1. Everybody Loves Christmas – Eddie Money
 * 2. Santa Claus Lane – Hilary Duff
 * 3. Santa's Got A Brand New Bag – SHeDAISY
 * 4. Jingle Bells – Brian Setzer
 * 5. Run Rudolph Run – Chuck Berry
 * 6. 'Zat You, Santa Claus? – Louis Armstrong
 * 7. Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town – Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
 * 8. Blue Holiday – The Shirelles
 * 9. Unwritten Christmas – Unwritten Law & Sum 41
 * 10. I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus – Brenda Lee
 * 11. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town – Steve Tyrell
 * 12. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer – Elmo & Patsy

Home media
The film was released on DVD and VHS on November 18, 2003. It was re-released as 3-Movie Collection DVD set in 2007 and first released as a 3-Movie Collection Blu-ray set on October 16, 2012.