What happens if you kill Santa and put on his coat? Turns out you’ll horrifically transform into Santa, estrange everyone in your life, kidnap your kid, get arrested by the police, break out from custody, and escape the American judicial system thanks to a team of elite elves. Yes, Tim Allen’s The Santa Clause is quite possibly one of the strangest Christmas movies to come out of the holiday season yet, and this week, it’s hijacking the top movie list on Disney Plus.
The Santa Clause stars Allen as Scott Calvin, a divorced toy salesman who accidentally knocks Santa Claus off his roof, killing him. After Scott throws on Santa’s robe, he learns a legal technicality has made him the next Santa. Over the next year, Scott starts to gain a lot of weight, grow tons of facial hair, and develops a hankering for cookies and milk. As you can imagine, this causes plenty of strain in Scott’s personal and professional life — including his relationship with his ex-wife, who is concerned about letting Scott around his son Charlie. Hence, inevitably, the kidnapping plot.
Yep, it’s a strange, strange film. Once you’ve seen a panicking and portly Tim Allen’s heart beat out “Jingle Bells” in the doctor’s office, you’ve seen it all. For a full breakdown of just how weird The Santa Clause gets, check out Danny Gonzalez’s blow-by-blow of the original film.
The Santa Clause may be filled with plotholes and loose ends, but it’s certainly leading the charts on Disney Plus. The film remains the fifth most popular movie on the Mouse House’s streaming service in the U.S. today, and it’s the sixth leading selection in the U.K. The film has been on the top 10 charts in both countries throughout December, even briefly taking second place on Dec. 3 in the U.S.
Tim Allen also starred in two Santa Clause follow-up flicks, but don’t expect either to chart as well as the original. The Santa Clause is generally considered the iconic classic in the trilogy, with the second deploying a robot Santa counterpart, and the third involving Jack Frost nabbing the Santa coat from Allen. The original takes the cake for having just enough plotholes to leave serious questions while offering a decently funny and surprisingly family-friendly film, albeit a little more awkward for the parents than the kids.