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DVD Details
- Original Theatrical Release: November 3rd, 2006
- Suggested retail price: 29.99
- Aspect ratio Dual aspect 1.85, 1.33:1
- Sound: Dolby Digital Surround Sound
- DVD Release Date: November 20th, 2007
The Movie
Tim Allen reprises his role as Scott Calvin, whose life is finally settling down after becoming Santa Claus on a full-time basis, managing his workshop at the North Pole, and expecting a new baby with wife, Carol (Lost‘s Elizabeth Mitchell), Of course, complications arise, this time in the form of wily Jack Frost (Martin Short). Frost wants to take over Christmas, but he first needs to get rid of Santa and destroy his workshop. Adding to the complications are the arrival of Carol’s in-laws (Ann Margaret and Alan Arkin, in an interesting casting move). How can Scott keep his in-laws from figuring out their daughter married Santa Claus? How can he fight Jack Frost, yet still show Christmas spirit? Will Alan Arkin drop the F-bomb? All those questions and much more are answered by the end of the film, wrapped in a neat little Christmas bow.
Photo © Disney
Although The Santa Clause 3 was savaged by critics, it still managed to finish in the top 25 for box office receipts in 2006. It has earned over $110 million worldwide, so someone out there is enjoying the film series. I was one of the few people who wrote a positive review of the film when it came out last Christmas, and I still hold to that; even more so now that the DVD is out; the film is better suited to the small screen. Martin Short is one of those actors people either love or hate, and since his Jack Frost dominates this movie, it’s a safe bet that most critics don’t have a lot of love for the guy. I found that he and Tim Allen have a good chemistry on screen, and though the plot is better suited for a TV movie, it all fits together and makes for an entertaining, though not groundbreaking, 89 minutes of diversion.
The Goodies
Christmas Carol-Oke – Ever get the urge to sing Christmas carols karaoke-style while watching random clips of all three Santa Clause movies? Well then, this is the feature for you—all three of you out there.
Photo © Disney
Blooper reel – The blooper reel mainly focuses on Tim Allen and Martin Short and the chortles they had while filming the movie. Unfortunately, a lot of these same clips are repeated in the closing credits of the film and in the featurette “The New Comedians,” so by the time one is watching the disc they will have seen these clips at least three times.
Music Video: Greatest Time of Year by Aly & A.J – Aly & A.J. appear in the requisite Radio Disney tie-in by singing in a giant snow globe intercut with clips of the movie. The song also plays over the credits. It’s not a bad song if you don’t mind Christmas songs that don’t actually sound like Christmas songs. That doesn’t bother me, but some traditionalists will be grinding their teeth.
Jack Frost and Mrs. Clause: a Very Different Look – This was one of the more interesting featurettes, as it showed what can happen to a film when a character’s costume or “look” is not working. Martin Short began filming as Jack Frost in what looked like a silver track suit with Andy Warhol hair. Director Michael Lembeck decided he was not menacing enough (in a G-rated way) to be the film’s villain, so production was shut down for two days trying to fix the problem. Costume designers, working frantically, came up with a sleeker zoot-suit look for Frost, and hooray!, the picture was saved. Elizabeth Mitchell as Mrs. Claus started filming with lots of prosthetic chubbiness added to her face, but it was determined that audiences needed to see more of her natural gorgeousness on film (that, and she could barely smile with all that plastic glued to her face) so production stopped again while her make-up was fixed.
The New Comedians: On the set with Tim and Marty – The title of this featurette puzzled me to no end. Tim Allen and Martin Short… .new comedians? On what planet? I watched and listened intently for an explanation of the title in the featurette and only found lots of testimony as to how hilarious Allen and Short are together. OK, but… new?
Creating Movie Magic – This is your standard, green screen, behind-the-scenes featurette. I had to roll my eyes a little bit when they explained how Santa pulled large Christmas presents out of his sack with amazing movie magic; Mary Poppins did it first and did a better job of it. I would have liked to have seen more about how they created the North Pole set; however, Director Michael Lembeck covers that in more detail during the commentary.
Photo © Disney
Alternate Opening – The director made the wise decision to cut this alternate opening, which is one big flashback to the first Santa Clause film designed to explain to all the viewers who were too young when the first movie came out how Scott Calvin came to be Santa Clause.
Audio commentary with director Michael Lembeck – Everything you ever wanted to know about The Santa Clause 3 and then some. Lembeck does a nice job giving technical information about the production as well as interesting anecdotes. He talks a lot about that fact that over 200 children were used during filming as the elves in Santa’s workshop, and all of them needed to be schooled, costumed, made up, and corralled over the course of the production. Lembeck makes it sound like a lot of fun, but those of us who actually have kids know better.
Audio, Video and Interface
The main interface is rather plain, with a row of factory gears turning while you make a menu choice. The secondary interface is much the same way, with a short clip of the score playing in the background. The good news for kids is that the menus are easy to navigate, and with the limited choices involved it’s unlikely a child will get lost in the interface. The film is presented in dual aspect 1.85, 1.33:1, and the sound is Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The look and sound of the film are fine; everything in the film looks and sounds like it was made on a sound stage, and the excellent presentations for the audio and video will never change that.
The Final Evaluation
Photo © Disney
It comes down to a matter of personal taste; do you (or your kids) like the Santa Clause franchise? If so, you will probably appreciate this latest installment. My kids enjoy these films immensely; my youngest daughter even drags out our VHS copy of the first Santa Clause (mom can’t bring herself to spend the money to convert this title to DVD) and watches it year-round. The extras are not groundbreaking, but they do add interest to the DVD, and the audio commentary is genuinely absorbing. The Santa Clause 3 will never rank up there with the all time Christmas movie greats, but it might usher in a little bit of holiday atmosphere in between viewings of It’s a Wonderful Life and A Charlie Brown Christmas.
