Tim Allen Knows Why The Santa Clause 3 Sucks: "We Became Infected By Our Own Success"

Tim Allen thought The Santa Clause 3 could've been better. 

Allen played Santa Clause/Scott Calvin in the festive film franchise that started with 1994's The Santa Clause, followed by 2002's The Santa Clause 2 and 2006's The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. He is set to reprise the role in the Disney+ series, The Santa Clauses, premiering Nov 16.

Looking back at the three movies, Allen, 69, said he felt they "overshot the runway on number three" and that he and co-star Martin Short, who played Jack Frost, didn't have a funny scene together. In other words, they could've spent more effort in fine-tuning the script.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the Last Man Standing star said: "What happened was that we became infected by our own success. [1994’s The Santa Clause] was huge, but we had about $11 for special effects.

"[The Santa Clause 2] was an extension of that but now we could put lights in the window because we had more production money. By number three, all we had was money.

"The story kind of just got bigger and bigger. And the fact that Marty Short and I never did a scene together that was funny, I’m still going huh? That’s the funniest human being I’ve ever been around, other than me, and we never got a shot to do a real big scene together."

The Escape Clause made the least money in the trilogy. It also had the worst reviews; it was nominated for five Razzies (aka the Anti-Oscars), including Worst Actor and Worst Prequel or Sequel.

Despite the regrets, Allen is glad that he got another chance to play St Nick again in The Santa Clauses. 

The six-part limited series sees Scott/Santa struggling to keep up with the demands of the job and him searching for a successor to replace him. Kal Penn and Elizabeth Mitchell co-star. 

"As I walked on set for the first time in the full regalia, everybody got very quiet, both adults and kids," he said. "When I show up dressed in the full suit and everything else, there's big smiles on people's faces. Little kids are quiet. I had totally forgotten that. It does feel like Santa's in the room."

The Santa Clauses premieres on Disney+ on Nov 16. — BANG SHOWBIZ

Photo: Disney/Justin Stephens