Review of The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006) by Tracey C — 12 Oct 2010

Scott and Carol have been married for a while now and love each other very much. However Scott Calvin, a.k.a. Santa Claus (Tim Allen), is having difficulties managing Christmas this year. His wife Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell), is expecting their first child which is due on Christmas Eve and is afraid that Scott will be making his deliveries while she is making hers. Wanting her to feel more comfortable, Scott invites his in-laws, Silvia and Bud Newman (Ann-Margret and Alan Arkin), up to the North Pole (disguised as a Canadian toy factory), along with his ex-wife, Laura (Wendy Crewson), her husband Neil (Judge Reinhold), and their daughter Lucy (Liliana Mumy) to keep Mrs. Claus company. Meanwhile, Santa is summoned to a meeting of the Council of Legendary Figures consisting of Mother Nature (Aisha Tyler), Father Time (Peter Boyle), the Easter Bunny (Jay Thomas), Cupid (Kevin Pollack), the Tooth Fairy (Art LaFleur), and the Sandman (Michael Dorn). They show him a cardboard cutout of Jack Frost that reads "Merry Frostmas" as Jack Frost (Martin Short) arrives. Besides Father Time reminding Jack that he heralds the season and not a holiday, Mother Nature accuses Jack Frost of attempting to upstage Santa by freezing a volcano in Hawaii, making it snow in the Amazon, and making it cold in Mexico sending the geese back North for the winter. All the other Legendary Figures agree that a punishment needs to be invoked against him with the idea to suspend him. Jack manages to convince them to put him into community service at the North Pole. When Scott brings up the part with the in-laws during an argument with Jack, Easter Bunny recommended the "Escape Clause" which Scott declines. When Jack asks what the Escape Clause is, Father Time tells Jack that he would know more about it if he attended the meetings more. Scott reluctantly agrees with a warning to Jack if he does anything wrong on his watch. Jack helps to disguise the North Pole as Canada for the arrival of the in-laws. Scott manages to get the in-laws to "Canada" with the help of the Sandman.

However, Jack, who wants to have the power and influence of Santa, goes around the North Pole and uses his powers to create technical problems with some of the equipment. The shop flies into chaos and many gifts are destroyed, and Scott is faced with the possibility that there will not be enough toys for all the children in time for Christmas.

Jack talks to Head Elf Curtis (Spencer Breslin) about the Hall of Snow Globes, and discovers that Scott's snow globe can be used to activate the Escape Clause, the most powerful clause of all the Santa Clauses. This clause can help the current Santa escape from his job as Santa; if he holds his snow globe and says, "I wish I had never become Santa at all", the Clause is triggered, and he can return to the point where he becomes Santa and prevent the event from occurring. Scott takes a quick break to show Lucy the Hall of Snow Globes, and gives Lucy a magical snow globe that shows her hugging a snowman, which turns pink because her hugs are so filled with love and warmth. As they leave, Jack sneaks into the Hall and steals Scott's snow globe, freezing Lucy's parents when they catch him. After further attempts at sabotage, Jack manages to enrage Scott's in-laws, and gives him a gift as Scott talks about his frustrations. Not realizing what he is doing, Scott is persuaded into uttering the Escape Clause while opening his gift and taking out his snow globe. Jack and Scott are transported back in time to the front of Scott Calvin's yard, where, twelve years earlier, Scott causes Santa to fall off the roof and donned his coat to become the new Santa. Jack reaches the coat before the past version of Scott can, and puts it on to become Santa.

Scott is sent back to the present, where he has been the CEO for his old company for the last twelve years, and works even on Christmas Eve. He drives over to Laura's house. Laura treats him very coldy. She then reveals that she and Neil also divorced after having Lucy, as without Scott around Neil tried and failed to fill his role to his son. Scott frantically asks where Carol is and Laura says she "left town years ago because there weren't enough local kids to terrorize or something." Laura gives Scott a magazine that shows the North Pole; it is now a tourist attraction, where wealthy parents take their kids and pay for them to be on the Nice List. Scott assures Laura that he'll fix everything and it will all go back to normal. Scott, wanting his old job back, returns to the North Pole where the elves are miserable and Christmas has become highly merchandised. Lucy and Neil are there as well, although they too are not happy to see Scott. Scott confronts Jack with what he has done and claims his vision of Christmas isn't what the holiday is about, but Jack reminds Scott that he was the one who said "I wish I had never become Santa at all".

Scott convinces Lucy to sneak into the Hall of Snow Globes, and bring Jack's to him. Scott interrupts a musical performance by Jack, when Lucy tosses Jack his snow globe. Jack mocks that Scott will never convince Jack to invoke the Escape Clause, but Scott plays a recording of Jack saying "I wish I had never become Santa at all", when he said it to him earlier. Whisked back to the past, Scott holds Jack down while his past self finds the suit and puts it on, restoring events to the way they were.

Back in the present, Scott reunites with his wife, even though no time has passed since he left, and he promises to make her life better. He then shows his in-laws the truth about his workshop, where despite Jack's sabotage, gifts are being manufactured and will be ready on-time for Scott's deliveries. To Scott's surprise, his son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) arrives and helps out the elves.

Just as it seems things are going perfectly, Curtis and Lucy appear, and Neil and Laura are wheeled in, frozen solid. Jack is also dragged in by the "elficers" and he refuses to undo his spell on them. By unfreezing them, Frost would have to "unfreeze himself" and so they will be forever frozen. When Scott asks for Mother Nature to help him out, she reminds Jack that the abilities of a Legendary Figure won't work on other Legendary Figures. However, Scott has an idea. He tells Lucy to give Jack one of her heart-warming hugs; her tight hug, full of love and warmth, breaks Jack down, changing his clothes and hair from icy to normal and breaks the spell around Neil and Laura. Everyone - including the defrosted and reformed Jack - celebrates with a hug, and Carol suddenly announces that her package is coming. She gives birth to a baby named Buddy Claus just at midnight making him born on Christmas Day before Santa has to leave to deliver the gifts.