Tim Allen Insisted on Keeping ‘Christ’ in ‘Christmas’ for New Santa Clause Series

Tim Allen insisted on keeping Jesus Christ at the center of Christmas in his new Disney+ series The Santa Clauses, the actor recently revealed.

Allen, who reprises his role as Scott Calvin and Santa Claus in the series, recently told The Wrap that it was important to him to include a religious angle in The Santa Clauses – something that the original trilogy of the films never did.

“It originally had a lot of otherworldly characters, and ghosts, and goblins. I said no, this is Christ-mas. Its Christ-mas. It literally is a religious holiday,” Allen told The Wrap (emphasis in original).

“We don’t have to blow trumpets, but I do want you to acknowledge it. That’s what this is about. If you want to get into Santa Claus, you’re gonna have to go back to history, and it’s all about religion.”

The six-episode series serves as a sequel to The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, which hit theaters in 2006. That movie served as the third installment in the movie franchise, following after The Santa Clause 2 which was released on the big screen in 2002 and the original The Santa Clause, released in 1994.

Four episodes in the new series have been released on Disney+ with the final two episodes to be released on December 7 and 14.

Allen also disclosed that the focus on religion doesn’t come until the final two episodes.

He said that the team working on the series found “a brilliant way” to incorporate the true reason for the Christmas season into the story. “It’s really wonderful. They took a chance, and we did it really well,” Allen said (emphasis in original).

According to an official description for the film, The Santa Clauses also has a significant focus on the importance of family. It reads:

Scott Calvin is back! After being Santa Claus for nearly thirty years, he’s as jolly as ever. But as Christmas declines in popularity, so does his Santa magic. Scott struggles to keep up with the demands of the job, as well as being there for his family.

Upon discovering there is a way to retire from his post, Scott considers stepping down as Santa Claus and finding a worthy successor so that he can become a better father and husband.

You can watch the trailer for the new series here:

Allen also recently received blowback from several leftists on Twitter for defending the phrase “Merry Christmas” in the new show, which the Daily Citizen covered here.

The actor – as Santa Claus – joked that “Saying ‘Merry Christmas to all’ has suddenly become problematic.”

Leftists were angry that he was insinuating that there has been a culture push to eliminate the phrase “Merry Christmas” from the public square – which they insisted isn’t real despite several examples to the contrary.

Allen is also known for playing Tim “The Toolman” Taylor on Home Improvement, Mike Baxter on Last Man Standing and voicing Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story.

The actor has had a checkered past, struggling with alcoholism and a drug addiction. After beginning to drink at the age of 10, Allen has said that he was already an “experienced drinker” by the age of 11 when his father was killed in a car crash.

He then spent two years and four months in federal prison following an arrest on drug trafficking charges, which he plead guilty to.

And yet, Allen has now been sober for over 24 years and has called sobriety his life’s “biggest blessing.” Though he’s struggled in his faith, admitting that though he attended church, he was “constantly a cynic,” Allen now calls God “The Builder,” saying, “Whoever built me, this is too much, too weird that it happened by accident. It didn’t happen by accident.”

Allen’s life story is a reminder to all of us that there is no saint without a past, nor any sinner without a future. We are all able to be redeemed and restored to right relationship with our Creator because of the birth of Jesus Christ – who is the real reason for the Christmas season.

It’s a very good thing that The Santa Clauses will acknowledge exactly that.

If you want to learn more about the entertainment content your family is viewing, check out Focus on the Family’s free service Plugged In. The Plugged In team reviews movies, television shows, music, games, books and more. You can read Plugged In’s review of The Santa Clauses here.