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"It's about a guy's journey and about making sacrifices."
For Tim Allen, revisiting his iconic lead role in The Santa Clauses (November 16, Disney+) was more than just creating "content" for a nostalgic streaming audience. "We had a great responsibility." For Allen, who is "humbled" to be "reminded that I have been part of Santa Clause," he wanted the new miniseries to "make sense for the adults like me." Part of that meant filling in some holes left by the original 1994 film,The Santa Clause. "There's a wonderful scene where I meet up and get kind of chastised by all the other Santas that have come and gone." But ultimately what makes the role so relatable is "it's about a guy's journey and about making sacrifices." That's something Allen can relate to, given that his wholesome onscreen persona can be at odds with his onstage comic image. For Allen, who says sometimes "censorship is required," it's about how you communicate. "There are better words than the F bomb. I can't think of them, but there are other ways to say that. It is possible to be very intelligent and yet still be very firm with your words."
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Did you ever think you'd be playing this character over a span of nearly 30 years?
No, I never thought I'd redo it after the first one. We had questions in the second one. The third one was really more about how many special effects could we put in it. As a sci-fi fan, it's that third installment that it gets questionable unless you're really smart at it. Alien, Predator, all my favorite ones that went on. I think the second Terminator was probably one of the best action movies ever made. Second Alien, absolutely outstanding. Second Santa Clause, I think we improved on it. The third one, it got so big that you kind of forgot the story. They came to me with [The Santa Clauses] idea—and I understand, it's streaming now, they need content—I said we just can't invent content. "Well, it's Santa Clause." That's not enough. A lot of fighting, and a lot of pressure on Jack Burditt, who wrote this first draft. And we got to a first chapter of a book—that's what I told him [how to] look at it for me. It's a long movie, and he killed it when a couple of big notes changed the trajectory, so it got much more compact and a much simpler emotional arc. And I said, "You give me that chapter one, chapter four and chapter six. I can see where it goes. What's the arc and what happens at the end? As long as it stays magic, you honor the word of Christmas and you make it safe." (As much as I am not safe in Vegas. You do not want children around my act.) I want it funny, I want it heartfelt, I want people to respect one another, and I want families to love each other and then I want smart asses everywhere.
What about this new iteration is different from the other films?
We answer my constant questions. What happened to Santa on the roof of the original? Did he die? Did he disappear? Did the other elves not miss him? What happened to Mrs. Clause? These start gaining on me and that's why we did it. We answer these questions and more. We opened up the door to the zeitgeist of the Christmas spirit. The big question: Have there been other human Santas? I don't know about that. Is this a trick? We answer these questions. And if you answer those questions for me, then I'll lay on comedy and I'll do whatever you ask me to do. I want it to make sense for the adults like me.
One question I think a lot of fans from the original will have is, where's Charlie [Eric Lloyd, who played Allen's son in the original]?
Yeah, me too. And we got him in there. I miss the legendary figures. We couldn't get to Cupid. There was this whole story about Cupid and the Easter Bunny, it got so freakin big, all of a sudden we're into 30 episodes. So we had to pare it down. We did what we could. We're so used to getting. My generation are big getters. We took a lot. We forgot about the other side of getting is giving.
The Santa Clauses does feel like a nostalgic love letter to a specific generation who, like me, were kids when the original came out.
That's what it is. We had a great responsibility here. There is a story of St. Nicholas and when we all looked at it, there's a whole lineage and there's a wonderful scene where I meet up and get kind of chastised by all the other Santas that have come and gone. Who they are and what kind of mythical figures they are and some really wonderful Santas you never knew about. And then what's special about [my character] Scott Calvin? There's no secret that his initials are "S" and "C."
In your real life, are you a holiday person?
Yes. More Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving because it smells and looks like Christmas but there's not all that. It's about being together, and I got a huge family. Christmas is a little what the story is about. It's a little too much about getting and buying. My family has been blessed with being able to do a [meal] serving for the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles every year. I've been doing this for years and my family gets more joy out of that. But the giving is an important part of this holiday and then sometimes Christmas gets a little too much for me.
With Home Improvement, The Santa Clause and Toy Story, you represent something pretty special for kids of that generation. What is it like having that kind of impact?
What you just said is humbling. I'm not the type of person that gives a crap. I'm really kind of an anarchist. I just don't care and then to see the impression, especially Home Improvement, there are families who are raised on it. I hear this all the time, [Home Improvement] used to be the only thing [dads would] watch with all the children, and I love my dad because of that. It's the writers and it's so many people, it wasn't me, I'm the face of it. Every year I'm reminded that I have been part of Santa Clause and I will give it that. That's director John Pasquin and Steve [Rudnick] and Leo [Benvenuti], who wrote the original. This a great story, but it's about a guy's journey and about making sacrifices. There's a lot in the [original] Santa Clause that is really good—the special effects aside, we had about eight bucks to make this. Every year I'm really humbled that I'm part of this.
How do you balance your wholesome film and TV image with your comedy act, which isn't really for children?
It's funny because it just came up the other day that Elon Musk is gonna remove a version of censorship on Twitter. We have censorship. Every day I worked on network television, you can't say a whole bunch of things. We couldn't use the name Jesus Christ on Home Improvement. You can't say the Wailing Wall. We did a joke about all the famous walls in the world, the Wall of China, the Wailing Wall...We deal with what can and cannot be said all the time on network TV and it taught me there's guardrails, you don't want kids to look at beheadings. I don't know who decides that. And for me, I'll tell you I'm on both sides of it. In Vegas, it's my language. It's just how I say things and the veracity of my language. Censorship is required. That's why I love and hate Pixar movies, Disney movies, you have to entertain people within these guardrails. And I think it makes you smarter. It makes you have to use your words, as my mother used to say, instead of throwing stuff at the window, "Tim, use your words, not those [laughs]. Try to use your words, but think about stuff." There are better words then the F bomb—I can't think of them—but there are other ways to say that. It is possible to be very intelligent and yet still be very firm with your words. I always hated [censorship] on Home Improvement, [but] it worked out. Because then you don't have to explain to a kid what that meant, to prove that you're sensorless. So sometimes it's hard for me even to admit but I've learned that there's limits on both sides that are self-imposed. It's what's called morality, I think.
Listen to H. Alan Scott on Newsweek's Parting Shot. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Twitter: @HAlanScott
