By the D23 Team
Disney+ announced this morning that Disney Legend Tim Allen will reprise his role for a new The Santa Clause (working title) limited series. Is it too early to start celebrating Christmas again? Because this news is the very best present! The series, executive produced by Allen, is set to begin production in Los Angeles in March. Award-winning Jack Burditt (30 Rock, Modern Family, Frasier, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) is the executive producer and showrunner, and Kevin Hench (Last Man Standing), Richard Baker, and Rick Messina also serve as executive producers.
The series will be set after the trilogy of The Santa Clause films. Allen won a People’s Choice Award for his portrayal of Scott Calvin for the 1994 The Santa Clause and reprised the role in two sequels, 2002’s The Santa Clause 2 and 2006’s The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.
In the Disney+ series, Scott Calvin is on the brink of his 65th birthday and realizing that he can’t be Santa forever. He’s starting to lose a step in his Santa duties, and more importantly, he’s got a family who could benefit from a life in the normal world, especially his two kids who have grown up at the Pole. With a lot of elves, children, and family to please, Scott sets out to find a suitable replacement Santa while preparing his family for a new adventure in a life south of the pole.
Most Disney fans will recognize Allen—well, at least his voice—from his role as Buzz Lightyear in Pixar’s first computer animated film, Toy Story. He reprised the iconic role as the arrogant yet lovable space action figure in three sequels, 1999’s Toy Story 2, 2010’s Toy Story 3, and 2019’s Toy Story 4. He also appeared as the character in a number of Toy Story short films, including Hawaiian Vacation, Small Fry, and Partysaurus Rex.
Before Allen was going “to infinity, and beyond,” his popularity skyrocketed as the star of the top-rated ABC series Home Improvement, earned numerous awards for his role of Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, including a Golden Globe® in 1994 and a People’s Choice Award for eight consecutive years from 1992-1999. Allen also starred for nine seasons on the hit series Last Man Standing. He reunited with the creative team from The Santa Clause to make Disney’s Jungle 2 Jungle, and also starred in the feature remake of a Disney classic, The Shaggy Dog, in 2006. Allen also lent his own voice as narrator to the 2012 Disneynature documentary Chimpanzee and co-starred in the 2007 Touchstone comedy Wild Hogs along with the 1999 film Galaxy Quest. In 1994, Disney’s Hyperion Publishing released his debut book, Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man. It topped the New York Times Bestsellers list and led to a second book, also published by Hyperion, I’m Not Really Here.
Stay tuned to D23.com for more news on the new Disney+ The Santa Clause limited series as it breaks.
