The following review was made possible by Disney+ providing screeners for all episodes of The Santa Clauses Season 2. The first two episodes premiere on November 8, with new episodes releasing weekly.
The Calvin family returns this festive season for a new chapter in their responsibilities as the Clauses in a new season of The Santa Clauses. This time around, Cal begins his Santa training – but unbeknownst to the family, an old and banished Santa known as The Mad Santa threatens to ruin Christmas and turn the world’s children into Nutcrackers. What could possibly go wrong?
If you didn’t already know, I really enjoyed the show’s first season. The first season managed to bring back a beloved franchise and bring it into the modern-day of Christmas conventions, which I really liked. Mentions of Amazon, social media, and conspiracy nuts were all sprinkled throughout the plot, and this season gives us even more!
A Story of Madness and Magic
Whilst the first season gave us a more modern festive story, the second season takes its time diving into the mythos of Santa a bit more and explores a more magical side of the North Pole, allowing it to present more in line with the third film in the franchise, The Escape Clause.
Following the reveal of their powers in the first season, we get a lot of time learning about Cal and Sandra’s new abilities, and their development of these powers was interesting throughout the 6-episode series. I was still convinced that Cal wouldn’t become the next Santa during the first season, theorising that it would be Sandra who would ultimately be the one sleighing; however, I was wrong. Both characters go on a journey of growth as we spend a lot more time with them as they pursue different ventures – Sandra spending some time with La Befana, whilst Cal balances his time training with a visiting girlfriend at the North Pole, causing the utmost amount of chaos, especially for the Elves.
Austin Kane is hilarious this time around as Cal, and the scripts really allow him to have a lot more fun this time around, definitely one of my favourite characters. This time around, I think the story is a lot more enjoyable and the characters are even more developed which I appreciated, and I am so glad they toned down Tim Allen’s conservative-esque Santa a lot. God forbid Christmas becomes woke again! The season sees ancient flashbacks to the North Pole of the past, but I would have loved more of the multiversal Santa world that was introduced in the first season, we will hopefully have more seasons to explore it…
Some New Visitors To The North Pole
This season sees a group of new (and old) characters come into the fold of things with Eric Stonestreet’s Magnus Antas (more commonly known as The Mad Santa during the show’s narrative) being the main addition. Stonestreet will always be iconic for his performance as Cameron on ABC’s Modern Family, and he brings some witty comedy to the show as the villainous Santa. Once they finally interact in the later episodes, I enjoyed the on-screen rivalry between Stonestreet and Allen’s Santas, nothing vicious, just both of them winding each other u,p which is a lot of fun.
Stonestreet’s Mad Santa spends a lot of his time with Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias’ character Kris ‘Kringle’ Moreno, a wonderful addition to the show’s cast. Kris loves all things Christmas, even going as far to having his own Santaland in Chicago. It is Kris who somehow brings the Mad Santa back into the fold of things and makes for an interesting character, with the two’s pairing being incredibly unconventional – but it works really well.
Alongside the Mad Santa, is his trusty sidekick gnome (yes, these are now a thing in the show) Olga, played by actress Marta Kessler. The highlight of Kessler’s performance is how every line delivery feels like an attempt to mimic or portray Julia Garner’s award-winning performance of Anna Delvey in Netflix’s Inventing Anna – the similarity is uncanny.
Some of the Legendary Figures from the films make a return after being absent from the first season – an element of the film trilogy I was gutted to see left on the chopping board the first time around. Tracy Morgan stars as the Easter Bunny, taking over from the late Jay Thomas who sadly passed away in 2017. Morgan’s performance is incredibly over-the-top at times, and whilst it is very obvious how much fun he’s having, I wasn’t too sold on his portrayal. Another returning face is the Sandman, played by Michael Dorn, who I loved this time around; he’s sleepy as ever as he comes toe-to-toe with Scott regarding the future of Cal taking over the reigns as Santa.
Please… No More North Pole Kidz Bop
Unfortunately, one aspect of the first season which I despised makes a return. The god-awful KIDZ BOP group of elves (or however you wish to refer to them) show up and make for an incredibly painful scene in the season opener. I understand the show is really trying to please as many demographics at once, but this doesn’t do anything for either the show or myself. Ridiculously silly.
There is some good to the returning presence of the elves this time around with Devin Blight’s Noel, Matilda Lawler’s Head Elf Betty, and Isabelle Bennett’s Edie once again providing entertaining performances. We get some interesting backstories for the trio, as well as some quality time spent with the hilariously funny Gary, the elf in charge of the E.L.F.S. (Effective Liberating Flight Squad).
Festive Fun For The Family
I cannot believe one of the funniest scenes in this show depicts a reindeer dropkicking an elf; the scene in question happens in the season opener and took me by surprise, and I couldn’t stop laughing for the duration of the scene. On another small note, I’m so glad the CG Reindeer no longer look creepy, and they’ve removed the terrifying clip from the show’s opening sequence which receives a small, but generous overhaul this time around.
Unlike most shows, the 6-episode model really works for this format of show, and I can see this going on for at least one or two more seasons, eventually leading up to Cal taking over the title of Santa and retiring Tim Allen’s Scott for good. The mini-series route for the franchise works so much better in terms of storytelling than the films did, so I would love to see it carry on…
‘The Santa Clauses’ Season 2 – Final Thoughts
The Santa Clauses Season 2 doesn’t disappoint with this being something families of all ages will love during the holiday season, thanks to plenty of Christmas magic and entertaining performances from its ensemble, the highlights being Eric Stonestreet’s Mad Santa and Austin Kane’s Cal. The returning holiday legendaries will provide comfort for fans of the franchise, but new sprinkles of life added to the mythos won’t alienate any new viewers either. Definitely worth the stream!
The first two episodes of The Santa Clauses Season 2 premiere on Disney+ on November 8. Check out a trailer below:
The Review
The Santa Clauses - Season 2
The Santa Clauses Season 2 doesn't disappoint with this being something families of all ages will love during the holiday season, thanks to plenty of Christmas magic and entertaining performances from its ensemble, the highlights being Eric Stonestreet's Mad Santa and Austin Kane's Cal. The returning holiday legendaries will provide comfort for fans of the franchise, but new sprinkles of life added to the mythos won't alienate any new viewers either. Definitely worth the stream!
