Story
Mrs Carol Claus (Elizabeth Mitchell) is about to give birth at Christmas, the busiest time of the year. Carol is emotional at the prospect of becoming a mother and misses her family. Santa (Tim Allen) is under a lot of pressure and devises a ruse for bringing Carol’s parents to the North Pole by disguising it as Canada and thus not breaking any Santa secrets. To add to Santa’s troubles, an emergency meeting is held by the Council of Legendary Figures to discuss what to do with Jack Frost (Martin Short). He has been unashamedly promoting himself and trying to upstage Santa. The Council wants to expel him, but he begs for another chance. Santa takes him on as an additional helper.
Jack Frost has ambitious plans and sets out to sabotage Santa’s efforts to get presents ready in time for Christmas. He discovers that there is an escape clause to being Santa and tricks the overstressed Santa into invoking it. Jack Frost assumes the role of Santa and turns the North Pole into a ghastly theme park. Meanwhile the real Santa, who has returned to a miserable life as Scott Calvin, has to devise a way of putting things back the way they were.
Themes
Family relationships
Violence
- A girl elf kicks Santa in the shin.
- Jack Frost pushes a loaded trolley into an elf.
- Jack Frost causes an explosion that sets machinery on fire.
- Jack Frost breathes on Laura, Santa’s ex-wife (Wendy Crewson), and her husband Neil (Judge Reinhold), turning them into ice.
- Santa and Jack Frost fall from the North Pole through the sky and land heavily on the ground.
- In a fight scene, Jack hits Santa with a shovel.
- Santa hits Jack (who is now Santa) and a policeman with a giant candy cane.
Content that may disturb children
Under 8
- Carol is whisked off on a trolley to give birth, screaming loudly, although more in alarm than in pain.
- Santa enters the lounge room through a fireplace that is shaped like a huge Santa mouth and has a fire burning in the grate.
- The Sandman puts Carol’s parents to sleep with a spell.
- Scott (Santa) visits his ex-wife Laura. Laura and Scott’s son Charlie (Eric Lloyd), now a teenager, are very nasty to Scott. Charlie doesn’t want anything to do with him.
From 8-13
The apparent family breakdown between Scott (Santa) and his son Charlie could concern some children in this age group.
Over 13
It is unlikely that anything in this movie will scare or disturb children over the age of 13.
Sexual references
Jack Frost tries to chat up Carol’s mother.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
None
Nudity and sexual activity
None
Product placement
None
Coarse language
None
Ideas to discuss with your children
Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause shows that good eventually wins over evil and that pride comes before a fall. It presents values of forgiveness and kindness. It could also give you an opportunity to talk with your child about the importance of spending time together as a family.