Disney+, yes I have it too, has a new movie coming out with Anna Kensrick about Santa’s daughter. When Santa’s son disappears before he’s supposed to take over, she has to find him. Nice idea but…Wait a minute, when did he have children?? Yeah for about twenty years now creators have realized that they have done all the stories they could about our favorite man in red. Where to go next? His family of course!
One of the first was in the 90’s. CBS had a TV movie about Mrs. Santa Claus which was so boring it put me in a coma. And of course Santa Claus 3 had a plotline about Santa having a child, who we didn’t see until the very end. I can’t figure out exactly when it was but at some point people must have started to wonder, what if Santa had kids? Or even a brother or sister? And these days there quite a few movies out there abut that very thing. For some reason we just put aside how disturbing the idea of Santa having sex is, and accept the premise. I guess I gotta admire creators coming with something different, but like everything else Christmas related it’s been done to DEATH at this point. Are any of these good? Let’s check them out. And one rule here is that the Santa in the movie has to be the “real” Santa.
Fred Claus
This wasn’t the first, by any means, but I figured since it was one of the few that wasn’t made for TV I would mention it first. There are these two brothers, Fred is the troublemaker and Nicholas is the saint. And, well, hijinks. This isn’t considered a great movie, although Paul Giamatti does a fair job as Santa, and I’d be lying if I said I’d even seen it. From what I’ve heard I think I’ll keep it that way.
Santa Baby
I thought this was the first to originate this trope, but I have been proven incorrect by my google search. I mentioned this one before as a rare good TV movie, and in fact I watch it every year. When Santa has a heart attack his daughter steps in. At first she tries to run things her way, but eventually discovers some traditions are there for a reason. The movie earned a sequel which I’ve only seen a part of.
Mr.St Nick
So it’s time for Santa to retire and pass over the torch to his son, played by Kelsey Grammar. The problem? His son his living the high life in Miami and doesn’t want the job. The movie is a bore.
Santa Jr.
Santa’s son is eager to follow in his father’s footsteps. To bad he’s really really bad at it. This is a cheesy movie so lame that I can’t even find a decent synopsis for it. By the way how many damn times does Santa have to be put in jail in movies and TV shows? That trope is older than his hills!! I think if I listed them all it’d take forever.
The Santa Claus Brothers
This is one of the oldest one’s I found, and it’s animated. Santa Claus has three sons, Mel, Daryl, and Roy, and all of them are talented. Santa wants to retire and creates a contest to decide which of the three will take over the job. Yeah it’s not a very original idea except for the fact the brothers are competing to be Santa.
Annie Claus is Coming to Town
In case you hadn’t guessed, I hate Hallmark’s Christmas movies. They’re all recycled romantic nonsense that I just can’t sit through. In this one, Santa’s Daughter takes a vacation from the North Pole (for the fist time ever) to California. It’s basically like every other Hallmark movie, she meets a guy, starts a business, and bonds with a kid. Santa is only in sparingly making me think they took a run of the mill romance movie and worked Christmas into it to make it more marketable.
Once Upon a Christmas
I think this is the oldest one, that I found anyway. Santa’s daughter wants to prove to Santa that people still care about Christmas. And you’ll never believe it..are you ready?…she meets a guy and falls for him (of course he has kids)! The ending is horrid and I won’t spoil it for you. Let’s just say it was fixed in the follow up. Yes there was a sequel.
Merry In-Law’s
Sure. Why not? When Peter becomes engaged to an astronomer, the time comes for her to meet his parents. Can you guess who the are? Yup he’s the son of Santa and Mrs Claus! This movie is “Meet The Parents” with Santa Claus.
Santa Girl
Did you think Noelle was all we’d get this year? Santa’s daughter gets a chance to attend college before she attends her duties as Santa’s daughter. What duties? An arranged marriage! To Jack Frosts son!!! What?????? Oh, I wonder if she’ll meet a man and fall in love. This may be the dumbest plot I’ve come across.
Single Santa seeks Mrs Claus
I can’t believe how many of these there are. Ok, the plot. A single mother has lost faith after her husband died. Her son sends a letter to The North Pole, where Santa’s son is getting ready to take over the job. But he needs a Mrs. Claus first. Yep, combine Sleepless in Seattle with Santa Clause 2 and you get the idea.
Ripping off two movies not enough? What if there was a sequel which ripped of Meet The Parents?
YUP
And of course……..
Yeah Arthur Christmas is one of the few movies to use a setup like this and make a good movie out of it! The plot is basically simple. Santa has two sons, one is the heir to the throne (if the original would ever retire!) and the other is, well, Arthur. And there’s a grandfather in there also who wanted things done the way he used to do them. When a gift is missed Arthur and the grandfather try to fix the situation. Only to make things go from bad to worst. I like how all the characters are fleshed out and each of them learn something, the movie being full of heart and sentiment. There are great nods to the the nostalgia days while acknowledging modern day technology. And the little elf that helps them is darn cute. Yeah, I like this movie enough to watch it every year.
And I should note that while I was hard on some of these, if you love them than that’s fine. This is all just opinion of course and there’s really nothing wrong with any of these. Did I miss one you think should have been mentioned? Comment and let me know. Oh, and will I check out Noelle? I would have had the trailer not spoiled the movie for me. Maybe I’ll put it on anyway.
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