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Happy holidays, all. Being that it's the Yule-tide season, and we were re-watching old favorite Christmas films, some things got me thinking....

In the 1994 film, The Santa Clause, Tim Allen plays toy executive Scott Calvin, who accidentally causes the actual St. Nick to fall off his roof and apparently vanish into the Force or something on Christmas eve night. Scott then has to finish Santa's deliveries to the rest of the world, and in putting on the suit institutes a binding magical contract (hence the titular "clause" pun) where he himself now inherits the role, powers, form and responsibilities of Santa Claus.

The film was a success, leading to a sequel, where in Scott, now being Santa for 8 years, has to find a wife to fulfill the "Mrs. Clause" to stabilize his powers, or his contract will be broken and he'll run out of magic and thus cease being Santa. This leads him on a mad-dash to fall in love----or at least find somebody suitable----- before the next Christmas eve, all while dealing with the drama of maintaining his "civilian identity" as Scott Calvin, including dealing with his now teenage and less than well-behaved son, Charlie, from the first film.

Now why they waited 8 years and just before the deadline to do this (beyond plot reasons, of course) is beyond me, but the second film brings up a few good questions:

1. If all Santas have to have a "Mrs," then why was there no version, or even mention of a previous Mrs Claus for the predecessor Santa that Scott replaced seen in the first movie?

Now to be fair, it is possible that that previous Santa was still relatively "new" to the position, and hadn't yet come to the 8-year contract expiration date, so maybe he simply didn't have a wife at that time. Given how long "Santa" as a magical Legendary figure role has been around, though---- and the very existence of the "Mrs. Clause" itself--- it is unlikely that every (or even most predecessor Santas) would just regularly fall off a roof or get replaced within or before every 5-8 years. So there must have been at least a few previous Mrs. Clauses of note, most of which whom would have lived at the North Pole, right?

Well then....

2. How then could the role of Mrs. Claus, an element which could make or break the contract and thus endanger Christmas, be "forgotten" or sidestepped by the ENTIRE Elf populace for 8 years? and...

3. What possibly happens to all the "previous" Mrs. Clauses when their respective Santa husband ceases to be Santa?

Do they just fade away with him, or is there some other explanation?

Granted, I know its highly unlikely the films "canonically" address this information, but I can't help but be curious if this was ever touched on anywhere?

Educated guesses based on the films and any supplementary media would also be appreciated.

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  • 3
    My guess (hence a comment): she just knows, through her own Mrs Claus powers and sadly leaves the North Pole, retiring back to normal life in the normal world. Who would believe her anyway if she said anything? Perhaps she is given a “bereavement” or “retirement” gift where each former Mrs Claus is taken care of until death, by the North Pole.
    – MissouriSpartan
    Commented Dec 28, 2020 at 22:42
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    Mulched and used as reindeer food.
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 28, 2020 at 23:53
  • @Valorum Dude.... are you okay? :-l
    – Russhiro
    Commented Dec 29, 2020 at 14:47
  • @MissouriSpartan something like that would make sense; either she kind of "ascends" with him, if they are so intimately tied together, or (depending on how long he was Santa) she is "de-Santafied" and magically given a new civilian identity, with just enough magic to make her normal life easy. Perhaps her memories are erased.She could even move on to serve in some other magical capacity; a gaurdian or worker for Mother Nature or such. I just found it odd that the series never addressed such a glaring informational issue.
    – Russhiro
    Commented Dec 29, 2020 at 14:50
  • 1
    @Russhiro it’s a Disney film. Suspension of disbelief required.
    – MissouriSpartan
    Commented Dec 29, 2020 at 15:17

1 Answer 1

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There were no previous Mrs. Clauses. Previous Santas were supernatural beings without families

In the 2022 sequel series "The Santa Clauses" the whole Santa-Verse is retconned. Per this recap of the 5th episode:

Throughout this journey, Scott comes to find out an extensive backstory about his reign that many might find shocking. In the first film, the slip off the roof wasn’t an accident. The powers that be decided that Scott Calvin should be the first Santa to start off as a regular human. Every Santa throughout history has been chosen to properly cope with the issues at the forefront of society. With technology coming to the forefront, Scott was chosen to tackle the issue. The hope was that with the addition of Clauses, Scott would be able to start a family in the North Pole and, hopefully, raise a long line of Santas for years to come. Long story short: Scott becoming Santa was the part of a long con.

In that episode, the previous Santa says:

The clauses were created to guide you.

The Santa Clause, the Mrs. Clause, all of 'em.

If I'd known at the time, I would've put in the, uh, Less Talking Clause.

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