The Santa Clause has more than earned its place in the pantheon of classic holiday movies. Part of that is due to its unorthodox set-up: ad exec Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) accidentally kills Santa Claus and has to take his job. That's a surprisingly dark hook for a holiday movie — especially one made by Disney — but it works. Allen's performance as Calvin mixes in the comedian's usual acerbic wit with some genuine soul, and that same combination would help shape Allen's performance as Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story films. Throw in a talented supporting cast that includes David Krumholtzand Judge Reinhold, as well as some gorgeous production design, and you get a Christmas movie with endless repeat value (as well as a sequel series).
Yet for all of its holiday trappings, The Santa Clause is hiding some rather adult jokes underneath its wrapping. A lot of these will fly over younger viewers' heads; when Scott and his son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) discover that Santa's sack has levitation powers, Scott jokes about how it reminds him of living through the '60s...a not-so-subtle allusion to the heavy drug culture of that era. What takes the cake is a throwaway joke early in the movie that concerns a fake-sounding phone number. That phone number was actually real, and connected to a real-life sex hotline.
What Was 'The Santa Clause's Naughty Joke?
The joke that landed The Santa Clause — and by extension, Disney — in some hot water comes near the beginning of the film. Scott, who has custody of Charlie, is talking with his ex-wife Laura (Wendy Miller). Laura gives Scott a number to call which belongs to the mother of her new husband, Neil (Reinhold). Upon receiving it, Scott snarks, "1-800-SPANK-ME. I know that number." As adult jokes go, it's fairly tame and easily flies over the heads of the younger viewers. But that wasn't the case with Shirley Dearth, a grandmother living near Cleveland. Dearth took her grandchildren to see The Santa Clause, and afterward, they wanted to call the number — which took a left turn as they were connected to an active sex line.
"I don't think children need to be exposed to that," Dearth told the AP Press back when the initial news broke. She was relatively lucky; a rash of children in Washington ended up calling the number, which led to some outrageous charges as well as some outraged parents. A large part of that was due to The Santa Clause hitting VHS and LaserDisc, making it relatively easy for kids to get their hands on a phone. Eventually, Disney decided to scrub the line from all versions of The Santa Clause in 1999. That includes the DVDs and Blu-rays, as well as the version streaming on Disney+ and all broadcast versions. Now the number is referred to as "1-800-POUND"...which could still be mistaken for a sex joke in our opinion (but doesn't connect to a working sex line as far as we know.) The original number, hilariously enough, remains in operation to this day.
The Original Script for 'The Santa Clause' Was More Adult-Oriented
Via Walt Disney Pictures
Believe it or not, a dirty joke involving a sex line is pretty much in line with The Santa Clause's original script. Tim Allen revealed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallonthat the incident involving Santa falling off the roof — and Scott assuming his duties — could have taken a much darker turn as Scott originally pulled a revolver on Santa. "The original Santa Clause is a little darker, written by two comedians, and I actually shot and killed Santa. … He fell off the roof because I thought he was a burglar. He gives me the card, the whole movie starts. The kid actually starts, ‘You just killed Santa.’ And I said, ‘He shouldn’t have been on the roof when he wasn’t invited.'" Allen said. Then head of Disney Jeffrey Katzenberg thought the idea was a bit too macabre, leading to this exchange between him and Allen:
"I’m laughing so hard, but the head of Disney at the time, (Jeffrey) Katzenberg said, ‘Well, we can’t start a movie like that,’ and I said, ‘Why not?’ ...and he said, ‘We can’t start a Disney movie with you murdering Santa.' I’m a comedian — why not? It’s funny,...You kill all the parents in all your other movies!”
Though the original Santa Clause script doesn't feature cold-blooded murder (Scott threatens Santa with a revolver, which causes him to fall off the roof), it's still more adult in tone. One scene underlines this, where Scott asks head elf Bernard (played by David Krumholtz in thefilms) how good his chances are. Bernard takes Scott to a hall of previous Santas, where it's implied that they all met some horrible ends - and the number in the thousands. It's even implied that some Santas crashed into planes!
This burst of black comedy, along with the more mature tone screenwriters Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick were aiming for, saw Disney considering releasing The Santa Clause under its Hollywood Pictures banner, where the House of Mouse's more adult-themed pictures would air. But rewrites and test screenings eventually led Disney executives to change their minds and place it under the main Disney banner, resulting in a Christmas classic. If anything, it's a miracle The Santa Clause got made, since its production was far from holly or jolly.
'The Santa Clause' Turned Into a Popular Disney Franchise
The Santa Clause became a critical and commercial hit, so naturally, Disney decided to greenlight two more sequels. To their credit, The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause do find some great ways to continue throwing roadblocks in Scott's path. Those roadblocks stem from the business card in Santa's suit, which is covered with a border of fine print that outlines all of Santa Claus' duties. In The Santa Clause 2, Scott learns that he has to take a wife or he'll stop being Santa forever. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause pitted Scott against the winter spirit Jack Frost (Martin Short), who used time travel to usurp his role as Santa Claus. It was also the moment when the franchise became firmly family-friendly, perhaps in response to the sex line scandal.
This direction wasn't exactly a great outcome for the films. They're stuffed with all the hallmarks of early 2000s Disney films; outdated pop culture references, bone-crushingly painful slapstick, and actors who have done far better slumming it. Nowhere is this more evident than with the Council of Legendary Figures, a group of mythological figures that Scott belonged to. Watching Michael Dorn and Aisha Tyler struggling to bring gravitas to the roles of the Sandman and Mother Nature is a tough pill to swallow, as is the presence of the late great Peter Boyle as Father Time. (Boyle had previously appeared in The Santa Clause as Scott's former boss, so to see him here is just baffling.) But the biggest clue that things weren't the same was the reindeer. Originally real-life flesh and blood animals who communicated through grunts, now they were CGI monstrosities only good for dispensing toilet humor.
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The Santa Clauses seems to be faring slightly better, as its first season saw Scott — now married and with two children — attempt to pass off the role of Santa Claus to a successor. Once again, more "clauses" are explored, as Scott struggles to find a place in the world where he can be Santa. While it still lacks some of the spark that made The Santa Clause a runaway hit, The Santa Clauses is at its best when it explores the family dynamic between Scott, his wife Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell), and son Cal (Austin Kane). Most of the cast from the previous films — particularly Krumholtz's elf Bernard, also return — and seem far happier here than they were in the sequels. Even if it did contain some rather risqué humor, The Santa Clause has still managed to stand out as a holiday classic and even launched an entire franchise.
The Santa Clause is available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.
Via Walt Disney Pictures 
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