THE SANTA CLAUSES: CHAPTER 5 & 6: “Across the Yule-Verse” and “A Christmas to Remember”
Entertaining Christmas fun that forgets the Savior.
Should You Watch It?
These two finale episodes are very entertaining. They offer funny and heartwarming moments, and they celebrate giving, hope, family, doing the right thing, and helping people in need. Tim Allen brings Scott Calvin a warm twinkle, and the story ultimately resolves its central problem by reminding people of the importance of family.
But the Christmas message is incomplete in a way that matters. The episodes say that “Christmas is about togetherness and community, spreading hope and joy,” while leaving out Jesus Christ, our Savior. They include references to St. Nicholas and “The First Noel,” but not the spiritual truth about Christ’s birth.
Because the episodes are available on Disney+, watch them at home, where you can enjoy the humor and talk with your family about what Christmas is really about.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESScott Calvin has retired as Santa Claus and is living on Earth with his wife and two children. Then Bernard, Scott’s former Number One Elf, returns with troubling news: Simon, Scott’s successor, is damaging the magic of Christmas.
Scott goes back to the North Pole and discovers a larger Santa Claus legacy than he expected. Meanwhile, his family follows him, and Simon’s plan to make every day Christmas threatens to make the holiday meaningless.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means these episodes deliver strong entertainment value. They contain funny, heartwarming moments, and Tim Allen is funny as Scott Calvin while playing Santa with a warm twinkle in his eye and voice.
The episodes also build their story around recognizable moral strengths: giving, hope, family, doing the right thing, and helping people in need. Their short running time keeps the finale moving.
The Worldview
The episodes present a strong moral worldview. They honor generosity, hope, family, responsibility, doing what is right, and helping people in need. Their resolution depends on people remembering the importance of family, and the story includes light Christian references to the redemptive life of St. Nicholas and the tune of “The First Noel.”
The central weakness is spiritual rather than moral. Christmas is explained through togetherness, community, hope, joy, and giving, but the episodes do not specifically point to Jesus Christ, the Savior, or the Nativity. That leaves the story with good moral ideas but without the reason Christians celebrate Christmas.
A brief montage also includes a girl who appears to have two fathers. Viewers should weigh that choice as part of the work.
Christmas is not merely a season of generosity. It celebrates the Savior who came to save His people: “you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong moral worldview celebrates giving, hope, family, doing the right thing, and helping people in need, with Christian references to the redemptive life of St. Nicholas and the tune to the Christmas carol, “The First Noel,” but marred by a false statement that “Christmas is about togetherness and community, spreading hope and joy” instead of Jesus (the two episodes have no specific overt references to Jesus Christ, the Savior, or the Nativity story), plus a brief montage of adults and children show one girl with two fathers and one child with a single mother
Foul Language
One “d” obscenity and two light profanities in Chapter 5 and one light profanity in Chapter 6
Violence
Some light slapstick comedy. Character bumps his head twice, and Mrs. Claus fights human size toy soldiers
Sex
No sex
Nudity
No nudity
Alcohol Use
No alcohol use
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drugs;
Miscellaneous Immorality
Antagonist puts his faith in material things and indulging people’s desires instead of their needs and a side character is a witch, but she’s seen as a comical figure.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The episodes celebrate giving and helping people in need. How does Jesus teach us to give, and what makes Christian generosity different from simply granting every desire?
Matthew 6:1–4 · Acts 20:35The story values family and togetherness. How can your family make room for people who are lonely or in need this Christmas?
Romans 12:13 · Hebrews 13:2St. Nicholas and “The First Noel” point toward Christian Christmas traditions. What does the Bible say is the true reason for Christmas?
Matthew 1:21 · Luke 2:10–11What happens when good moral ideas such as kindness and generosity are separated from Jesus? Why does the gospel give those virtues a deeper foundation?
John 15:5 · Ephesians 2:10The Final Word
These episodes are funny, warm, and full of family-friendly moral themes. But they leave Jesus Christ out of Christmas, so they are best enjoyed at home, where your family can discuss the missing truth. WAIT FOR HOME. For more Christ-centered family viewing, see.
