Santa Clause 2 [WS]

Director: Michael Lembeck Michael Lembeck

Overview

"The 2002 sequel to Tim Allen's holiday blockbuster The Santa Clause is given a more than adequate treatment on its first DVD release. For a film directed primarily at children, there is a surprising abundance of special features packed into this single-disc package. Director Michael Lembeck provides a feature-length audio commentary track for viewers interested in some insight into what went into the film's creation. For more behind-the-scenes info, a making-of featurette and a ""Tour of Elfsburg"" are included too. Additionally, fans of the film should be happy to discover a selection of seven scenes that were left on the cutting room floor and a collection of humorous outtakes. For younger audience-members, there is a game that can be played on the TV, interviews with other mythical holiday characters and, several DVD-ROM games and activities. On the technical side, the disc features a 1.85:1 widescreen transfer of the film that preserves its original aspect ratio (a full-screen version is also available), the English, French, and Spanish soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and optional English subtitles are available."

Product Details

Release Date:	11/18/2003
UPC:	0786936221800
Original Release:	2002
Rating:	G
Source:	Walt Disney Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, THX-Supervised Mastering]
Language:	English
Time:	1:44:00
Sales rank:	12,811

Special Features

Closed Caption;Seven deleted Scenes; Gag reel: Bloopers from the cast; "Operation Toy Box: Save Santa" set-top game; "Inside the North Pole With Curtis" making-of featurette; "True Confessions of the Legendary Figures": Interviews with the Tooth Fairy, Mother Nature, Father Time, and the Easter Bunny; "Director's Tour of Elfsburg" featurette; Audio commentary with Michael Lembeck; DVD-ROM features: "Coloring Book" activity, "Reindeer Games" game, "Santa Lib's" activity, and "Holiday Rush!" game; Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound; THX-certified; Original theatrical aspect ratio (1.85:1) enhanced for 16 x 9 televisions; French and Spanish language tracks

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Tim Allen	Scott Calvin,Elf Quarterback
Elizabeth Mitchell	Carol Newman,Actor
David Krumholtz	Bernard
Eric Lloyd	Charlie Calvin
Judge Reinhold	Dr. Neil Miller
Wendy Crewson	Laura Miller
Spencer Breslin	Curtis
Liliana Mumy	Lucy Miller
Danielle Woodman	Abby
Art LaFleur	Tooth Fairy
Aisha Tyler	Mother Nature
Kevin Pollak	Cupid
Jay Thomas	Easter Bunny
Michael Dorn	Sandman
Christopher Attadia	Engineer Elf
Curtis Butchart	Elf Center
Alexander Pollock	Richie/Elf Tight End
Bryce Hodgson	Engineer Elf No. 2
Molly Shannon	Tracy
Carmen Aquirre	Spanish Teacher
Leanne Adachi	Grace
Blu Mankuma	John Pierce
Andrew Stone	Picardo
Kenya Jo Kennedy	Pamela
Janne Mortil	Pamela's Mother
Alexandra Purvis	Danielle
Fred Keating	Security Guard
Fred Ewanuick	Seismic Interpreter
Dan Joffre	C-130 Pilot
J.B. Bivens	Engineer
Alexander Hoy	Elf with Kangaroo
Bart Anderson	Hangdog Teacher
Beverly Elliott	Female Teacher
D. Neil Mark	Teacher
Ted Cole	Teacher
Nicole Leroux	Teacher
Beatrice Zeilinger	Teacher
Michael P. Northey	Teacher
Alejandro Abellon	Teacher
June B. Wilde-Eremico	Teacher
Charles Payne	Teacher
Gary Jones	Teacher
Victor Brandt	Reindeer
George S. Clinton	Composer

Technical Credits

Cinco Paul

John J. Strauss

Ken Daurio

Ed Decter

Don Rhymer

Leonardo Benvenuti

Steve Rudnick

Michael Lembeck	Director
Cinco Paul	Screenwriter
John J. Strauss	Screenwriter
Ken Daurio	Screenwriter
Ed Decter	Screenwriter
Don Rhymer	Screenwriter
Brian Reilly	Producer
Jeffrey Silver	Producer
Bobby Newmyer	Producer
William W. Wilson III	Executive Producer
Richard Baker	Executive Producer
Rick Messina	Executive Producer
James Miller	Executive Producer
Jackie Burch	Casting
Brennan Doyle	Special Effects
John Gajdecki	Special Effects
Ken Kirzinger	Stunts
Dean Lockwood	Special Effects
David Yrisarri	Special Effects
Leonardo Benvenuti	Screenwriter
Steve Rudnick	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Like most sequels -- especially those eight years in the making -- The Santa Clause 2 is bursting at the seams of its Santa suit with extra subplots and places for your eyes to look. Unlike most sequels, the latest Tim Allen holiday vehicle actually pulls it off. Surprisingly, what's new is every bit as effective as what returns. It could even be argued that the sequel's three most whimsical ingredients are all fresh: comically gifted child actor Spencer Breslin as an elf, Allen's own synthetic dictator of a doppelganger, and a reindeer that speaks in irresistible reindeer gibberish. If the above weren't enough, the team of screenwriters (there's almost one per character) finds room for fellow folklore icons like the Tooth Fairy and Mother Nature, and even introduces a frosty principal (Elizabeth Mitchell) for Allen's Scott Calvin to thaw. The whole concoction overwhelms a viewer's better notions that this is just a corporate, profit-driven enterprise. Although the screenwriters distribute screen time miraculously among the disparate components, left out in the cold is Eric Lloyd as Scott's son, reprising from the first movie -- which makes him a decidedly awkward age to write. That's why his "acting out" takes the form of spray-painting graffiti about the principal on school walls, which just never makes much sense for his character. Other than that, the script really does have it both ways -- pursuing equally interesting plot lines both at the North Pole, where Allen has a dandy time playing the robotic impostor, and back home. The Santa Clause 2 generates enough populist charm to appease all but the most cynical purists -- who were never its target audience in the first place.