‘The Santa Clause’: 1 Actor Had to Wear Fake Teeth During the First Movie
It’s the time of the year to cuddle up on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate and rewatch favorite Christmas classics — including The Santa Clause movies. The film franchise premiered in 1994, with the second movie following in 2002 and the third in 2006. But back when they were filming the first movie, one member of The Santa Clause cast had to wear fake teeth to avoid messing with continuity.
Eric Lloyd starred as Charlie in ‘The Santa Clause’ movies
All of The Santa Clause movies are holiday staples during December — except for maybe the third one. However, the first film is undoubtedly the best, with Tim Allen’s Scott Calvin unwillingly becoming Santa Claus after his predecessor falls off his roof. Scott’s son Charlie, played by Eric Lloyd, is the one who ultimately convinces him to accept his new role.
Throughout the first film, Scott tries to reject his destiny, but Charlie never gives up on him. Sadly, Charlie’s belief in Santa Claus and Scott’s physical transformation into Kris Kringle convinces Charlie’s mother and Scott’s ex-wife, Laura, to suspend Scott’s visitation rights. So he can no longer see Charlie.
But toward the end of The Santa Clause, Laura realizes that Scott truly is Santa Claus. And from then on, they are a big happy family, as seen in the following two The Santa Clause movies.
The actor had to sport fake teeth while filming
During an interview with 20/20 [via ABC News], Eric Lloyd explained how an accident forced him to wear fake teeth during the production of the first The Santa Clause movie.
The actor was at a Toronto Blue Jays game with his family when he knocked out his two front teeth. And because Disney had already filmed scenes with Lloyd as Charlie with his teeth, they had to make a set of fake ones for him to wear in later sequences.
“The montage sequence where they’re getting [Scott Calvin] ready for his first Christmas, there’s a scene where we’re dancing down the hallway,” Lloyd explained. “That scene had to get pushed up in production because I had knocked my teeth out the night before … They cut me out of the end of the scene and then put all my parts in masters.”
He added, “I was getting to that age where my teeth were falling out. So my bottom two teeth throughout the whole film are all fake teeth because my bottom two teeth fell out naturally at the beginning of the film.”
But when his tops ones were knocked out, Lloyd’s orthodontist had to make “flippers” — fake teeth that would “pop in on a wire.”
Lloyd shared, “There’s no real baby pictures of me or adolescent pictures of me without my teeth because I always had fake teeth for acting.”
A spinoff series of ‘The Santa Clause’ is now streaming on Disney+
Disney+ wanted to continue the legacy of The Santa Clause movies. So they produced a spinoff limited series, The Santa Clauses, which started airing in November 2022.
The show takes place in the present day as Scott approaches his 65th birthday and starts to contemplate retirement. Scott’s not as spry as he used to be regarding his Santa powers. And he is discouraged by the Christmas spirit fading every year. So, he sets out to find his replacement.
The sixth episode serves as the finale and premieres on Wednesday, Dec. 14.
The Santa Clause movie franchise is available to stream on Disney+, along with its spinoff television series, The Santa Clauses.
