What Does 1239 Mean in ‘The Santa Clause’? Plus Other Festive Trivia About Tim Allen’s Christmas Movie
You better not pout, you better not cry: The Santa Clauses has come to an end. The Disney+ series’ finale arrived on Wednesday, Dec. 14, allowing Tim Allen’s Santa to save Christmas once again. In honor of the revival, let’s take a walk down candy cane memory lane to where it all began. Check out this festive behind-the-scenes trivia from The Santa Clause (1994).
What does 1239 mean in ‘The Santa Clause’?
Many fans of The Santa Clause have wondered about the code that the elf enters into the North Pole to lower the sleigh into the workshop. Surely it’s not just a random cluster of numbers, right? That’s correct — “1239” has a special meaning. According to IMDb, it’s the month and year that the written story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created: December 1939. It only makes sense for a Christmas movie like The Santa Clause to include trivia from other Christmas classics.
Why does Tim Allen say Topo Gigio?
When Tim Allen’s Scott Calvin/Santa Claus is arrested and taken in for questioning, he gives the detective a hard time. The detective asks for his name, and Scott rattles off different iterations of Santa Claus, like Kris Kringle, Sinterklaas, and Pere Noel. He then raises his voice to a squeak and says, “Topo Gigio!”
For the uninitiated, Topo Gigio was a mouse character from an Italian puppet show in the ’60s. He appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in the U.S. In one episode, Topo dressed as Santa. So, Scott imitates Ed Sullivan when he says “Topo Gigio” in The Santa Clause.
Tim Allen was not the first choice to star in ‘The Santa Clause’
It’s hard to imagine The Santa Clause without Tim Allen in his iconic Santa role, but that could have been the case. Director John Pasquin revealed in an interview on the Grunt Work podcast that Ghostbusters star Bill Murray was the first choice to play Scott/Santa, and the role was written with him in mind. However, after he had a rough experience on Scrooged, he reportedly “had no interest in pursuing another holiday-themed project.” According to IMDb, Murray also thought the film didn’t “suit his humor.”
Several other big-name actors like Tom Hanks, Chevy Chase, Robin Williams, John Travolta, Michael Keaton, and Harrison Ford were considered for the role. Of course, in the end, it went to Allen. Coincidentally, Allen and Hanks starred together in Toy Story a year after The Santa Clause, and Hanks played Santa Claus in The Polar Express a few years later.
Tim Allen spent 4 to 5 hours becoming Santa
It wasn’t easy becoming Santa Claus. In fact, it was pretty miserable. Tim Allen didn’t gain weight to play Santa, but he went through four to five hours of getting makeup and prosthetics (a 35-pound foam latex fat suit) done each time, plus a few more hours whenever he needed to take it all off.
While in the Santa costume, Allen experienced all kinds of discomfort with rashes, scars, and even infections because of how hot it was. As IMDb reveals, he could only wear the suit for a maximum of six hours due to the poor ventilation.
Even though it was uncomfortable, Allen went through his Santa-fication process again years later for The Santa Clauses — and he still hated it.
“The boots — hate the boots,” he told Parade. “Hate the pants, hate the vest, hate the jacket. Hate the beard. The hair I don’t mind. The face. They’ve got the face — not so much heat putting it on, and they’re much better at it, which I didn’t think was possible.”
There are elves hidden throughout ‘The Santa Clause’
Santa really is always watching — or at least, his elves are. At least six hidden elves can be spotted in the background throughout The Santa Clause, marked with a distinctive feature: pointy ears. These elves reappear at the end of the movie, running down Scott’s street.
For example, at the beginning of the movie, a young girl with elf ears peers into a store window. Another elf boy puts on his coat and scarf as Scott and Charlie (Eric Lloyd) walk into Denny’s. Another elf is present in Charlie’s class when he introduces his dad as Santa Claus. Interestingly, that elf is the only kid who doesn’t laugh at Charlie. How many elves can you spot?
The Santa Clause movies and all episodes of The Santa Clauses are available to stream on Disney+.
