Where Were Disney’s ‘The Santa Clauses’ Filmed?

Arguably, one of the best Disney Christmas films is The Santa Clause. In the United States, this film was released on November 11, 1994. It was so successful that it got two sequels and a TV series with two seasons, years apart. But where were all of these movies and series filmed? Follow along to discover the answer to ‘Where were Disney’s ‘The Santa Clauses’ filmed?’

Since we are discussing a movie and TV series, keep in mind that this article has spoilers. We’ve kept the spoilers brief.

Where Were Disney’s ‘The Santa Clauses’ Filmed?

The filming locations of the Santa Clause films vary depending on the movie. This also goes for the TV series. We are breaking the filming locations by each film and season to make it easier.

The Films

Within the Santa Clause series are three movies.

The Santa Clause

The first film, The Santa Clause, tells the story of Scott Calvin, a divorced dad, on Christmas Eve. He tries to make his child happy for the holidays, but a few things go wrong. Through a strange set of events, which leads to the old Santa Claus falling off the roof, Scott becomes Santa Claus. 

This magical winter movie was filmed in multiple spots, including Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, California. Most of the scenes, though, were shot in different spots around Canada. For instance, the scene where Scott spooks the previous Santa and falls off the roof was filmed in Oakville on Chisholm Street. The school scene was in John Ross Robertson Junior Public School.

The Santa Clause 2

Tim Allen, the actor who portrays Scott, returned for the second film, released nearly a decade after the first in 2002. In Santa Clause 2, Scott finds out there is another clause. To remain Santa, he needs to get married and have a Mrs. Claus. At the same time, Scott’s son, the main character in the first film, is rebelling and struggling in school. He also lands himself on the naughty list.

So, where was this gorgeous movie filmed? This Holiday movie was mainly filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and at Mammoth Studios in Burnaby, British Columbia. According to IMDb, a few filming spots include Miller Park Community School and Port Moody, British Columbia.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

Although not as popular or well-liked as the first two, the third film in the series is very memorable. A lot happens in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. For instance, Carol Newman is pregnant and expecting their first child. Her parents also visit, along with Scott’s family. Jack Frost also drops by!

The sets for this movie were beautiful. The scenes were filmed at Downey Studios in Downey, California. According to IMDb, some filming took place in Stage 1 and the Suburban Street Backlot in Downey Studios.

The TV Series

As of December 2023, the Santa Clause TV series has two seasons. It is decently popular and well-liked, with a mix of reviews. The series was produced nearly three decades after Tim Allen first became Santa.

Season 1

This fun comedy television series follows Scott and his family at the North Pole. Now, he has a teenage son and daughter, Buddy (Cal) and Sandra. At the beginning of season one, Cal and Sandra had never experienced the real world with humans. Because Scott’s magic gives him problems, he decides it’s time to find a successor and step down. As you can imagine, things don’t go well.

Season 2

Season two is slightly different. Following the resolution of the first season, Scott is once again Santa. However, now his children both have North Pole powers and are growing into themselves. Scott wants his son, Cal, to take over as Santa, but Cal bucks under pressure and isn’t sure what he wants. Sandra learns she has witch powers and struggles to control her anger. While this internal conflict is happening, a mysterious and secretive nutcracker goes missing.

The strange nutcracker is a scary Santa called the Mad Santa. Also with him is an angry gnome who wants revenge and secretly wants to make toys. Sounds like a lot, right?

Filming

Considering there are a lot of different scenes, surprisingly, there are few filming spots. Both seasons were filmed in Los Angeles. According to IMDb, the TV series was shot in the Walt Disney Studios at 500 South Buena Vista Street.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Tijana87/iStock via Getty Images