The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006)

All of the characters from the first two films reprise their roles in the third film from the series except for David Krumholtz who played Gerard, including the characters called the Legendary Figures.

Santa/Scott Calvin(Tim Allen) and his wife Carol/Mrs. Claus (Elizabeth Mitchell) are expecting their first child and are hoping that she doesn't deliver when Santa needs to make HIS deliveries. To make things easier for Carol, Scott brings in her parents, Silvia(Ann-Margret) and Bud(Alan Arkin), although they don't know that he is Santa so the whole North Pole is told to act like it is a Canadian toy factory complete with everyone saying "eh" all the time. Scott's ex-wife Laura and her husband Neil and their daughter Lucy come to the North Pole as well. His son Charlie is there, but has a very small part.

At a meeting of the Legendary Figures, Jack Frost(Martin Short) is unhappy that he doesn't have a higher profile and decides that he wants the power that Santa has. Scott begins to feel the pressures of the impending Christmas Eve, birth and in-laws and begins to stress out. In the meantime, Jack realizes that if Santa says "I wish that I had never become Santa at all" while holding a certain snow globe from the "Hall of Snow Globes" he will de-santify. Jack finds the globe after being led there by an unknowing Lucy and threatens her by freezing her parents into a couple of Popsicles. Jack takes the globe to Santa and has Santa talk about his frustrations and gets him to say the magic sentence which activates "The Escape Clause". Jack and Scott go back in time to when Scott first put on Santa's coat and became Santa. Jack beats him to it and when Santa wakes up, he is Scott the CEO of the toy company again. Years have apparently passed and Laura and Neil have split up and no one likes him. He resolves to reverse everything. He goes back to the North Pole where he finds that Jack has turned the North Pole into a moneymaking amusement resort where parents can pay to have their children put on the "nice" list and the Elves are forced to perform for the tourists.

Scott convinces a skeptical Lucy to sneak into the Hall of Snow Globes to retrieve the magical snow globe. Scott gets Jack to hold it and plays back a recording of Jack saying "I wish I had never become Santa at all". Scott rushes to put the Santa suit back on and things immediately go back to the way they were before except that Lucy's parents are still frozen. Jack can't turn them back until Lucy hugs Jack and melts his heart which makes her parents defrost. Scott also tells his in-laws that he is Santa Claus. Carol announces that she is in labor and gives birth to Buddy Claus.

I found this movie to be rather boring and fractured. Martin Short was pretty good as Jack Frost.

92 Minutes. Rated G. I give this movie TWO STARS.