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Much of the humor of Disney's creative fairy-tale comes from the juxtaposition of Scott's former life and his new occupation (ever wonder what Santa does during the off-season?) Allen does well in a surprisingly difficult role, stretching to portray not only the funnier aspects of the situation, but also the more somber emotions that accompany the change. The supporting cast - including Judge Reinhold and veteran Peter Boyle - provide a strong backdrop, with special help from Eric Lloyd in the crucial role of Charlie, Calvin's son.

Unfortunately, the film winds down somewhere around halfway through. Once the novelty of the initial concept wears off, the film loses pace, becoming repetitive as it slows down. It is only the last twenty minutes which pick up and carry the film through to its inevitable(?) conclusion. The cast does the best with what they are given, but even they at times appear to be waiting for the film's big climax. The film ends up being largely satisfactory overall, but one can't help but wonder how much better it might have been had it stayed strong all the way through.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

This new special edition re-release of The Santa Clause is a rather noticeable improvement over the previous, largely lackluster movie-only edition Buena Vista tossed out back in 1998. The picture is matted at precisely 1.85:1 and this time anamorphically encoded as well as THX certified. Much brighter and more robust are the colors, which now have some real life and vibrancy to them. Fittingly, red and greens now pop off the screen and fleshtones don't veer towards the reds like they did on the previous release. Detail and sharpness are also improved, with fine details such as clothes and hair more fine and three-dimensional. Blacks and contrast are on par with the old DVD, and the print is still in good shape with little grain or blemishes. Compression artifacts and edge enhancement are not nearly as much of a problem this time out. This is a solid upgrade and a very, very nice presentation in its own right.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

The soundtrack appears identical to the previous DVD, and is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. Unfortunately, it is not very exciting. The mix is almost entirely front heavy, with the rear channels reserved mainly for the score and a few slight surround effects. A few discrete effects do pop up every once in a while (Santa's landing on the roof is one notable example). The .1 LFE is rarely utilized and adds little to the overall audio experience. Yet despite such reservations, this track is still surprisingly clean with the dialogue, effects and music well balanced and dynamic range on par with a film of this type. A solid mix, if largely undistinguished.

Also included are English subtitles and Closed Captions, plus French 2.0 and Spanish 5.1 surround dubs.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Originally released on DVD in 1998 with virtually no supplements aside from a trailer (which, oddly, is not even included here), this new special edition is hardly special. In fact, this may be one of the lamest batch of extras I've ever seen on a so-called "Special Edition." If Disney decides to re-release any of their other past family hits anytime soon, I just hope they do a better job than this...

Let's start with the 6-minute "featurette" So You Wanna Be an Elf? Hosted by David Krumholtz, the young star of both Santa Clause flicks, this takes forever to get started, and by the time we get to any actual making-of footage it is already four minutes in. Sort of a retroactive commercial for the first flick (which you've already bought or rented if you've picked up this DVD), I'm not sure I understand the point...

More charming is Making Santa Snacks with Wolfgang, a 15-minute mini-special (complete with commercial break fadeouts) hosted by renown Chef Wolfgang Puck and a gaggle of awestruck tots. Wolfgang shows us how to make three of Santa's favorite snacks - pizza, cookies and hot cocoa - illustrating why Santa is so fat and hardly a good role model for children. Each recipe clip can be watched separately or via the "Play All" function, and also included are text versions of each recipe and some tips on taking correct measurements.

Rounding out this ultra-extensive package is Santa's Helper, a simple little interactive game that reminded me of that old Atari Activision cartridge "Barnstorming." Guide Santa up and down with the remote to snag all the presents or Claus and his reindeer go splat. (So that's how he does it!) Lacking from this "Special Edition" is any sort of commentary, real making-of material or even the film's original theatrical trailer. There are other Disney Sneak Peeks of course, including a non-anamorphic trailer for the upcoming Santa Clause 2. And that's it.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

Unlike the previous release, Disney has included some real ROM extras this time, although they are slight. After the custom interface pops up along with the usual weblinks to various Disney sites, the main extras are two little interactive activities. The 25 Days of Christmas is a nice little retro item, a PC version of those old "25 Days of Christmas" advent calendars where you open a window a day and get a cute little graphic behind it. This is simple but fun for the kids, and is encoded so yo can't jump ahead and cheat. (Nice try!) Write a Letter to Santa requires you to download additional software to your desktop, which launches a little email program so the kids can bug Santa for more toys. I hope Disney has a good batch of lawyers to fend off any lawsuits from angry tots who didn't get what they asked for from "Santa."

Parting Thoughts