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As our story begins, Scott Calvin, aka the "Santa Clause" (Allen), is up in the North Pole, all fat and jolly and fulfilling his obligations as the bearer of gifts to children around the world. It has been eight years since his transformation and he has quickly settled into the time-honored routine, but now he has a problem. It seems his own son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd) has landed himself on the "Naughty" list (even Santa's kin is not immune to the halloweed rules of Christmas tradition). Worse, Scott only has a couple of more months to go until his tenure as "The Clause" is up - but only if he finds a Mrs. Claus. What is a Santa/Dad to do?

I will admit that I am a bit biased: I am still angry at Santa Claus and all those adults who lied to me when I was a child. It is hard for me to root for ol' St. Nick when I know he is a sham and the fallacy continues to be perpetrated against millions of innocent children around the world. But I am willing to look past my still- seething anger and admit that The Santa Clause 2 is a cute little movie and a worthy sequel to the overrated original. Allen seems a little tired with the character, but his easygoing brand of humor still delivers its fair share of laughs. The film is also filled with lots of cute touches - the North Pole powwow with all of Santa's fellow icons (the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Cupid) is inspired - and Allen generates a warm chemistry with his potential Mrs. Claus (Elizabeth Mitchell). I still don't think either of the Santa Clause flicks are the perennial favorites many proclaim them to be, but this film is still a great deal of fun and perfect for the whole family.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The Santa Clause 2 looks great and is even sharper and smoother than its predecessor. This THX-certified 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is about as good as it gets. A very sharp, pristine print emboldened by rich colors (especially the reds) and no bleeding or smearing. Blacks are rock solid and contrast excellent. And unlike the first Santa Clause, the image does not suffer from being overly soft or lacking in definition; even fine detail is evident and there is only a slight amount of obtrusive edge enhancement. The only complaint I can make is the presence of a bit of noise on some solid backgrounds. But otherwise, this is a true Christmas present.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Santa Clause 2 sounds great, too. Unlike most family comedies, this is a very aggressive soundtrack, presented here in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. Frequency response is very wide, with sweet and warm highs and supple midrange. The .1 LFE can be a kicker, delivering deep bass when appropriate. Surround is active and consistent, with some neat pans from front to back and noticeable discrete effects. Imaging is also near-transparent, and dialogue is smooth and well-recorded. Great stuff.

French and Spanish 5.1 dubs are also included, along with English captions encoded as subtitles and true English Closed Captioning.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Buena Vista has put together a fun collection of extras geared directly at the family audience. Those in search of tremendous insight into the filmmaking process, look elsewhere; those who just want to spend a few hours with the kids and share a few laughs, dive in.

First up is the screen-specific audio commentary with director Michael Lembeck, and it is an interesting conceit; Lembeck plays it straight, as if the characters in the movie are real, fights broke out between the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, and there is no such thing as a real Tim Allen. This is all kinda cute for a few minutes, although I wonder how many kids will be able to get through the entire thing. Still, an inspired approach and worth a few laughs.

More effect are the three fluffy but charming featurettes. Inside the North Pole with Curtis (10 minutes) is a kid-friendly making-of that pays a visit to the set of Santa Clause 2. Curtis is a amiable little guide that interviews all the main principals (except, oddly, Tim Allen) and kids should get a kick out of it. Even funnier is True Confessions of the Legendary Figures (4 minutes), which plays up the on-set rivalry between the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Father Time and the like. Clever. Finally, Director's Tour of Elfsburg (4 minutes) shows off the impressive sets and is a fairly entertaining diversion.

Also included are seven deleted scenes. Nothing all that intriguing, although the "Rescuing the Elves" scene was a tough one for Lembeck to cut and it contains a clever reference to Braveheart. Lembeck provides an intro to each scene, there is a "Play All" option, and all the scenes are presented in fair- quality non-anamorphic widescreen. The 4-minute gag reel is fairly funny but not much more. And the Operation Toybox: Save Santa Game is a simple set-top challenge where you have to move your cursor over select points to ensure safe delivery of Santa's toys.

Rounding out the set are some Disney Sneak Peeks, although no actual trailers for The Santa Clause 2. And if you play around a bit, you'll find a few easter eggs that are really just menu gags but still worth discovering.

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

Buena Vista has also put together a better-than- average collection of PC enhanced features. The custom interface includes the obligatory DVD controls and weblinks, plus four kid- tested and approved interactive activities. There's a coloring book with printable pages, a cute "Santa's Lib" text section that is a Santa Clause version of the classic kid's game "Mad Libs," plus two games: "Holiday Rush!" and "Reindeer Games," the latter featuring everyone's favorite, Rudolph. Sweet and nicely done.

Parting Thoughts