Mousey Movies - Elf

In passing, I told my friend that I was watching Elf tonight and wondered if I could declare it Mousey. His immediate response was “How?” An excellent question spawning from his knowledge of my self-imposed rules for declaring movies Mousey.

Stay with me and allow me to pull back the magical creativity veil and reveal to you my process. As a general rule, I require at least 4 connections to Disney properties in order to affirm a Mousey movie. Additionally, at least two of these connections need to be strong and not previously discussed before in a Mousey Movie post. So in the case of Elf, I could have used director Jon Faverau as one of my connections, but 1) I have used him before and 2) I have plans to use him again. So that is a connection I do not wish to revisit.

Sometimes I use themes and backgrounds to tie a movie to the Mouse House. So, for Elf an easy connection would be the settings of New York City and Central Park which also are used heavily in Enchanted. But there are a lot of movies that use New York that are not Disney productions, like The Smurfs, making the connection rather weak. What Elf really has going for it is motivation. For me, it is the non-Disney movies that are the most fun to link back. For example, a movie like Secret of the Wings is not fun for me, as I simply would link the majority of the fairy voices back to their Disney Channel and direct to video productions. To be fun, I need new possibilities and the thrill of the hunt in the research. So, for a new Disney movie, my preference is to write a Mousey Movie Review rather than focus on the links to Mickey’s Empire. So yes, my friend’s question had thrown down the gauntlet and somewhat unknowingly issued a challenge to both of us. In accepting this challenge, I found in Elf more than I ever needed to declare it a Mousey Movie!

If the viewing of The Santa Clause has become the primary holiday tradition in my house, the multiple replaying of Elf by the Between Kids is the second video tradition. They love the story of Buddy the Elf played by Will Ferrell who upon discovering that he is in fact human journeys to New York City to connect with his biological father. In New York, Buddy has to help his father get off the naughty list and find acceptance of his very odd, lost son. Along the way, things get Mousey:

• Jolly Old Men: I had to adjust the first time I saw Elf because Santa Claus was not played by Tim Allen. Instead Ed Asner plays the legendary figure. Asner stars in my favorite Disney/Pixar movie Up as Carl Fredricksen. In Up, Anser is a grumpy old man who becomes jolly and learns to share the love in his heart, a problem that this version of Chris Kringle does not seem to share.

• Mousey Elf: If you want to treat yourself, go listen to Bob Newhart’s The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart. It was not until I gave this comedy album a spin that I truly realized how funny Newhart is. I grew up watching Newhart and still believe that it has the best series finale of all time. But for me, Newhart was often the straight man on the show as a crazy cast of characters revolved around him. In many ways Newhart remains the straight man in Elf, if you can call pointy shoes straight, as Papa Elf the adoptive father of Buddy. Newhart starred in not one but two Disney animated features voicing Bernard, the mouse janitor of the Rescue Aid Society who becomes hero in The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under.

• I Just Meet You: I see another similarity between Up and Elf in the characters of Dug and Buddy. Both offer love quickly. When Dug meets Carl he announces, “My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you.” Buddy has a similar moment meeting Walter the first time singing, “I love you. I love you! I LOVE YOU!” The fact that both are so willing to love is in many ways enduring, or for some a little creepy!

 

A Loving Dog and a Grumpy Old Man!

• Angry: Actor Peter Dinklage plays children’s author Miles Finch. Finch is successful, entitled and angry. He does not take kindly to Buddy who becomes upset with Buddy’s belief that Finch is one of Santa’s elves. Dinklage appeared in Disney’s Underdog as Dr. Simon Bar Sinister, which is clearly a bad guy name! I enjoyed him more in his second Disney production The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian as the dwarf Trumpkin, a character that I wanted to see on screen when I originally read the book as a kid. Trumpkin like Finch has a shade of angry in his personality. Sadly for me he did not reprise his role in the non-Disney sequel, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. With his success in the HBO Game of Thrones, Dinklage’s fine work is being critically applauded.

  

• The Iron Diaries: John Debney provides the score for Elf. Debney is no stranger to Mousey Movies scoring Iron Man 2 (where he worked with Favreau), Hannah Montana: The Movie, Chicken Little, The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Snow Dogs, and The Emperor’s New Groove. Debney’s music is very familiar in the halls of the House of Mouse.

My buddy laid down the challenge and I was shocked to find I could declare Elf mousey. There are numerous connections to Disney franchises in this movie that beams Christmas spirit. I’m guessing if you have a good sense of humor, you probably are also enjoying Elf amongst your Christmas viewing.

Mousey Movies - The Santa Clause 3

Since its 2006 release I have typically described The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause as a cash grab.  It just seemed like everyone was making one more grab at the good Santa money.  And it was a financial success, though a critical bomb.  The film lacked the charm one finds in the original, charm based on the happy accident of something truly wonderful being discovered.  But this year’s required viewing had made me soften.  There are still funny lines that make me belly laugh like a bowl full of jelly.  And the story has some edge to it in the villain of Jack Frost played by Martin Short.  And loving the franchise, there is some storytelling that I just noticed for the first time this year that pays off for the fan.  For example, it is only this year that I realized that the clothing choice of Neil played by Judge Reinhold in one scene tells us he has lost all his joy.  His choice of a professional and drab sports coat and sweater instead of his trademark colorful sweaters that Tim Allen’s Scott Calvin constantly mocks lets you know that his character has been broken by the problems of life.

Scott Calvin in the third film of the series has problems.  He has to balance the yearly rush of Christmas at the same time that Mrs. Claus nears the due date of their first child.  The demands of the new head elf Curtis pulls him between family and work.  To help provide relief to Mrs. Claus he brings the in-laws to the North Pole played by Alan Arkin and Ann Margret.  Of course they do not approve of the toy man who has taken their daughter away to “Canada.”  The pressure of keeping the Secret of Santa only adds to the pressure that Calvin feels.  Finally, Jack Frost sabotages Santa’s efforts to succeed at home and work.  Eventually Frost’s efforts lead to an It’s a Wonderful Life type sequence where Scott learns what would have happened to the ones he loved and himself if he had never pulled on the red coat.

There are no hidden Mickey’s in The Santa Clause 3 like we find in The Santa Clause 2.  But there are scenes lifted directly from the original The Santa Clause, which really tickles me as we see them from a new perspective.  Overall, this may be the most Mousey of all the movies in this franchise as it attempts to satirize the House of Mouse:

·        The Meanest One of All:  Jack Frost is the face of evil.  No really, he is a really horrible legendary figure.  He makes choices that have mortal consequences to beloved characters and he shows little to no remorse about it!  The Between Kid actually screamed and yelled, “I don’t like him,” as Frost was being almost murderous.  Additionally Frost is all about himself and ruins Christmas in a manner that only glorifies him and makes elves incredibly sad!  Yeah kids, beware Jack Frost.

Martin Short plays this villain and is highly familiar to Epcot fans.  Short originally starred in the 1989 film The Making of Me at the Wonders of Life pavilion.  The film discussed how Short’s parents met, got married, and made a baby!  I am kind of glad that I never had to watch this film with the Between Kids, and field the questions that it might inspire, with the closing of the pavilion in 2007.  In 2008 Short moved to the Canada pavilion to narrate the O’ Canada film where Short shares about his native country.  Short has also been part of a number of Disney releases including Jungle 2 Jungle with Tim Allen, Treasure Planet, 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure, Frankenweenie, and Touchstone Pictures releases Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride II; placing Short in live-action, animated, theatrical and direct to video projects.   

·        Carpet Bagger:  In a scene that has to be a tribute to Mary Poppins, Scott when visiting the Miller family digs around in a carpet bag.  It’s clear as he reaches in with much more arm than he should that the bag’s inside is bigger than the outside.  This effect is helped by the sound of crashing objects and farm animals in the bag!  The object he pulls out as a gift for his son Charlie, much like Mary Poppin’s hat rack, is much bigger than the bag itself. 

·        Theme Parks:  The most Mousey moment in the movie is the North Pole’s transformation from a workshop into a Disneyland style resort.  The North Pole Resort may remind many of visits to Disney parks with crowds, overpriced merchandise to buy everywhere, staff hiding behind forced smiles and crying children wanting more more more.  Yes, it is all the bad things one might expect from a theme park gone bad.  Instead of looking at the North Pole Resort as a satire on the reality of a Disney parks experience, I look at it as all of our bad experiences at once!  It makes sense.  Disneyland and other Disney parks create magic.  The North Pole Resort perverts magic instead, much like the days that heat and tiredness may make families grumpy! 

·        O’ Canada:  Speaking of Canada, the North Pole with the arrival of the in-laws is transformed into Santa’s very own Canada pavilion.  The signage and set design honestly makes me laugh, with signs that make sure you understand you are in Canada, not the North Pole or Epcot.

·        Buddy:  Liliana Mumy returns to her second Santa Clause film as Lucy Miller, or the cute human kid replacement for Charlie.  Lucy has a big warm heart, somewhat different than her character Mertle Edmonds in the animated Lilo & Stitch, Stitch! The Movie, and Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch.  Mertle is spoiled and has a cold heart!  I chose team Lilo!  Mumy also voices the puppy Rosebud in the live action Snow Buddies, Space Buddies, and SantaBuddies where she again addresses snow and Santa!  Ironically, the name Buddy is found not just in the non-Disney movie Elf but the ending of this jolly franchise.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause is my least favorite in the Santa trilogy.  But Tim Allen still continues to satisfy me as a regular guy struggling with being a family man and the spirit of Christmas.  This installment is also darker than the others as Calvin fights not himself or a plastic doppelganger but an external villain who has no problem terrorizing others.  The film’s story with The North Pole Resort was directly inspired by Mickey’s home, where like Santa you can visit the Mouse in his home!  So even if they were trying to subtly attack their Mousey Masters, they made the film very Mousey. 

Mousey Movies - The Santa Clause 2

I really am a sucker for The Santa Clause franchise!  You may not agree with me about how funny they are, but they crack me up.  So in 2002, when The Santa Clause 2 was released I was excited.  Tim Allen would be back as the beloved character and there appeared to be room for more hilarious lines.  In most ways the sequel delivered for me.  I thought it was funny.  They clearly had a bigger budget for the sequel, so we saw more of Santa’s workshop and “outside” shots in the North Pole.  The sequel was a more mature version of the original, not as silly but with better furnishings.  

The plot of The Santa Clause 2 is an older more experienced Santa Claus has held down the position for several years and been highly successful, becoming a better person.  As Christmas and its busyness approaches, Santa’s elves inform him of a second clause.  The Mrs. Clause charges Santa to get married before Christmas morning or he will revert to regular guy Scott Calvin.  As Christmas approaches the de-Santafication process begins, as Santa loses his beard, weight and magic.  If this is not enough, Scott’s son Charlie begins acting out at school leading to confrontations with Principal Carol Newman.  While Scott handles the search for Mrs. Claus and fatherly duties, his duties at the North Pole are managed by a toy plastic Santa who under the instruction of number two elf Curtis begins to misunderstand his Santa duties.  Will there be Christmas as Scott/Santa both fights his plastic doppelganger and looks for love.

With a Box Office of $172 million, this sequel was both a blockbuster and Mousey:

·        The Kid:  Spencer Breslin plays a new elf, Bernard’s number two Curtis.  We have to be honest; if the franchise was to continue they had to introduce a new future head elf.  With David Krumholtz aging, height is a clear problem for Bernard as he has become the starting center of the North Pole basketball team.  So a kid actor had to be introduced as a key elf.  Disney was good to Breslin.  Before The Santa Clause sequel he had starred with Bruce Willis in 2000’s Disney’s The Kid.  Honestly, this movie was somewhat forgettable to me though I can remember being excited about Willis in a kid’s comedy.    Breslin’s other Disney projects included voicing Cubby in Return to Neverland, another sequel in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause as Curtis now the head elf, and with Tim Allen again in The Shaggy Dog.

 

·        Tink’s Big Brother:  It may seem campy, but the inclusion of the Council of Legendary Figures makes me smile.  It amuses me to think that Santa Claus has to survive business meetings just like many of us.  Art LaFleur plays the Tooth Fairy, a very un-Pixie Hollow fairy.  But like his little sister Tinker Bell, Tooth Fairy has very dainty fairy wings.  Being someone who watched The Secret of the Wings the day before the annual viewing of The Santa Clause 2 I enjoyed this very different and very manly fairy!  LaFleur is a very active character actor who for me is a perfect fit to a number of non-Disney baseball movies including Field of Dreams and The Sandlot as classic baseball players not dainty winged pixies.   

·        Tucker’s Tooth:  I had trouble with the 2009 version of the V television show on ABC.  I just could not believe that Mrs. Claus was Erica Evans gun totting FBI agent.  Maybe if I had seen Elizabeth’s Mitchell’s other ABC offering as Dr. Juliet Burke on Lost I could have made the jump.  But for me Mitchell is Mrs. Claus!  Mitchell’s work on ABC is not the only link to Disney history in the character in Carol Newman.  Walt Disney’s first films in Kansas City in 1922 were produced under the name NewmanLaugh-O-Grams.  I doubt this was an intentional homage, but it does provide a nice Disney fanboy moment.

    

·         Hidden Mickeys:  The Santa Clause 2 is full of hidden Mickey’s.  Viewers should watch carefully especially on the workshop floor where stuffed classic Mickey Mouses and a few Minnies are photo bombing scenes.  You can also find Mickey displayed in Santa’s bedroom.  Along with the mice, you can also find Winnie the Pooh and friends on the sides of jack-in-the-boxes in the workshop.  For a non-Mouse Hidden Mickey look in Lucy’s room for the Kim Possible poster.    

  

·         Little Man:  In the final confrontation between Scott Calvin and plastic Santa, Allen gets an opportunity to relive a classic line from Toy Story.  The original line was spoken by Buzz Lightyear to Woody.  In this version plastic Santa directs the quote at Scott as he attempts to stop him from escaping from the North Pole with a bag full of coal. 

As you can probably tell from past posts, I do not always need movies to have stories at a Shakespearian level.  But what I do often ask is that movie provide me some fun.  I admit it, the story is not the tightest, the acting is not award winning, and the look of the North Pole never fully pulls me into Santa Claus’ world.  But The Santa Clause 2 has consistently provided me fun, enough so that I force the Between Family to watch it along with the original every year.

Remember, hot cocoa is superior refreshment!   

Mousey Movies - The Santa Clause

One weeknight during Thanksgiving break of 1994, my college girlfriend and I drove 45 minutes  to spend time with her grandmother, Gram.  The three of us decided to leave the house and go see a movie. This movie is they only one that I ever remember seeing in a theater with Gram.  The local cinema only had two screens , and despite my pessimism, we chose Disney’s new movie The Santa Clause,  We spent the next 90 minutes constantly chuckling and enjoying a movie that became an instant Between Family hit.  The plot revolved around an ordinary man who becomes Santa Claus and the impact it has on the relationship with his son. 

A little less than a decade later, the girlfriend is now the Between Wife and the Between Tween has been born.  Sadly though, Gram passed away before the Tween’s first Christmas.  Gram may not have been my biological grandparent, but the love between the two of us was strong.   I can truthfully say she was one of my biggest fans and she often bragged about me.  I am convinced if she was with us today, she would not only have learned how to surf the internet just to read the blog daily but also would have bragged to her friends about her grandson-in-law the “popular” blogger. 

Because of Gram and the memories I associate between her and The Santa Clause, I love this Tim Allen movie.  It is my hope that you also have happy memories like these that can are triggered by something as simple as a movie.  In the Between House as our Christmas Tree goes up, The Santa Clause plays in the background.  This allows the Between Wife and I to tell our stories of Gram, a great grandparent my children cannot remember for themselves.   

For Tim Allen, 1994 was a watershed.  He starred on the number one show on television, Home Improvement.  Allen was on top of the New York Times bestseller list with his memoir Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man.  And with The Santa Clause he had the number one grossing film.  For one week in November, Allen was king, his stardom was secured, and he had made a place amongst my favorite memories with this Mousey Movie:

·         Legendary: Tim Allen plays the main character, Scott Calvin, who becomes the legendary Santa Claus.  In 1999, Allen was inducted as a Disney legend, just five years after The Santa Clause!  By then Allen has billed himself as a bankable television star on ABC with Home Improvement.  And he has shown that success was more than a one hit wonder with ABC’s current Last Man Standing, which you might argue is Home Improvement 2.0.  Probably the most important Disney contribution Allen has provided is the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story franchise which premiered a year later.  And Disney showed they had no fear placing Allen in other live action movies such as Jungle 2 Jungle and The Shaggy Dog, which sadly do not hold up when compared to The Santa Clause.  And I am still more than willing to let Allen star in anything Disney because I find many of his movies including a non-Disney offering like Wild Hogs very funny. I would be first in line with my ticket if  Disney would  move on the rumor of Tom Hanks and Allen in a Jungle Cruise live action film. 

·         Team Player:  I think it is safe to say that director John Pasquin likes working with Tim Allen.  He might be his biggest fan!  Pasquin came to his big screen directorial debut with a laundry list of television hall of fame shows including: Roseanne, L.A. Law, Family Ties, Newhart, and Growing Pains.  And they he had worked on this little hit show called Home Improvement starring Tim Allen.  The two clearly hit it off on set as their careers are linked.  After his debut, he went onto direct Jungle2 Jungle, Joe Somebody (non-Disney), and the current ABC show Last Man Standing all starring Tim Allen.  Based on this record, clearly Allen likes collaborating with Pasquin.  Along with directing, he portrays Santa #6!  Yes, you need that many Santas to make awesome.    

·        The Tool Man:  Scott Calvin on his first ride in the sleigh drives next to a truck and asks for directions to the I-94.  The driver is actor Jimmy Labriola who appeared on 24 episodes of Home Improvement as Benny.  Labriola and Pasquin are just two of several references to Home Improvement.  Before he puts on Santa’s suit which is too big, Calvin says he hopes the man of the house was a tailor.  On ABC his character was Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor.  At the end of his first Christmas Eve, Calvin grunts his success in a manly Tool Man manner.  And in Santa’s workshop Calvin sizes up an elf tool belt, which would easily find itself on Tim Taylor.        

·         Free Gift:  As Calvin explains to his son Charlie why Santa’s reindeer and sleigh are on their roof he exclaims that it is a gift from the cable company, they are getting the Disney Channel.  In 1994 this would have been a gift.  We live today in a world where there are not one but several Disney branded channels in many basic cable packages.  But in 1994 for most the Disney Channel was a pay channel like HBO.  It was not until after The Santa Clause that Disney worked with cable providers to move the familiar channel into the basic cable package.  From 1997 to 2002, Disney collaborated and at times pushed providers to make the move to basic cable.  And I for one am thrilled that I have the gift of the Disney Channel, in my basic cable package, but where is my reindeer?   

·         Railroading:  The North Pole Railroad, the N.P.R., is a small scale train that the elves are able to ride when traveling from Santa’s workshop to other locations at the North Pole.  It will remind Disney fans of the Carolwood Pacific Railroad that Walt Disney built behind his Holmby Hills home in Los Angeles.  The Carolwood Pacific was one of Disney’s inspirations to build an outdoor entertainment experience, which eventually became Disneyland.

I can be honest.  The Santa Clause is not Shakespearian nor does it have the best special effects.  You can see the snow blanket rolling up when Santa falls off the roof and the North Pole is clearly a set, but The Santa Clause is a movie that brings the humor, and a sentimentally that is unmatched in my home.  You may not enjoy it as much as me, but I can ensure you will chuckle as Allen delivers some classic one liners.