During a November 2018 appearance on The Tonight Show, actor Tim Allen told longtime host Jimmy Fallon that The Santa Clause script originally contained a very sinister twist.
Article continues below advertisement
"The original Santa Clause is a little darker, written by two comedians. I actually shot and killed Santa, in the original movie," the Home Improvement star revealed. "And he fell off the roof because I thought he was a burglar. He gives me the card and the whole movie starts. And the kid goes, 'You just killed Santa.' And I said, 'He shouldn't have been on the roof when he wasn't invited.'"
"I'm laughing so hard, but the head of Disney at the time, [Jeffrey] Katzenberg, said, 'Well, we can't start a movie like that.' I said, 'Why not?' He said, 'Well, we can't start a Disney movie with you murdering Santa Claus,'" Tim recalled. "I said, 'I'm a comedian. Why not? That's funny. You killed all the parents in your other movies anyway.'"
Eventually, the script was rewritten so that Tim's character Scott accidentally startles Santa while on the roof, causing Santa to fall and leave behind his card and red suit.
