The Walt Disney Company has always seemed to like holiday events and they are never shy about releasing their products on or tying them to major holidays. It's a couple of months early, but to get us in the mood for Christmas, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment brings us The Santa Clause Trilogy on Blu-ray Disc, marking the Blu-ray Disc debuts of the first two films.

Tim Allen stars in The Santa Clause as Scott Calvin, a toy company executive who is a very busy man. He barely has time to see his son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd), and this does not please his ex-wife, Laura (Wendy Crewson). In fact, it just makes her new husband, Neil (Judge Reinhold), look better by comparison. Despite this, Scott gets to have Charlie for Christmas (although he arrives late). That night, they hear a noise on the roof. Scott goes out to investigate and suddenly a man in a red suit falls to the ground. Charlie is shocked not only to see Santa Claus lying in the snow, but a team of reindeer and a sleigh on the roof. Convinced that this is the real Santa Claus, Charlie convinces Scott to put on the red suit and climb aboard the sleigh. He reluctantly does so and the two soon find themselves flying from rooftop-to-rooftop delivering presents. The sleigh then takes them to the North Pole, where an elf named Bernard (David Krumholtz) explains that by putting on the suit, Scott agreed to "The Santa Clause", which means that he is now Santa. Of course, Scott finds this all ridiculous and returns home. However, he soon begins to gain weight uncontrollably, his hair turns white, and he grows a white beard, no matter how much he shaves. Is this a nightmare or has Scott really turned into Santa?

The Santa Clause plays like two movies in one. The basic premise and the play on words with "Santa Clause" is quite clever and delightful. The idea that anyone can become Santa Claus, and undergo a physical transformation, simply by putting on the suit is a neat one and Tim Allen really milks his natural comedic talents when he puts on the fat suit or reacts to the beard. (If you want to look for deeper meaning in the movie, one could say that it's telling us that the Christmas spirit lives in all of us.) I also like the idea that a man who sells toys for a living had to go through this to fully appreciate Christmas.

But, then we have the dark side of the movie. As Scott begins to change, those around him begin to worry. When he starts to believe and tell others that he's Santa, they really begin to worry. Of course, having been to the North Pole with Scott, Charlie tells everyone that his Dad is telling the truth. This makes Laura and Neil accuse Scott of dragging Charlie into his delusion. Scott's sanity is questioned, as is his ability to parent. The bottom line is that this portion of the movie is quite depressing and, while it's trying to make a point, gets too far away from holiday spirit. Yes, the movie has a happy ending, but that rough patch is hard to get over.

The Santa Clause is that rare film which is the weakest of a trilogy. While it introduces us to the premise which will power the next two films, it's serious side really damages it. It's not helped by the lack of character development in the script. (Also not helping is the very dated looking CGI.) Still, the movie has some funny moments and it established Tim Allen in family films.

The Santa Clause joins A Christmas Story in perpetuating an Asian stereotype on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 30 Mbps. The first thing that you will notice about this transfer is how grainy it is. The movie features many snowy white backgrounds, and the grain is abundant, like gnats had invaded the set. Oddly, if you look closely, it looks as if the grain has a rainbow of colors going through it. Speaking of colors, the colors in the movie aren't bad, most notably the reds, and the image is only slightly dark at times. The level of detail is good, but the picture is a bit flat. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo and surround sound effects really come to life when Scott and Charlie are flying in the sleigh. There are also good surround effects coming from the work in Santa's Workshop. The effects aren't especially detailed, but they do separate from the front effects. The subwoofer effects come into play when the sleigh lands.

The Santa Clause Blu-ray Disc offers an odd assortment of extras. "So You Wanna Be an Elf?" (7 minutes) shows Bernard training new elves at Santa's Workshop. This isn't a deleted scene, but more like a faux documentary. "The Night Before Christmas Animated Short" (8 minutes) is an old Disney "Silly Symphony" short. The remainder of the extras are found under the banner of "Making Santa Snacks with Wolfgang" which three videos with chef Wolfgang Puck, as well as three text-only recipes.

As The Santa Clause 2 opens, Scott has settled in as Santa and has the elves working very happily. The head elf, Bernard (David Krumholtz) is very pleased with Scott's progress and is relieved that things are running smoothly. That is, until the number 2 elf, Curtis (Spencer Breslin) delivers some bad news. It appears that the rules of the "Santa clause" state the Santa must take on a wife -- this is known as the "Mrs. Clause" -- and Scott has only 28 days to get married, or he will no longer be Santa. Even as Curtis explains the problem, the "de-Santafication" process begins and Scott starts to lose weight and lose his beard. So, Curtis and Bernard formulate a plan -- Scott will return to his original home to find a wife, while Curtis creates a robot Santa (played by Tim Allen as well) to oversee the workshop so that the other elves don't know that the real Santa is gone.

Once Scott returns home, he finds some problems. Charlie has been rebelling at school, and has run afoul of his principal, Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell), who doesn't allow any holiday decorations or festivities in her school. Scott is shocked by this and becomes determined to change Carol's mind about the holidays. Meanwhile, as with all machines, the Santa Clone becomes sentient and decides to change Christmas to suit his views.

Unlike The Santa Clause, which at times had me ready to slit my wrists, The Santa Clause 2 is a much more fun and funny film, with the only dark moments coming courtesy of the Santa Clone, who is more of a buffoon than a villain. The whole film has a much lighter tone, and this allows Tim Allen to really shine. Many of his lines sound as if they were ad-libbed and the movie has some very funny moments. The plot-line concerning Charlie's rebelliousness and Carol's feelings towards the holidays are serious in tone, but they have to be so that the film can have a happy ending. (Trust me, I'm not spoiling anything with that statement.) While The Santa Clause had a clever main idea, it sullied that notion with its dark themes. The Santa Clause 2 is able to run with the story of a normal guy "becoming" Santa Claus and open it up even further by introducing "The Legendary Figures", a group which includes The Easter Bunny (Jay Thomas) and The Tooth Fairy (Art LaFleur). These new characters add another level of whimsy to the film and provide some of the film's humor. The Santa Clause 2 is by no means perfect, as the story still feels stale at times, and the film doesn't always goes for big laughs when it could, but it is a fun holiday film which will appeal to children as well as adults. It's rare for Hollywood to wait 8 years to make a sequel, but in this case, the wait was actually worth it.

The Santa Clause 2 flies onto Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 30 Mbps. The image is sharp and clear, showing only a fine amount of grain at times. The colors, which are abundant in The Santa Clause 2 look very good, and Santa's workshop is awash in a sea of reds, blues, and greens. The level of detail is very good and many shots, like those in the workshop, show a nice amount of depth. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.0 Mbps. The track provides clear and audible dialogue, along with impressive surround sound effects. The woosh of Santa's sleigh fills the speakers when it flies by, and there is some nice bass response created by the leaden feet of the Santa Clone. As with The Santa Clause, the activity in the workshop creates nice surround effects.

The Santa Clause 2 Blu-ray Disc contains several extras, most of which aren't very impressive. We start with an audio commentary from director Michael Lembeck. This is a truly odd commentary, as Lembeck speaks as if The Santa Clause 2 were a documentary, which was filmed at the actual North Pole. He keeps up this charade throughout the entire talk, so we learn virtually nothing about the making of the movie. This would have been fine had there been a second, "real" commentary, but there isn't. Next up is "Inside the North Pole with Curtis", a 10-minute segment in which young actor Spencer Breslin gives us a tour of the set and shows us how he must endure special effects make-up and attend school on-set. Lembeck also provides a tour of the set in "Director's Tour of Elfburg", a four-minute video which Lembeck claims was made to appease the producers and show them that all was going well on the movie. Is this true? Lembeck also interviews some of the characters in "True Confessions of the Legendary Figures", a 3-minute talk which offers a few laughs. There are seven deleted scenes on the Disc, all of which are introduced by Lembeck. Most of them are throw-away scenes, and the visual quality is very poor. Also, there is a 7-minute gag reel which shows Allen cutting-up on the set.

The Santa Clause 3 picks up some time (apparently about 9 months) after the events of The Santa Clause 2. Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) is doing fine as Santa Claus and he has the North Pole humming along as Christmas approaches. His wife, Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell), is busy teaching school to the elf children and she's also very pregnant. While she's happy with Scott, she doesn't like that he's so busy and that, despite the presence of the elves, she's essentially alone at the North Pole. To rectify this, Scott brings Carol's parents, Bud (Alan Arkin) and Sylvia (Ann-Margret), to visit the North Pole...by telling them that Scott is simply a toymaker and that they are visiting his factory-town in Canada. Scott also invites his ex-wife Laura (Wendy Crewson), her husband Neil (Judge Reinhold), and their daughter Lucy (Lilianan Mumy) to visit.

Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of The Council of Legendary Figures has been called due to the fact that Jack Frost (Martin Short) has been misbehaving, attempting to position himself as the face of Christmas. As punishment, Jack volunteers to help out around Santa's workshop, but it's all just a scheme to take Christmas for himself. When he sees that Scott's plan to have the in-laws visit isn't working out very well, Jack hatches a plan to play on Scott's guilt and take over the role of Santa Claus.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause may be one of the most well-made oddly benign movies that I've ever seen. The movie is like a expertly made plate of spaghetti or meatloaf -- it's something which is familiar and satisfying for the moment, and yet, it's nothing spectacular and something which is easily forgettable.

Perhaps the problem lies in Martin Short's character. Don't get me wrong, I love Martin Short and usually find him hysterical, but I don't think I liked him playing the villain. Jack Frost is a very "cool" character and Short is never really allowed to cut loose in the role. Sure, he says some funny things and has a lot of energy, but I also felt that he was keeping himself in check and thus, we weren't seeing Short's full potential.

Again, on the surface, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause is a perfectly serviceable film and a good family movie. The elaborate sets are impressive and the story never gets too convoluted, although some younger viewers may have some difficulty following a time-travel sequence. The movie features some nice themes about family and loyalty, and with Tim Allen and Martin Short, there are some funny moments. But, perhaps I expected more funny moments. This film isn't as good as the second film in the series, but is light-years ahead of the depressing first one. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause may not be the perfect Christmas present, but it will suffice as a stocking stuffer.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause tops the nice list on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. The disc has a 1080p HD VC-1 transfer which averages 35-40 Mbps, and the film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1. The image is incredibly clear, showing no blemishes whatsoever -- no grain or defects from the source material. But, it's the colors which are the most striking thing here. The colors simply leap off of the screen. Elfsburg is a very colorful place and the color palette here really brings the sets too life. Honestly, the colors are so realistic that it sort of hurt my eyes. The image has a nice amount of depth and the framing looks good. The Blu-ray has a Linear PCM 5.1 uncompressed audio track which runs at 48 kHz and 6.9 Mbps and provides clear dialogue and sound effects. While the audio isn't as impressive as the video here, it's still good. The stereo effects are highly detailed and the track takes any opportunity to use surround sound effects, thus enveloping the viewer. Subwoofer effects aren't as plentiful, but there occurrences add to the film.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause Blu-ray Disc contains several bonus features. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY by director Michael Lembeck. He provides a good amount of scene specific comments and as with The Santa Clause 2, Lembeck's chat is both very technical, but he also respects the fact that younger viewers may be listening, so he takes the time to describe the various aspects of making this effects laden film. On the downside, he doesn't say much about the story. There is a 3 minute "Blooper Reel", as well as an "Alternate Opening" (3 1/2 minutes) which is a recap of the first two films. Not sure why they cut this out, as it would have helped those who hadn't seen those movies in a while. Oddly, there's a good 12 kids in that class and only Abigail Breslin gets to talk. "Jack Frost and Mrs. Claus: A Very Different Look" (4 minutes) shows how Jack Frost had a different look when shooting began -- a more elfin look -- but was changed when it wasn't working. And Elizabeth Mitchell originally had a chubby look, but that was changed. In "The New Comedians: On Set with Tim & Marty" (3 minutes) Lembeck and other actors describe what it's like to work with Allen and Short. "Creating Movie Magic" (4 minutes) Scott Dougherty, FX Producer, examines how CGI was used to enhance sets. "Christmas Carol-oke" is exactly what it sounds like, as it has on-screen lyrics for many classic Christmas songs. The final extra is a MUSIC VIDEO for "Greatest Time of Year" by Aly & AJ. With the "Tour Elfsburg" option, the "camera" on the menu simply rotates 360-degrees allowing us to see the whole town, but it isn't interactive. The "Deck the Halls Virtual Holiday Decorator" allows the viewer to create a stocking, decorate a tree, and other things in a virtual world. "Movie Showcase" skips to "The Filmmaker's Most Cinematic Moments".