for years, Santa Claus and its aftermath was synonymous with Christmas, nostalgia and family humor. But behind the snow, the Christmas carols and the impeccable image of Santa Claus were the productions that were spinning Tim Allen In the most iconic Santa of the 1990s, they were anything but idyllic.
Excessive heat, suffocating prosthetics, psychological tension, almost physical altercations, name-calling in front of children and accusations of toxic behavior create a different – and surprising – portrait of the apparent Christmas story.
Three decades after the original premiere, we’ll revisit the chaos that the actors and crew experienced on the sets of all the films.
At an appearance at The Kelly Clarkson Show, Tim Allen opened Pandora’s Box and talked about a recurring problem during filming Santa Claus 2 (2002): his tendency to swear.
The combination of fatigue, frustration, and an environment full of children – which he admits he doesn’t particularly like – created the perfect scenario for his anger to get the better of him at times.
“I’m not a big fan of children. I have them. I like minemore or less. “I don’t like other people’s kids,” he admitted.
And he added that the set was full of childlike emotions, driven by the hyper-realistic recreation of the North Pole: snow, elves, glitter, magic.
For the young actors it was Disneyland, but for the actor it was “like cats that wouldn’t leave me alone.” In fact, some of the younger children actually believed that he was actually Santa Claus.
During a complicated scene, the actor – fully dressed as Santa Claus, in a submarine that was supposed to “observe” the North Pole – tried to keep the little extras under control. He asked for calm, he asked for order. But the childish fights continued.
After shot number fifteen and a new complaint between children – “He hit me!” – Allen exploded, letting out a monumental profanity. The worst, he said himself, because he shouted “shit!”
The reaction was devastating because, according to him, the twelve children were paralyzed and pale and looked at him in disbelief because he had just shouted an obscenity.
“I turned around and There were 12 children who looked like their legs had been torn off.. “His Santa had just yelled the curse word,” he said.
The production went into emergency mode and to appease the watching parents, they made up a somewhat absurd excuse.
“The Disney people quickly came and reassured the parents: ‘No, what he said was “fuch”, it is a Swedish word. It sounds like that, but it means “Christmas decorations”. The children didn’t believe it. Nobody believed it. I never did it again. “I realized I had surprised these poor children,” he said.
The problematic image of Tim Allen regained strength when Casey Wilson He talked about his experiences Santa Claus: A new Santa Clausthe Disney+ series, which acts as a direct sequel to the film trilogy.
“Tim Allen was a bastard,” he said bluntly on his podcast Bitch Sesh. “Worst experience I’ve ever had with a co-star.”
The actress and comedian played a woman who thinks Santa is an intruder in a scene where she has to throw objects at him. According to his story Tim Allen She stopped filming to complain to the producer, who was standing a few meters away from her, accusing her of “stepping on his lines”.
The frightened producer had to forward the complaint directly to him. “Everyone was walking on eggshells with him.. “People seemed frantic,” he said.
The discomfort didn’t end there. After finishing a take, Allen simply announced, “I’m leaving!”, threw his Santa Claus cape on the floor and left the set without saying goodbye. His double had to replace him.
An anonymous team member turned to Wilson and said, “You watch this on a good day.”
The difficulties in the relationship Tim Allen with the character and the environment they come from far away. During the filming of the first film in 1994, the production conditions were almost inhumane.
The crew filmed in Toronto during a summer heatwave, while the winter atmosphere had to remain completely believable and the interior of the set was not air-conditioned. Plus, the Santa suit was almost a death trap.
The actor had to wear prosthetics and makeup for four hours every morning and remove everything for another two hours. He wore a fake body that weighed 34 kilos.
His beard, hat and suit prevented him from breathing, so the heat created a sauna effect that caused blisters so severe that a dermatologist recommended he abandon the project to avoid permanent damage. However, the artist refused.
However, the consequences were devastating: physical exhaustion, extreme stress and mental deterioration, which led to constant conflict.
During the filming of the medical examination, the actor had to walk on a treadmill with a huge fake belly. The piece injured his already damaged skin.
It is like that Tim AllenWhen he was on the verge of collapse, he stopped filming and had a heated argument with the director John Pasquin, to the point that the confrontation almost came to blows.
The tension became a daily part of the job; At times, Allen would leave the set screaming or cursing, increasing pressure on a crew already overwhelmed by the heat, long shoot times, and logistical complexities of the production design.
Paradoxically, the chaos was not reflected on the screen. After the filming problems Santa Claus The film received such good reviews in its previews that Disney decided to release it under its main label, Walt Disney Pictures, rather than its secondary label, Hollywood Pictures.
This is how the film franchise managed to grow more than 460 million dollars at the worldwide box office among his three major films. The first film exceeded the $190 million mark, the second over $172 million and the third almost $110 million, establishing itself as a successful Christmas classic.
The film became a modern classic and spawned a three-film and series franchise that further expands the universe begun thirty years ago. But for those who were there, the behind-the-scenes story is almost as dramatic as the plot is fantastic.
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