WIth the new addition of the Santa Clause Disney+ series, the Santa Clause franchise is rising in its popularity. Here’s my ranking of the full franchise as of now. 

1. The Santa Clause

The original Santa Clause is the obvious choice. It has everything a Christmas movie needs: A grumpy businessman without a love for Christmas, a grumpy man becoming Santa Clause, and finally, a once-grumpy man finding his love for Christmas. While this movie is a little ridiculous it’s enough to bring everyone some Christmas cheer. If Scott can go from no Christmas cheer to being Santa himself, that leaves plenty of room for the rest of us to be just as cheerful. This movie is a Christmas classic that no Christmas marathon can be complete without. 

1. The Santa Clauses 

This series is a recent addition to this beloved franchise and while the premise of the cast being reunited is nice, it fails to match up to the original movie in terms of energy. I also have to admit that I’m not a fan of the Disney Plus six episode format as it rushes every project it applies to, despite being longer than a movie. This series could have easily made a quick yet cheesy heartwarming film instead of an unnecessary stretched out series. But overall it deserves second place for its somewhat interesting plot and nostalgic main cast. 

1. The Santa Clause 2

This movie lacks the plot that made the first one so happy yet entertaining. In fact, the plot is a little disturbing. This sequel centers around Scott having to marry a woman before a certain time or he will no longer be Santa. This is weird on a number of levels, considering this was definitely not disclosed when he took the job, and is just a little bit sexist. Santa has to have a Mrs. Clause to bake cookies and comfort him otherwise Christmas will be ruined! Not exactly spreading the Christmas cheer with that one.

1. The Santa Clause 3

Although the other two films are undisputedly weird, The Santa Clause 3 takes weird to a new level. After inviting his in-laws for a family visit, chaos ensues when the wicked Jack Frost plots to take over the north pole. While this plot alone shows the definite decline of this movie trilogy, the nightmare-inducing makeup on actor Martin Short adds to the horror. This movie was clearly a last ditch effort to grab as much money as they could before the love for the movies slowly sizzled out, as it was bound to do. This movie belongs in an old 70s sitcom and although I love sitcoms, this is most definitely not a compliment.