Returning to his roots! Tim Allen debuted his impressive new beard — and it makes him bear a striking resemblance to his former Santa Clause character.
“Woke up this morning and noticed a bit more stubble,” the Home Improvement alum, 67, tweeted a selfie of his look on Tuesday, November 10. “This always happens to me as I transition to you no [sic] who this Christmas.”
Allen starred as Scott Calvin in The Santa Clause in 1994. In the Christmas classic, his divorced dad character accidentally causes Santa Claus to fall off his roof. From there, Scott is recruited to become Saint Nick’s replacement.
The Santa Clause received largely positive reviews from critics, and it also drummed up more than $189 million worldwide. Additionally, the film’s success led to the creation of two sequels: The Santa Clause 2 in 2002 and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause in 2006.
The Last Man Standing star previously revealed that the family-friendly film originally had a much darker premise. “I actually shot and killed Santa in the original movie. He fell off the roof because I thought he was a burglar [in the actual film],” he explained on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2018. “He gives me the card, the whole movie starts.”
Allen continued, “[In the original script,] the kid actually starts with, ‘You just killed Santa.’ And I said, ‘He shouldn’t have been on the roof when he wasn’t invited.’”
The Toy Story actor said that former Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg shut down the grim concept. “I’m laughing so hard, but the head of Disney at the time, Katzenberg said, ‘Well, you can’t start a movie like that.’ And I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘We can’t start a Disney movie with you murdering Santa,’” he added.
Even though the lasting power of the Santa Clause franchise can be seen to this day, a fourth installment or potential reboot has not been greenlit. However, Elizabeth Mitchell — who played Carol, Scott’s wife and the eventual Mrs. Clause, in the last two films — said she is on board to revisit the film series.
“Of course, those movies were a joy to make,” Mitchell, 50, told Entertainment Tonight in November 2019. “Making people happy? What a gift.”
The Lost alum added, “Honestly, we all need to believe in a little bit of magic. I really do think that’s what it is. I think that it brings that childlike sense of play to you as an adult that we’re hungry for. That’s my own personal finding.”
