The 6 Best And 6 Worst Things In The Santa Clauses – Looper

David Krumholtz returns in “The Santa Clauses” as Santa’s former head elf Bernard to show Scott the history of the Santa lineage. Krumholtz’s appearance is especially notable considering he backed out of his role in “The Santa Clause 3,” which never addresses the character’s absence. Finally, after all this time, the audience learns that Bernard didn’t even give Santa an explanation for leaving.

It turns out that Bernard went on an elf Rumspringa and simply never returned sometime between the events of the second and third films. Bernard reunites with Santa in present day and tells him he married Oscar-winner Vanessa Redgrave. By choosing to live in the real world, Bernard started aging, explaining why he no longer has his youthful elf looks.

The character’s inclusion in “The Santa Clauses” is significant enough to not feel like a throw-away cameo, and it speaks to the series’ goal of wrapping up the story. It would have been easy to throw in several former characters from the iconic trilogy (especially since the franchise boasts quite a few star names, like Judge Reinhold and Martin Short), but the writers managed to resist, and Bernard’s appearance was more meaningful as a result.

Somewhat strangely, though, in the same way that Bernard’s absence was never addressed in “The Santa Clause 3,” Bernard’s replacement as head elf in that movie (Spencer Breslin’s Curtis) is similarly absent without explanation in “The Santa Clauses.”