He also shared funny stories from the set after revealing he doesn’t like kids that much.
The original version of The Santa Clause had a disturbing beginning.
Comedian Tim Allen opened up about the 1994 flick during his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, where he revealed how the beloved Christmas classic was supposed to start.
"The original Santa Clause is a little darker, written by two comedians, and I actually shot and killed Santa, in the original movie," the 65-year-old actor noted. "And he fell off the roof, because I thought he was a burglar. And he gives me the card, and the whole movie starts. And the kid goes, ‘You just killed Santa.’ And I said, ‘He shouldn’t have been on the roof when he wasn’t invited.’”
In the actual film, Allen’s character, Scott Calvin, scares the old Santa when he’s on the roof and he slips and falls, leaving behind his card and Santa suit.
"I’m laughing so hard, but the head of Disney at the time, [Jeffrey] Katzenberg says, ‘Well, we can’t start a movie like that,’ and I said, ‘Why not?’ And he said, ‘Well, we can’t start a Disney movie with you murdering Santa Claus,’” Allen noted.
The longtime standup comedian teased that Disney tends to "kill all the parents" in their other movies, saying he didn’t see the problem with murdering Santa.
In addition to the rough-around-the-edges original script, Allen noted he’s the worst person to play Santa.
"I’m literally the last guy in the world who should be Santa Claus, because I don’t like kids all that much,” the father of two joked. "I’m not going to hurt them. I don’t say inappropriate stuff, I just don’t like them.”
This became a problem when the cast of the film included lots of children playing the elves.
"So these kids are asking me questions, ‘What does Santa eat? What does the elves eat?’ And I go, ‘How the hell would I know what they eat?’ But all that comes out of my mouth, I said, ‘Uh, reindeer I guess,’” Allen said, laughing. "It’s the best I could come up with. ‘Why do you like milk and cookies?’ ‘Because it takes the edge off the Jack and Coke.'"
Allen, who is the dad of 29-year-old Katherine and 9-year-old Elizabeth, also found that his youngest daughter was deeply affected by the film.
"The younger one, she’s precious, I tried to warn her, ‘We’re going to see this movie, but I want you to know it’s a movie. Your dad plays characters. We did have permission from the real Santa to go to the North Pole and take pictures,’” he said. "But she sees the movie, gets in my lap, and she’s all over it. Crying because I had to leave the boy, Charlie, to go back to the North Pole. Then I had to explain to the kid, ‘Now I don’t want you going to school and telling your classmates your dad is Santa Claus, because he’s an actor.’"
Despite claiming he’s not that good with children, Allen has made a name for himself as the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story films. He noted that the upcoming fourth installment left him in tears during the script read through.
"The last scene of that movie, I couldn’t even get through it. And I thought there was pages after it,” he noted. "It was so emotional. It’s a, 'Scarlett, I don’t give a damn’-moment.”
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