Disney's The Santa Clause At Subway

The Tim Allen film "The Santa Clause" was a huge hit at movie theaters in 1994.  There were even Santa Clause toys for sale at Subway restaurants, though many people probably did not know about them.

Disney re-released "The Lion King" at about the same time "The Santa Clause" debuted.  Burger King took the opportunity to re-issue the very popular Lion King toys that had sold out quickly in the Summer of 1994. I'm not sure what McDonald's was promoting at the time, but Subway restaurants promoted The Santa Clause.

The world was a very different place in 1994, and I had no idea that The Santa Clause was at Subway.  There were no commercials.  For many years, Subway only promoted its Kids' Pak meals using posters at the restaurants, and the toys were typically not shown.

I happened to find some Santa Clause Subway toys at a Flea Market in Louisville, Kentucky sometime in the late 1990s.

This 3D Puzzle is noteworthy because it sports a caricature of Tim Allen.

The cartoon Santa Clause characters remind me of animated movie titles seen in front of many live action films in the 1980s and 1990s.

The main elf in the film was played by David Krumholtz, and was a familiar face at the time thanks to his role in "Addams Family Values."

The rest of the elves in The Santa Clause were played by younger children.

The toys in this set, like the ELFS Action Figure, were very simple.

The Comet the Reindeer toy was not even promoted with the other toys in the set.

Comet was an "Under 3" toy that had to be specially requested by Subway customers.

To my knowledge, the Subway toys were the only merchandise made for "The Santa Clause."

Tim Allen's show, "Home Improvement", was a huge hit on TV when "The Santa Clause" hit theaters.  One year later, he could be heard in Pixar's "Toy Story" as Buzz Lightyear.

The Santa Clause was so popular that a sequel, "The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs. Clause" debuted in 2002.  This was followed by "The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause" in 2009.  All the Santa Clause films have become holiday viewing rituals for many people.

Can we expect more sequels?  Maybe!  Keep your eyes open for "The Santa Clause, Deadliest Catch: The Crab Clause".