Eight years have passed since Scott Calvin took on the mantle of
Santa Claus. Head Elf Bernard and Curtis, the Keeper of the
Handbook of Christmas, inform Scott that there is another clause — the "
Mrs. Clause". Scott is now pressed to get married before the next
Christmas Eve or the clause will be broken and he will stop being Santa forever. Abby the Elf simultaneously tells Scott that his now-teenage son Charlie is on the naughty list, due to having
vandalized his school to get attention. Scott must return to his home to search for a wife and set things right with Charlie. He brings this up when visited by the Council of Legendary Figures, consisting of
Mother Nature,
Father Time,
Cupid, the
Easter Bunny, the
Tooth Fairy, and the
Sandman. To cover for Santa's prolonged absence, Curtis helps Scott create a life-sized animatronic Santa clone, much to Bernard's horror. However, at Santa's request, Bernard reluctantly plays along. He tells the other elves that Santa had a makeover, so they will not question the double's synthetic appearance. Because of the impending end of his contract, Scott undergoes a "de-Santafication process" that gradually turns him back into his former self. He has a limited amount of magic to help him. Scott returns home to his ex-wife Laura, her husband Neil, their six-year-old daughter Lucy, and Charlie. He and Charlie face the ire of school principal Carol Newman when Charlie defaces the lockers. At the
North Pole, Toy Santa follows the rulebook too literally and begins to think that everyone in the world is naughty because of their small mistakes. As a result, he takes over the North Pole using giant toy soldiers he made himself and unveils his plan to the elves to give lumps of coal to the world. Bernard exposes Toy Santa as a fraud, who then places him under house arrest. After a few failed dates, Scott finds himself falling for Carol. He accompanies her in a
horse-drawn sleigh to the faculty Christmas party, during which she confesses she used to believe in Santa as a child, until she was forced to stop doing so by her parents after fighting with children who told her Santa was not real. Using a little of his Christmas magic, Scott enlivens the otherwise dull party by presenting everyone with their childhood dream gifts. He makes a special presentation to Carol, and, with his last remnant of magic, wins her over and they kiss under mistletoe. However, when Scott attempts to explain to her that he is Santa, she believes that he is mocking her childhood, and throws him out. Later, Charlie is upset about Scott dating his principal and he confesses how hard it is for him that he is never around like other fathers, and reveals the pressure he is under to conceal the secret that his father is Santa. Lucy convinces Charlie not to be mad at him, which leads Charlie to convince Carol that Scott is Santa by showing her the magic snow globe he received during Scott's initial transformation. Curtis flies in to tell Scott about Toy Santa's plan. However, Scott has used up the last of his magic wooing Carol, so cannot return to the North Pole. With help from the Tooth Fairy, Scott and Curtis manage to get back, only for Toy Santa to find them and tie them up. Charlie and Carol spring them free by summoning the Tooth Fairy to fly them to the North Pole. Scott goes after Toy Santa, who has already left with the sleigh, riding Chet, a rambunctious reindeer-in-training, and they both crash back into the village. With an army of elves, Carol, Bernard, Charlie, and Curtis lead them into a snowball fight to overthrow the toy soldiers. Toy Santa is defeated and reduced to a six-inch height, Scott marries Carol in a ceremony, Scott transforms back into Santa and Carol becomes Mrs. Claus, and Christmas proceeds as it always has. Scott and Charlie reveal the truth to Lucy about Scott being Santa Claus, and she promises to keep his secret. == Cast ==