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  • ‘The Santa Clauses’ Season 2 Interview: Producer Jason Winer

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    Premiering on Disney+ November 8th is the second season of ‘The Santa Clauses,’ which is a continuation of ‘The Santa Clause’ movies and once again stars Tim Allen (‘Toy Story’).

    Tim Allen in Disney+'s 'The Santa Clauses' Season 2.
    Tim Allen in Disney+’s ‘The Santa Clauses’ Season 2. Photo: Disney/James Clark.

    Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with executive producer and director Jason Winer about his work on the second season of ‘The Santa Clauses,’ where the new season begins, expanding on the Santa Claus mythology, Scott Calvin’s quest to find a replacement, the sets, new characters, returning favorites, Christmas themed amusement parks, working with multiple directors, and the chance of a third season.

    'The Santa Clauses' Season 2 Executive Producer and Director Jason Winer.
    ‘The Santa Clauses’ Season 2 Executive Producer and Director Jason Winer.

    You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch the interview.

    Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about where we’ll find the characters when the new season begins?

    Jason Winer: Well, if the audience recalls, Betty mentions in the first season the darkest time in North Pole history, and that was the reign of the Mad Santa. When the second season begins, events have transpired to bring the Mad Santa back to life. He was never actually dead. He was frozen inside of a nutcracker as part of a spell to incapacitate him. So, with Mad Santa back in the mix, our lovable Claus family is in trouble, as is Christmas itself. I think the second season is funnier than the first. We wanted a more formidable villain for the second season, and we have found that in the Mad Santa, played by Eric Stonestreet.

    MF: Can you talk about expanding on the Santa Clause mythology?

    JW: Well, just to be clear, the idea that Santa is a mantle that can be passed and not just to a singular person is the central idea of the franchise established by the movies back in the ‘90s. That was what was so kind of cool and innovative. When Santa slips off Scott Calvin’s roof and essentially passes his jacket along to him, we are suggesting in that action that Santa is this mantle passed on from Santa to Santa. So that central idea is so rich because it suggests a whole history of Santa’s that have reigned over the North Pole. It suggests the idea that Santa can retire and pick a successor, and how is that successor chosen? Having fun with both the history of the role of Santa and the idea of passing it along is essentially the heart of the series.

    Related Article: Tim Allen and Elizabeth Allen-Dick Talk Disney+’s ‘The Santa Clauses’

    Tim Allen and Austin Kane in Disney+'s 'The Santa Clauses' Season 2.
    (L to R) Tim Allen and Austin Kane in Disney+’s ‘The Santa Clauses’ Season 2. Photo: Disney/James Clark.

    MF: In the first season, Scott Calvin was not successful trying to find a Santa Claus replacement. How is that working out in season 2?

    JW: Well, Scott’s son Cal and a lot of people say, “Hey, at the end of the third movie, Mrs. Claus had a baby, and they called that baby Buddy. Why is his name Cal?” Well, we’ve said it a couple times in the show for careful listeners. His name is Buddy Calvin Claus, and they call him Cal for short. So, for those thinking that we’ve made an error in the chronology or the mythology of the show, we have not. It’s a nickname. But Cal is a guy who loves the real world, and that was established in the first season. He has a lot of curiosities about what college and relationships might be like in the real world. He meets a girl in the first season and is obsessed with her even more in the second. So, all these reasons make him a questionable choice to be the next Santa because he’s not sure he wants to stay at the North Pole, though he wants to please his dad. He’s also a bit of a klutz, which makes him not a great Santa choice. He’s deathly afraid of heights, which also makes him a very difficult choice to become the next Santa, which is why the legendary figures from the movies are back, worried about Scott Calvin choosing his son as the next Santa.

    MF: Can you talk about your use of green screen versus practical sets this season?

    JW: We have a tremendous amount of fun designing this world. The residence of the North Pole, which by the way is based on the residence of the White House, that’s the design of it. The long central hallway, the two grand rooms at either end with semicircular windows, that’s all based on the residence of the White House, which was a question we asked ourselves season one. Like where else does the family, a whole family live upstairs from where they work? The White House was a grand notion for our inspiration. But that said, that is a practical set, the hallway, the living room, the bedroom at Santa’s office and Betty’s office. When we go to the workshop, the size of the workshop is like two football fields, and it was established as being that big in the movies. For the series, we couldn’t possibly afford that. So, we’ve used technology to compensate and designed the workshop virtually on the volume. We do that on the volume. Now this season we’ve expanded to be able to use the balcony of the workshop as a play space that overlooks the whole elf village. It’s a cool environment and we designed that under the volume as well. This season, we get to go home with Betty and Noel. We designed their cottage, which we see the exterior of in some of the digital shots. But we go inside of it and that’s a set designed by our incredible production design team.

    Marta Kessler and Eric Stonestreet in Disney+'s 'The Santa Clauses' Season 2.
    (L to R) Marta Kessler and Eric Stonestreet in Disney+’s ‘The Santa Clauses’ Season 2. Photo: Disney/James Clark.

    MF: What new characters can fans expect in season 2?

    JW: La Befana is such a great character. Obviously, there’s truth to her existence as a legend. She is the Italian Santa Claus in a way and has existed in legend for a long time. But the way Laura San Giacomo plays her is just with such fun and glee. It’s so great to see Laura in a role like this where she can just kind of go nuts. She’s really featured this season being a mentor to Sandra’s character and teaching her how to be a witch, Spoiler Alert. So, in terms of the other characters, obviously we have Mad Santa. We’ve talked about him. Eric’s goal with Mad Santa was to make him oddly lovable despite being occasionally evil. He wanted him to be the type of classic Disney villain that kids aren’t sure whether to run from or to hug. So, I think he’s achieved that line. He’s so much fun to watch in this role. Of course, his sidekick is a gnome. Her name is Marta Kessler, and she plays this feral, evil, angry gnome, although she’s only 10 or 11 herself. But she has such fun with this character. It’s hard to say this with Eric Stonestreet, who’s a grown man, and an 11-year-old actress, but they had tremendous comedic chemistry together. They had so much fun playing together and playing off each other. So not only is it fun to see her as a character, but it’s also fun to see the gnomes in general. They’re referenced in the first season as the annoying adversaries of the elves. They always mention them, and they complain about them. So, in this season, we get to meet them. It was fun to design what they look like. Of course, they’re played by kids the same way the elves are, and that makes them fun too. Other characters, of course, we have Gabriel Iglesias who we’re so excited to have in the season. He plays Kris Kringle Moreno, a real-life Santa, a real-world Santa enthusiast. He owns a Santa themed amusement park with a dusty, crusty Santa Museum. He just happens to be the owner of the Mad Santa nutcracker, where unbeknownst to him Mad Santa has been trapped for centuries.

    MF: Are Santa Themed Amusement Parks a real thing?

    JW: There are things like it. There are Christmas themed amusement parks and or play spaces that pop up around Christmas that open for the season. In fact, Disney is opening a winter wonderland to promote the show in New York City this season. They did it last year on a small scale, and it was such a hit that they’re bringing it back this year on a much bigger scale. That is a set. We built it here on the outskirts of Los Angeles and put Chicago in digitally.

    Tracy Morgan in Disney+'s 'The Santa Clauses' Season 2.
    (L to R) Tracy Morgan in Disney+’s ‘The Santa Clauses’ Season 2. Photo: Disney/James Clark.

    MF: Will there be any characters returning from the movies that did not appear in the first season?

    JW: Well, there’s some incredibly fun cameos from the legendary figures. We have Kevin Pollak returning as Cupid from the original movies. We have Michael Dorn returning as Sandman. Since the original actor who played the Easter Bunny (Jay Thomas) unfortunately passed away, we have Tracy Morgan capably filling the shoes of the Easter Bunny. We have a fun tiny cameo. We love referring to the original movies. People love them and they’re considered such classics that we like to tie in the action of the series every way we can, and that includes this year a cameo from Paige Tamada. This is a deep cut for fans of the movies. Paige played little Judy the elf who gives Santa the cocoa when he first arrives at the North Pole way back in the original movie. She plays the proprietor of Judy’s cocoa stand that they get cocoa from. It’s unacknowledged, but it’s just an example of the lengths we go to, to tie our series together with the original movies.

    MF: As a producer and a director, what is it like collaborating with the other directors on a series like this?

    JW: Well, the job of a pilot director, myself in this case, is to establish a style visually that can be copied, and to make a clear set of rules so that, visually, incoming directors can make it their own certainly, but make sure that it’s still connected and consistent. It’s also my job to establish a tone amongst the actors so that everybody feels like they’re in the same show and connected as an ensemble. Hopefully, by the time I’m done doing that with the first two episodes when additional directors come in, the whole thing kind of functions well, and of course I’m around. Even when the other directors are directing, I’m still there in a producorial capacity overseeing, though I don’t want to give short shrift to our amazing ensemble of directors, who also directed the other episodes of the first season. So, we really got on the same page as we were thrown into the fire of the crazy schedule of the first season and just figuring it all out together. So, the chance for everybody to return, and for us all to work together collaboratively the second season, I think, guarantees the tonal consistency of the show.

    Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell in Disney+'s 'The Santa Clauses' Season 2.
    (L to R) Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell in Disney+’s ‘The Santa Clauses’ Season 2. Photo: Disney/James Clark.

    MF: Finally, has there been any talk about a third season?

    JW: There’s a lot of talk about a season three, and we’ve got ideas percolating. I think there’s a lot of new questions that get asked in the second season that would be fun to dive into in a third season. Not only that, but there’s of a wealth of cameos, people from the original movies that the fans are clamoring to see. Some of them appear in the second season, but there are yet more that we’d like to deliver in the third.

    The cast of 'The Santa Clauses' season 2, which begins on Disney+ November 8th.
    The cast of ‘The Santa Clauses’ season 2, which begins on Disney+ November 8th. Photo: Disney.

    What is the plot of ‘The Santa Clauses’ Season 2?

    In the second season, the Calvin family is back in the North Pole as Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) continues his role as Santa Claus after retirement plans were thwarted when failing to find a worthy successor in season one. Now that Scott and his family have successfully saved Christmas, Scott turns his focus towards training his son Calvin (Austin Kane) to eventually take over the “family business” as Santa Claus.

    Who is the cast of ‘The Santa Clauses’ Season 2?

    'The Santa Clauses' season 2 begins on Disney+ November 8th.
    ‘The Santa Clauses’ season 2 begins on Disney+ November 8th. Photo: Disney.

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  • Tracy Morgan Boards Eddie Murphy’s ‘Coming 2 America’

    Tracy Morgan Boards Eddie Murphy’s ‘Coming 2 America’

    Tracy Morgan in The Last O.G.
    TBS

    Attracting high-profile actors has not been a problem for the “Coming to America” sequel.

    Tracy Morgan is a new addition to the comedy starring Eddie Murphy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. News of his casting comes as “Coming 2 America” prepares to begin production in late August. Morgan will appear in the film alongside original stars Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, and Shari Headley, as well as his fellow newcomers Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones, and Kiki Layne.

    The sequel picks up years after the original 1988 comedy. It follows Murphy’s Prince Akeem as he returns to Queens, New York, at the request of his dying father to meet the son he never knew he had and bring him into the royal fold. Jones will play the mother of Prince Akeem’s son, while Morgan portrays her hustler brother Reem.

    Morgan has a history of success in comedy. He made a name for himself as a “Saturday Night Live” cast member and one of the stars of “30 Rock,” and he currently stars in the TBS series “The Last O.G.” Some of his films include “What Men Want,” “Fist Fight,” and “The Night Before.”

    “Coming 2 America” — with its cast of comedy heavy-hitters — is being directed by Craig Brewer. Its producers include Murphy, Kevin Misher, and Kenya  Barris.

    [via: THR]

  • Will Forte, Gina Rodriguez, Tracy Morgan Lend Voices to New ‘Scooby’ Movie

    Will Forte, Gina Rodriguez, Tracy Morgan Lend Voices to New ‘Scooby’ Movie

    Hanna-Barbera

    A new animated Scooby-Doo movie is getting (mostly) all-new voice talent: “SNL” alum Will Forte will play snack-loving Shaggy and Gina Rodriguez (“Jane the Virgin”) will play brainy skeptic Velma.

    Frank Welker, who’s been voicing ascot-sporting Fred since 1969 and Scooby-Doo since 2002, will return to voice the classic characters.

    No one has been announced to voice ditzy Daphne. Grey Griffin (aka Grey DeLisle) has been voicing her since 2000.

    Tracy Morgan will play Captain Caveman, who’s appeared in other Hanna Barbera cartoons, but not the original “Scooby-Doo.” The premise of the movie: The Scooby Gang join forces with other Hanna-Barbera characters to save the world from Dick Dastardly.

    Over the years, the Mystery Inc. crew has had crossovers with everyone from Batman and Robin to the Harlem Globetrotters.

    If you somehow missed the howlingly funny “Supernatural” crossover ep, “Scooby-Natural,” it’s on Dailymotion.

    “Scooby” is set for a May 2020 release.

    [Via THR]

  • ‘What Men Want’ Review: Taraji Deserves Better

    ‘What Men Want’ Review: Taraji Deserves Better

    Paramount

    In 2000’s “What Women Want” it might have been snarkily revolutionary, if way late even then, to suggest that members of the so-called “fairer sex” are complex, fierce and formidable. But 20 years and a gender-swapped premise later, “What Men Want” advances a depressing argument that guys are with few exceptions as competitive, sexist and simple-minded as they always were — but now, women are evidently changing to become more like them. Taraji P. Henson’s fearlessly committed performance almost rescues this story of a desperately ambitious woman gifted with the ability to hear men’s innermost impulses, but director Adam Shankman’s predilection for the broadest and dumbest possible execution of any given idea undercuts any comedic bite, genuine insight or emotional resonance the film potentially had.

    Henson (“Hidden Figures”) plays Alison “Ali” Davis, an Atlanta sports agent growing increasingly tired of white, male colleagues getting praised and promoted while her own accomplishments are repeatedly undermined and disregarded. But while cutting loose at her friend’s bachelorette party, Ali drinks some funky tea given to her by a fortune teller named Sister (Erykah Badu) and ends up hitting her head, gaining the ability to hear her male colleagues’ thoughts. But after being promised the opportunity to make partner if she signs Jamal Barry (Shane Paul McGhie), the next basketball superstar, Ali discloses these newfound abilities to her long-suffering assistant Brandon (Josh Brener) and hatches a plan to outwit her competitors.

    Unfortunately, Jamal’s future is being carefully controlled by his unpredictable father Joe “Dolla” (Tracy Morgan), whose thoughts reveal an unchecked id but little for Ali in the way of insights on how to win his confidence. But when Joe admits that he’s put off by Ali’s workaholic independence, she unwittingly enlists a recent one-night stand, Will (Aldis Hodge), and his six-year-old son Ben (Auston Jon Moore) to pretend to be her family in the hopes of scoring Jamal’s highly-coveted contract.

    Paramount

    Even before the first male thought is revealed on screen by writers Tina Gordon (“ATL,” “Drumline”) and Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory (shared alumni of “Veep,” “Frasier” and “The Larry Sanders Show”), the prospect of what little there is to be learned from that inner monologue feels like a joke whose punchline we already know. Consequently, the only revelations that Ali discovers are that (a) her colleagues are keeping her out of the loop, and (b) when she muscles her way back in, they know better how to strategize, coddle and outmaneuver fragile egos, both male and female, than she does. Though the panorama of perspectives that she soon becomes aware of occasionally includes an amusing non sequitur or unexpected earwig, most of those voices are effectively confirming not just what she already knows about her bullying, sexist colleagues, but what we (the audience) do as well.

    What eventually becomes more of a priority to those screenwriters and Shankman as director is both empowering Ali and reminding her that in the boy’s club she desperately wants to be a part of, it’s  better to be a woman who is not beholden to their expectations. But this unfortunately requires the character to shuffle through some painful rom-com cliches where Henson has to battle her way through some embarrassing, not especially funny scenarios, and eventually Ali learns life lessons at the expense of people she cares about the most. Thankfully, and in spite of the schizophrenic pendulum-swing of the main character’s behavior, the supporting cast strikes a comfortable equilibrium between the story’s sillier and more serious elements: Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs”), Phoebe Robinson (“I Love Dick”) and Tamala Jones (“Castle”) play Ali’s chorus of hilarious, exasperated BFFs, while Max Greenfield (“New Girl”), and Richard Roundtree (“Shaft”), as a work colleague and Ali’s father, respectively, supply some real talk about men (or at least themselves) that doesn’t require mind-reading.

    Though Hodge plays a charming, convincingly saintly alternative to most of the rest of the men in Ali’s life, and Brener’s Brandon provides her with a suitably anxious sounding board-slash-Jiminy Cricket to fret over each new morally dubious gambit, the movie’s secret weapon is Badu, who defies its worn-out conventions and embraces the ethereal (and ridiculous) extremes of its premise. But even built on the sad continuing reality of disproportionate opportunities and pay between men and women (much less women of color), Henson’s flailing, frustrated character exposes few new truths about her male counterparts, and the movie as a whole says a lot less about gender disparities or the business world than it thinks. Ultimately, “What Men Want” showcases the kind of mainstream, multiracial comedies that audiences seem to want, but as a vehicle for a talented, hard-working performer like Henson to lead, it’s less than she deserves.

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  • Taraji P. Henson Knows ‘What Men Want’ in First Trailer

    Taraji P. Henson Knows ‘What Men Want’ in First Trailer

    what men want
    Paramount

    Careful what you wish for! In the first trailer for “What Men Want,” Taraji P. Henson’s about to plunge into a hellscape of toxic masculinity.

    The movie is a gender-swapped version of the 2000 film “What Women Want,” starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. In the new take, Henson plays a frustrated sports agent who’s tired of hitting the glass ceiling.

    After missing out on yet another promotion, she drinks some magical tea and suddenly she can hear the thoughts of all men. And surprise! They’re all sexist and condescending! Except for the ones that are just dumb and clueless! Wheeee!

    It’s interesting to see this premise swapped. In the original, Gibson’s character became more empathetic and sensitive. Not sure what Henson is supposed to learn in this one, except how to bro down and fail your way up the corporate ladder.

    “What Men Want” also stars Tracy Morgan, Richard Roundtree, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Josh Brener, Tamala Jones, Phoebe Robinson, Max Greenfield, Jason Jones, Brian Bosworth, Chris Witaske, and Erykah Badu.

    It opens in theaters January 11.

  • Tracy Morgan and Luke Wilson Team Up to Star in ‘The Sh*theads’

    'Death At A Funeral' Los Angeles Premiere - ArrivalsTwo comedy heavy hitters are joining forces.

    Tracy Morgan and Luke Wilson are set to star together in the upcoming film “The Sh*theads,” Deadline reports. Not surprisingly, the project is a comedy flick. It is described as “‘The Last Detail’ by way of Bret Easton Ellis.”

    For those unfamiliar, “The Last Detail” is a 1973 profanity-laced comedy-drama that follows two Navy men (Jack Nicholson and Otis Young) as they are charged with bringing a young sailor (Randy Quaid) to a military prison. “The Sh*theads” takes some of the elements of the story and also makes changes. The film will instead center on an incompetent duo hired to get a teenage millionaire to rehab.

    With decades of comedy between them, Morgan and Wilson seem like a great fit for the comedy. Morgan is known for projects like the buddy cop film “Cop Out,” “The Tracy Morgan Show,” “30 Rock,” and more. Wilson has stayed busy as well, starring in a variety of films, including “Concussion,” “The Ridiculous 6,” and “Old School,” among others.

    The project comes from writer-director Macon Blair, who helmed the prize-winning film “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore.” His work also includes “Blue Ruin,” “Green Room,” and the upcoming “Small Crimes.”

    [via: Deadline]

  • Ice Cube Says ‘Puppies’ With Mean Face and It’s Kind of Scary

     

    Ice Cube from Fist Fight
    Ice Cube from Fist Fight

    Ice Cube can make anything sound like it’s the last words you’ll ever hear.

    Words like “puppies.”

    Don’t believe it? Made in Hollywood reporter Patrick Stinson put it to the test, asking the star of “Fist Fight” to say nice things with a mean face.

    Check it out:

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  • 15 Times Tracy Jordan From ’30 Rock’ Got Us Pregnant With Laughter

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    30 Rock,” so, for his birthday, we thought there’d be no better way to honor him than with a compendium of his best quotes from the show.

    Here are 15 Tracy Jordan quotes that took us behind the middle school and got us pregnant with laughter.

  • Tracy Morgan Is Back (to Get Everyone Pregnant) in Hilarious New SNL Promos

    He’s back! “Saturday Night Live” this weekend (October 17), and in a series of new promos with Bobby Moynihan, Tracy shows his memory and comedic timing are sharper than ever.

    Tracy Morgan: “Hi, I’m Tracy Morgan and I’m hosting Saturday Night Live’s season finale this week with musical guest Demi Lovato.”

    Bobby Moynihan: “Oh, no, Tracy, this is not the season finale.”

    Tracy: “Oh it will be after I’m done with it.”

    He also pretends he doesn’t remember working there, then laughs and says he’s just messing with Bobby:

    Tracy: “I remember everything. Yeah, I remember you owe me $72.”

    Bobby: “Are you sure?

    Tracy: “It might’ve been $78.”

    Each take is gold. It is good to see him doing so well after that car accident, which took the life of his close friend. We should all keep clapping as much as Bobby, since this easily could’ve had a much darker ending. Instead, Tracy is going to get everyone in that building pregnant! That’s the plan anyway. Watch and love:


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  • Tracy Morgan Cast in ‘Fist Fight’ as First Project Announced Since Injury

    Tracy Morgan
    Tracy Morgan

    After making a surprise appearance onstage at the Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday since suffering an injury last year, Tracy Morgan’s first project has been announced – the forthcoming comedy “Fist Fight.”

    According to Deadline, the former “30 Rock” star will be featured alongside Charlie Day and Ice Cube in a role that has not yet been revealed. Dennis Haysbert and JoAnna Garcia Swisher are also expected to join the cast.

    The comedy follows Day as a mild-mannered English teacher who brawls with a fellow teacher (Cube) one day after school.

    “Fist Fight” is a return to acting for Morgan, who was critically injured in June 2014 after a Walmart semi struck his limousine in New Jersey. Comedian James “Jimmy Mack” McNair, a friend, died in the crash. Morgan received an undisclosed settlement in the matter.

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