Tim Allen’s joke about “Merry Christmas” being offensive in the Disney Plus series The Santa Clauses has caused social media users to go into a frenzy.
This comes after the line was described as “problematic.”
Scroll on to find out more…
Now, Tim Allen is probably best known for playing Tim “The Toolman” Taylor in ABC’s Home Improvement from 1991 to 1999.
But he’s also appeared in many of our favorite childhood classics.
From the hit movie Galaxy Quest in 1999 to The Shaggy Dog in 2006, his range as an actor holds no bounds.
But in recent years Allen was recognized best for his voice work.
You’ll more than likely know that Allen voiced Buzz Lightyear for the Toy Story franchise.
He first began playing Buzz back in 1995 for the original movie, as well as for the sequel films.
He even took on a whopping fifteen side projects, including video games and short films for the character.
He really is the only one who could play Buzz.
However, sadly times change, and Chris Evans took on the mantle of playing Buzz in the new Lightyear movie this year.
The movie, which now stars Chris Evans as the new Buzz Lightyear, managed to disappoint a lot of fans.
“Saw the trailer for Buzz Lightyear and all I can say is Disney/Pixar made a HUGE mistake in not casting my pal Tim Allen in the role,” wrote one fan on Twitter.
While Allen had been fairly quiet about the new movie, he recently opened up.
And it seems he’s not impressed.
Allen didn’t hold back in sharing his disappointment.
During an interview with Extra, he revealed why he removed himself from discussing the new movie at the start…
“The short answer is I’ve stayed out of this ’cause it has nothing to do [with my character],” Allen told the media outlet at the time.
The actor even confessed that the new movie “has nothing to do with the first movies.”
“There’s really no ‘Toy Story’ Buzz without Woody,” he told Huffington Post while talking about the cowboy toy character voiced by Tom Hanks.
Allen then went on to mention that he “enjoys films with a major plot” and unfortunately Lightyear “lacked a big adventure.”
“It just seems kind of… I don’t know. There’s no connection. I just wish there was a better connection [to the toy],” the actor concluded.
And Allen wasn’t the only Toy Story actor to enter the conversation.
Tom Hanks also had his say.
At the time, Hanks was starring in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis.
And so he was asked by reporters if it was “strange to be in theatres opposite a Buzz Lightyear film.”
To that, Hanks replied:
“How about that? I actually wanted to go head-to-head with Tim Allen and then they didn’t let Tim Allen do it. I don’t understand that.”
“Here’s the thing,” he continued.
“Just as long as people come back to the motion picture theater. I want to go back in the theatre with a bunch of strangers and leave with something in common. That’s what I want to do and, going to see a movie with [Allen] – I’m looking forward to that.”
Well, it seems that Allen will be returning to our screens once again, even if it isn’t as the plastic spaceman we all know and love.
Because the actor has taken on a brand new project, which will be his first in a whopping fifteen years.
And fans are ecstatic that he’s making a comeback after so many years.
Many took to social media to share their thoughts on his big on-screen return.
One fan wrote: “I can’t wait to watch this, me and my niece loved watching them through Christmas as she grew up, 21 now and we still watch them just different houses now.”
“I LOVE that he’s back in it. But, why’d they make him look like a plastic Santa?” another added about his appearance in the new role.
A third chimed: “Oh my goodness… I’m actually sooo excited.”
While a fourth fan simply wrote: “He’s back!!”
That’s right, Allen is returning as Santa Claus in The Santa Clauses for a new Disney+ series.
Allen’s Santa Claus is back with some brand new challenges to take on.
Not only does he have to save the spirit of Christmas from being forgotten in the modern day…
He also has to single-handedly keep the magic alive as his retirement doesn’t exactly go to plan.
Luckily, he does have the help of a few familiar faces…
David Krumholt is also set to come back as elf Bernard, as well as Elizabeth Mitchell who plays Santa Claus’ wife, and Eric Lloyd, as Scott’s now-adult son, Charlie.
The official synopsis reads:
“Scott Calvin is back! After being Santa Claus for nearly thirty years, he’s as jolly as ever. But as Christmas declines in popularity, so does his Santa magic.
“Scott struggles to keep up with the demands of the job, as well as being there for his family.
“Upon discovering there is a way to retire from his post, Scott considers stepping down as Santa Claus and finding a worthy successor so that he can become a better father and husband.”
The Santa Clauses series is set to come out weekly on Disney+, with the first 2 episodes debuting on November 16.
You can watch the trailer here.
But a debate has been sparked online over a line that was included in the series.
LADbible reports that the first 2 episodes landed on Disney Plus on 16 November but one particular line has managed to cause a stir online.
The line caught the eye of a filmmaker, Scott Weinberg, who was the first to mock it on social media.
“’Saying “Merry Christmas to all” has suddenly become problematic!’— actual dialogue from the new Disney+ Santa Clause series starring Tim Allen,” Weinberg wrote
Social media users were quick to respond to Weinberg’s comment.
One user wrote: “What kills me with people being so up in arms about the phrase ‘Happy Holidays’ is that a song with that title came out in 1942 and has been popular ever since.”
“Number of people I’ve seen take offense to ‘Merry Christmas,’” added another.
A third chimed: “What’s this ‘War on Christmas’ nonsense doing in my Disney Santa movie?”
During a recent interview with Deadline, The Santa Clauses creator Jack Burditt was questioned about the inclusion of the line.
When asked if the team went “back and forth” on the piece of dialogue, Burditt replied: “Yeah, we did. This is something that I just think is silly but then I’m like, I don’t know… I mean, look, we also had a joke at one point where Santa is on his rounds, they’re going in for a landing and somebody’s shooting something up at him.
“And Noel the elf says something like, ‘A war on Christmas!’ I’m like, yeah, I don’t wanna go that far.”
What do you think?