Critics on Twitter are expressing their anger with a line from Tim Allen’s reboot of “The Santa Clause.”
Filmmaker Scott Weinberg tweeted this week, “Saying ‘Merry Christmas to all’ has suddenly become problematic!’ — actual dialogue from the new Disney+ Santa Clause series starring Tim Allen.”
"saying 'Merry Christmas to all' has suddenly become problematic!" — actual dialogue from the new Disney+ Santa Clause series starring Tim Allen
— Philly M. Nerd (@PhillyMovieNerd) November 16, 2022
He added, “Got some really nasty jew-hate in the replies (and quote-RTs) for this tweet. not sure why, really. oh wait they don’t need a reason.”
Weinberg explained the line “just struck me as a truly weird thing to put in a kid’s series. ‘wants to stop us from saying Merry Christmas!’ is not some random campaign. it’s a low-key effort to vilify anyone who doesn’t celebrate this holiday. in a grown-up movie I’d just groan and ignore it.”
it just struck me as a truly weird thing to put in a kid's series. "<someone> wants to stop us from saying Merry Christmas!" is not some random campaign. it's a low-key effort to vilify anyone who doesn't celebrate this holiday. in a grown-up movie I'd just groan and ignore it.
— Philly M. Nerd (@PhillyMovieNerd) November 17, 2022
The line sparked strong reactions from critics.
One user tweeted, “Holy sh*t.”
Holy shit. https://t.co/wiyMK0xNVn
— Carolyn Petit (@carolynmichelle) November 17, 2022
Another tweeted, “Tim Allen definitely wrote that joke, it’s a joke that only a wrinkly old conservative could write.”
https://twitter.com/jarswag/status/1593107176905912322
One tweet argued Allen “fought to put that line in.”
I just know he fought to put that line in. https://t.co/Pj8umY6YF1
— Vincent ✈️ ^*_*^ (@heyitsvincent15) November 17, 2022
Check out more tweets below:
https://twitter.com/andy__gorman/status/1593307125157093380
https://twitter.com/meltieshouse/status/1593072891398336512
Reminder that Tim Allen pitched a fit 10 years ago because he wants to be able to say the N-word in his standup https://t.co/jqiqp9g0ny
— Brandon Moore (@indigo_15) November 16, 2022
Took this long for Disney to finally get to its War on Christmas propaganda phase https://t.co/KXYpXMLQE3
— Adam Reads A Bunch Of Comics 🏳️🌈 (@AdamNBednarczyk) November 16, 2022
Petition to hit Tim Allen with a sleigh https://t.co/T0531la0vW
— Peter Mercedes (@pmercedes83) November 17, 2022
I was disappointed to read that the new show has a focus on religion playing a bigger part of the holiday. I will not be watching. https://t.co/0jkzzqvTDf
— Sallygirl 🏳️🌈🪩🧠 (@SallyGirl) November 17, 2022
So Tim Allen got to drag his far-right nonsense into the show? https://t.co/hUOLPiM5ID
— ynfty (@rorysmith89) November 16, 2022
No amount of money could ever get me to watch this https://t.co/FjNZ4aZzUY
— Sean Holland (@sth85) November 16, 2022
The first two episodes of the reboot titled, “The Santa Clauses,” was released on Disney+ this week.
According to the series description, “After nearly three decades of being Santa Claus, Scott Calvin’s magic begins to falter. As he struggles to keep up with the demands of the job, Scott discovers a new clause that forces him to re-think his role as Santa and as a father.”
Last month, Allen angered critics on Twitter after asking a question about “wokees,” as IJR reported.
“Who is the face of woke. Do wokees have a club house in someone’s backyard or maybe a cute yet safe playpen somewhere?” he asked.
Allen also received criticism after making a joke about President Joe Biden’s “60 Minutes” interview in September.