One of the children in Charlie's class during Parents Day is an elf with pointed ears, which can be clearly seen when Charlie pulls the snow globe out of his backpack. When Charlie tells the class that his dad is Santa Claus, the elf boy is the only one who doesn't laugh.

For one week in November 1994, Tim Allen had the #1 movie at the box office, the #1 rated television show (Home Improvement (1991)), and the #1 New York Times best-selling book ("Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man").

First lead film role for Tim Allen.

The dance that Tim Allen, Eric Lloyd, David Krumholtz, Paige Tamada, and the other elves do, to ZZ Top's "Gimme All Your Lovin" during the montage before Scott's second Christmas Eve as Santa was improvised and done in one take. The director kept it because it was so good.

There are several portraits of (presumably) past Santas on the wall of Santa's bedroom. This shows that this is not the first time that the reins have changed hands, confirming the film's main plot point.

Continuity

At the end, when Laura burns the custody papers, the fire is burning. In the next shot of the fireplace, the fire is out.

In the opening of the movie, the car is alternately clear of snow and ice, then frosted over between shots.

During the Santa Claus lineup at the police station, the Santas are instructed to turn to their right. But when the camera cuts back to Laura, the reflection on the glass shows the Santas all still facing front.

When Scott is at the North Pole for the first time, he is given a cookie. As Bernard talks about the card and reads it, the cookie is alternately bitten/whole with Scott never having taken a bite.

Santa's boots often change color and style between shots. At least once, he's wearing sneakers instead of boots.



Factual errors

When the firefighter is addressing Charlie's class, the teacher says that they're all sorry about his partner. Firefighters don't have partners. Police officers often have a partner with who they work, but firefighters work in larger teams.

During career day fireman O'Hara says that nothing is more painful than a 3rd degree burn, but that is false because 3rd degree burns cause nerve damage so no pain would be felt.

Neal states that Santa didn't bring him a "Wienie Whistle" for Christmas and Scott/Santa brings him one, along with the other gifts he drops by parachute. The Oscar Mayer "Wiener Whistle" was given away by "Little Oscar" from the Wienermobile" and was given away with packages of Oscar Mayer Wieners bought at grocery stores and meat markets in the early to mid '50s. Kids saw them in Oscar Mayer's TV ads, so they would know this.



Incorrectly regarded as goofs

When Charlie is telling his father about Neil's opinion on Santa Claus, Scott says that Neil is not a doctor, he is a psychiatrist. By definition a psychiatrist is a licensed medical doctor, who has not only earned a medical degree (MD), but has further specialized in the field of psychiatry. Scott knows this, but simply does not take Neil's profession seriously.

Judy mentions to Santa (Scott Calvin) when he first visits the North Pole that she is 'seeing someone in wrapping', however, none of the presents that are pulled out of Santa's sack are wrapped, which begs the question - what is the wrapping department doing? Are they understaffed? Or did Judy, with full knowledge that at the time know that Santa had no understanding of the structure of the North Pole workplace, just lie to give him the brushoff? However, Santa is only actually shown delivering presents to about three houses, thus the audience can assume certain other (unseen) presents are wrapped.

In the film's universe, Santa Claus is a real person who brings presents to children every Christmas. But throughout the film, adults express that they do not believe in Santa Claus and are shocked to discover that he's real. Although no explanation is outwardly given as to where the adults think the extra presents under their Christmas trees have been coming from, it may be that (in two-parent or multi-adult households, at least) each parent just assumes the other left the extra gifts.

The Escape clause is when Santa grabs his snow globe and wishes that he never been Santa Claus. He is taken back in time before he became Santa. Bernard says it in a way to make Scott feel guilty and to believe that The Clause contract is unbreakable. Scott says, "Well, what if I don't want to do this?" Bernard could have just showed him the room of snow globes and handed him his snow globe. Scott and Charlie would have gone back to their non-magical-normal lives. This plot point was not introduced until The Santa Clause 3, released a good 12 years after this movie. At the time, it was a one-and-done with no thought of a sequel, so the whole snow globe room didn't exist yet.

When Neil and Laura are waiting outside of the Judge's office, they talk about believing in Santa Claus. They stopped believing when one year Santa forget to give them a present they really wanted. Neil mentioned something wanting a weenie whistle when he was 3 years old. He couldn't have remembered that far back. Even if he did get one he would have choked on it because those weenie whistles are too small for toddlers. This is not entirely true. Some people do have memories that can remember that far back, plus he was three years old in, say, the 50s or 60s when choking hazards (or any kind of hazards) weren't thought about yet. Even if he was one who couldn't remember that far back, maybe his parents or an older sibling reminded him of it.



Revealing mistakes

When Santa Claus is slipping on the roof at the beginning, after he's startled by Scott, you can see that the "snow" is a piece of fabric as it folds under his feet.

Near the end of the film, as the SWAT team surrounds the house, you can see one team member slip near the front steps and the snow "buckles" revealing itself to be a blanket and not real, or even fake, snowflakes.

When Scott comes out of his first chimney as Santa, his safety guide wire is reflecting the overhead light and is visible until the shot pans back.

The very first time Scott and Charlie go to the North Pole, there is a shot of a female elf in a reindeer stall. She climbs up a step-stool, awaiting the reindeer's appearance so she can groom him. When the girl moves, a part of her left arm disappears, revealing the edge of the CGI special effects.

The light switch in the bedroom is already off when Scott turns the lights out.



Miscellaneous

If watched with closed captioning, Judy's voice comes from Scott's hat asking if he's OK while he's getting arrested. The caption shows Charlie's name instead of Judy's. This has been corrected in later releases.

Scott takes Charlie to Denny's after he burns the turkey. When they're seated at the table, however, the menus are for a different restaurant, not Denny's.



Audio/visual unsynchronized

When the E.L.F.S. Enter the police station lobby the officer hears the door open. As its closing the sound of the door latching closed can be heard but the door continues closing afterward.



Errors in geography

In two shots near the end of the movie, Scott and Charlie are flying into Chicago, but there are huge mountains on one side of the city.

The scene where Scott and Charlie pull into the Denny's parking lot a sign that says "The Beer Store" can be seen. "The Beer Store" is where people only in Ontario buy beer by the case. This film is supposed to take place in Illinois.

When Scott Calvin runs outside in his pajamas when Charlie's mom picks up Charlie, the car they pull away in has Alberta plates.

The lunar phase when Scott Calvin first goes to the North Pole is a Full Moon. The following year, the lunar phase is again a Full Moon. The Moon takes approximately 29.5 days for the Moon to return to the original phase. After 12 lunar phases, there would be 11 days before Christmas. Which means that after a Full Moon, the following year should have been a waning crescent phase.



Plot holes

When Scott/Santa is arrested, he leaves Charlie and the reindeer waiting on the roof of the Miller house. When the E.L.F.S. squad comes to the house, they find Charlie alone. The reindeer and sleigh have disappeared with no explanation whatsoever.

During Scott Calvin's first year as Santa, he visits Sarah, the little girl. She is clearly missing her two front teeth. She wants him to drink the milk but he says he is lactose intolerant. The next year she leaves him soy milk, and when she speaks she is still missing her two front teeth. All she wanted for Christmas was her two front teeth.

Towards the end of the movie, when Scott Calvin has fully become Santa, he begins to make his rounds during the following Christmas. Legend has it that Santa only comes in the middle of the night after children are asleep, with references made alluding to this early in the movie. However, at the time Santa is arrested, he is shown delivering presents in what appears to be early to mid-evening, with adults and children milling around the streets, still dressed and not in pajamas, and a fair amount of traffic on the streets.

The card in Santa's suit says that the person who finds the card has to put the suit on and the Reindeer will know what to do. However, Scott gets in the sleigh and the reindeer take off before he has put the suit on.

Despite the fact that the movie take place over 1 year, everybody looks exactly the same (hairstyles, etc.) with the exception of Scott Calvin.



Character error

When the E.L.F.S. special forces remove the jail door hinges with special tinsel and remove the door, the lock deadbolt is not extended, meaning the door was never locked. This could have been from an officer or warden neglecting to lock the door before leaving.

Bernard tells Calvin that by putting on the hat and jacket, he accepted the Santa clause. Calvin had not put on the hat, just the jacket and pants.

When Charlie and an elf show Santa a new Santa suit towards the end of the film, the elf says Santa won't have to worry about fireplaces because the suit is flame retardant. Flame retardant means the material slows the flame down, but it doesn't necessarily keep something from catching on fire whereas flame resistant means it won't catch on fire. If the suit is flame retardant, Santa would have to be very careful going down a chimney with a burning fire, not worry-free.