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Learning the true meaning of Christmas takes multiple tries. Each year, you can try to get it right but let's be honest. We've all seen Groundhog Day. What did we learn from the comedic hijinks of Bill Murray? It's impossible to do something perfectly on the first try. The key to success, then, is to get off the floor, wipe off the dirt, flick away the ants, get back on top and keep trying until you are ultimately satisfied with the results. And what I have described here doesn't just apply to picnic sex.

Taking all of this into consideration, we can't really blame Disney for being so passionately driven to do The Santa Clause just right. Now, I'm certain some of you skeptics think that the kind folks at Buena Vista Pictures are simply milking the cash cow until the udders fall off and the cow is forcibly matriculated into Bovine University. Shame on you, cynics! Disney would never do something that mercenary when it comes to family classics and if you don't believe me, just ask Roy Disney...err, better make that Michael Eisner.

Okay, enough beating around the bush. There is going to be a Santa Clause 3 and there is not a damn thing you can do about it. If you don't like it, move to Amish country and celebrate a new lifestyle of churned butter and limited fashion decision making. If you instead choose to be rational about it, the reason that a third film in the franchise is in the offing is quite basic. Merely consider that the first two projects combined for worldwide receipts in excess of $360 million. That's a lot of yuletide joy.

Now, if you are the polar opposite of a cynic, you are probably exactly the sort of naive fool Disney preys upon...err, caters to demographically. In that case, you have probably taken time away from a busy afternoon of knitting while watching Saved by the Bell re-runs, and you are wondering about plot details and the like. The bad news I have for you at this moment is that Disney hasn't considered picky details like a shooting script to be important at this point. All that matters this much before production starts is that the studio has scheduled the $150 million cash flow for that quarter of the 2005 fiscal year.

Of course, the bitter irony here is that there actually is a third Tim Allen franchise released through Disney distribution we would like to see, Toy Story 3: The Search for Spock. Alas, it is not going to be happening any time soon due to the recently settled Disney/Pixar turmoil. In the immortal words of the Malcolm in the Middle theme song, life is unfaiiiiiiir. (David Mumpower/BOP)

Vital statistics for The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause Main Cast Tim Allen, Martin Short, Ann-Margret Director Michael Lembeck Screenwriter Ed Decter, John Strauss Distributor Walt Disney Pictures Trailer Click Here for Trailer Official Site http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/santaclause3/index.html Rating G Screen Count 3,458 Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture

Comparison films for The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
Title	Date	Opening	Adjusted Opening	Screens	PSA	Adj PSA	Total BO	Adjusted Total	Mult
Elf	11/7/03	31.11	31.11	3337	9324.00	9324.0	173.38	173.38	0.00
Santa Clause 2, The	11/1/02	29.01	30.16	3350	8659.00	8659.0	139.23	144.75	4.80
Santa Clause, The	11/11/94	19.32	28.55	2183	8850.00	12580.9	144.83	214.04	7.50
Jingle all the Way	11/22/96	12.11	16.52	2401	5044.00	6618.8	60.59	82.66	5.00