Disney teases new photo of Santa Clause series … without Bernard the Hot Elf

ICYMI: Disney will make a television show that is based on the Christmas classic. Santa ClauseThe sequels. Disney Plus, also known as Santa ClausesScott Calvin will return to his 65th year, played by Tim Allen. He realizes that he can’t keep up this Santa Clause schtick forever, so he sets out to find a replacement. The first glimpse of the series was revealed by Disney via Twitter.

There’s a lot going on here: Santa in a button-up, Kal Penn, Station Eleven’s Matilda Lawler. But it’s what missing that caught our eye: A distinct lack of Bernard the Hot Elf in this promotional image! Justice for Bernard

For those not familiar, Bernard the Hot Elf is actually Bernard the Head Elf, as played by David Krumholtz in 1994’s The Santa Clause and the 2002 sequel. He’s the elf who shows Tim Allen’s Scott Calvin around — and more importantly for the purposes of this article, inspired young childhood crushes everywhere. Did it have to do with the gorgeous brown eyes? Beautiful curly hair New York accent that is inexplicable

“Perhaps I had a swagger when I was 16 years old,” Krumholtz said to Vulture in an interview.

Now, by the logic of the Santa Clause movies, it probably doesn’t make sense for Krumholtz, who is now 44, to reprise the role. The Christmas elves in the Santa Clause trilogy appear as children, even though they’re hundreds of years old. Although the showrunners did manage to figure out why Bernard was made a 44 year-old man by the end of the episode, it is not enough. Krumholtz may still be alive. wantsHe will be reprising his role. Vulture asked him why he didn’t go to the third film. He explained that he did so because of scheduling conflicts and partly because the script felt demeaning.

Alas, Bernard doesn’t seem to be involved in The Santa Clauses — At least, this promotional image does not show it. Elizabeth Mitchell, aka Carol, returns to the cast. Kal PennHarold and Kumar fame, meanwhile, joins as Simon Choksi, a game inventor with aspirations to become the next Jeff Bezos — who may become the next Santa instead. It will air later in the year.