I noticed this TV movie listed as being rated three stars, and starring one of my favourite African American actresses, and a good sounding actor playing the lovable yuletide hero, so I decided to watch. Basically when she was a little girl, Lucy Cullins had a big belief in the magic of Christmas, and sitting on the lap of a Santa Claus (Nigel Hawthorne) she wears his hat which glows and proves he is the chosen one to have Christmas spirit. While there she also asked as a Christmas present for her father, fighting in Vietnam, to return home, but instead he is brought home in a coffin. Years later, Lucy (Whoopi Goldberg, also producing) is grown up and is the network executive and producer of the home consumer "Shop-A-Lot" Channel, with a grumpy attitude with no real Christmas spirit and not paying much attention to her family. Her boss Cameron (Brian Stokes Mitchell) wants to boost the sales for the shopping channel during the holiday season approaching, so he wants to hire a Santa Claus to advertise the festive merchandise, so auditions are held with no successful applicants. Then they spot the man calling himself Nick (still Hawthorne), with a jolly attitude, a love for Christmas, and a real heartwarming charm, so he is hired. Within minutes of his debut on the channel, he is an instant hit helping to bring in big numbers of sales, more than any of the other networks, but he has another agenda than just making money. Nick has an awkward friendship with Lucy, and he tries to convince her that he is not only the same Santa she saw in the mall years ago, but that he is the real Santa, and he has an important job for her. After convincing her he really is Santa Claus with a trip to the North Pole and the workshop with all the elves, Mrs. Claus, the reindeer and the sleigh, Lucy is then told that she is destined to be the next Santa. Nick explains that every Santa since the 2nd Century reigns as the man that delivers presents worldwide (with the help of the space time continuum) for 200 years until another person with Christmas spirit is found, and she is that person. If Lucy doesn't put on his hat once again, embrace the spirit of Christmas and become the new Santa Claus, there will come the "Or Else Factor", where the giant flood Noah's Ark went through will happen again. She is unconvinced and is made to believe everything was a dream to go back to normal, and Nick makes his final broadcast on the shopping channel, Christmas Eve, and leaving to go back to the North Pole he can only leave a note to say "it's not too late". Realising her boss was only interested in making money and wanted to "oen Christmas", Lucy runs home and finds the note left by Nick, and that is when she decides to try the Santa hat on and create the glow of the Christmas spirit again. She has now truly become the new Santa Claus, she is picked up by Nick and main elf Ralph (Taylor Negron) to be transformed into a Santa figure with the red suit and whitened hair, and of course being Christmas Eve start delivering all the presents. After a few deliveries they make a pit stop so Lucy can see her niece perform in the choir with a solo on stage, make her peace with her mother (Melody Garrett) and brother Dwayne (White Chicks' Frankie R. Faison), and with Nick still in tow flying away as as Santa. Also starring Titanic's Victor Garber as Taylor and Total Recall's Robert Costanzo as Teamster Santa. Goldberg with her sharp-tongued schtick makes her a different approach to an originally Scrooge like character transformed by Christmas cheer, and Hawthorne is a perfect choice as Santa Claus with his Christmassy charm and good nature. Being made for TV I was worried it would be very cheesy with cheap special effects and corny performances, but actually it works really well, it does admittedly have a hard to swallow final few minutes, but overall, a nice seasonal comedy. Worth watching!

I loved this movie and of course I had and still have a major thing for the late Nigel Hawthorne who is so charming and handsome even at 72 in this film. His portrayal of Santa Claus is so genuine and heartfelt , you really just want to hug him. The plot of him looking for someone to replace him as the new Santa is cute. He finds Whoopi Goldberg and he must convince her that she is the one. . I'm shocked that this movie did not get a theatrical release ,while a movie as awful as ELF with the abysmal Will Ferrell did. It's kind of sad to know that Nigel Hawthorne had been fighting cancer for months and still did this movie as sick as he was. Without Hawthorne this movie wouldn't have been worth watching.He pushed to promote it and get it released and then he sadly passed away the day after Xmas that year. Wonderful movie and should be given a re-release at Xmas time in theaters.

Call Me Claus is an excellent movie!Whoopi Goldberg is so cool! She is an excellent actor. I have to say this... You know the little girl who calls Nigel Hawthorne (Santa)? That's me! And I'm not joking either. I remember recording my voice for that! It was so fun! I was like six. Check back soon under cast and crew; Brian Bird (my dad) will add me on after he completes the Last Sin Eater (AWESOME MOVIE). Anyway, back to Call Me Claus... The first time I watched it, I cried because I was so touched. All of my classes have seen the movie (I brought it in) and they all thought it was AMAZING!!! Oh yeah... Call Me Claus was Nigel Hawthorne's last movie... :( Bummer, huh?

The movie starts out slowly, but, gently evolves into a tale of overcoming past pain and disappointment. As with most Christmas stories the premise is sort of limited but has a great ending. Destined to become a classic, in my humble opinion.