'The Santa Clause' premiered today in 1994, kicking off some wild conspiracy theories

“The Santa Clause” has become a perennial Christmas favorite since its debut on November 11 in 1994. But over time, fans have run some deep analysis on the family friendly comedy that might just blow your mind.

The movie, as we know it, stars Tim Allen as Scott Calvin, a workaholic marking director at a toy company who plans to spend Christmas Eve with his son, Charlie.

That night, they awake to such a clatter and discover Santa on their roof. Scott startles Santa and he falls from the roof to his apparent death and vanishes, leaving behind his suit and instructions for Scott to get dressed and follow the reindeer’s lead—aka, the titular “Santa Clause.”

After some magical shenanigans and a physical transformation, Scott eventually becomes the new Santa, beloved by all for delivering presents.

We admit, when you look back at the initial premise, it’s pretty dark to begin with, what with Santa falling off a roof to his untimely death ON Christmas Eve. But the movie ends up being such a charmer, we’re happy to go along for the magical ride.

Most of us that is.

Since its premiere over 30 years ago, fans and conspiracy theorists alike have put together some interesting theories about what happened that fateful Christmas Eve when Scott Calvin met Santa.

THEORY #1: SANTA FAKED HIS OWN DEATH

On Reddit, one person theorized that the original Santa Claus we see in the movie was actually tired of his job (and maybe even hated it) and began doing it poorly. They think because Charlie’s mom (and Scott’s ex-wife) Laura and her new husband, Neil, never received their presents as kids, the original Santa was slacking.

So, because he was over the job, he purposefully drew attention to himself on Christmas Eve at Scott’s house and, after his fall, took the opportunity to disappear. The Redditor speculated he and his Mrs. Claus are happily retired somewhere, or, in a darker turn, the OG Santa is a widower who wanted to get away from the painful reminders of his dead wife. For this theory, we vote happy retirement.

THEORY #2: IT WAS AN INSIDE JOB

Tied to the “Santa Faked His Own Death” theory is the idea that the whole thing was planned by the elves, who were taking note of the poor job the previous Santa was doing. Their evidence is the fact that when Scott arrives at the North Pole wearing Santa’s suit, none of the elves seem bothered by the change.

They believe that the elves, led by Bernard, were fed up with Santa but because you can’t exactly fire Santa or hire a replacement, they had to go to extreme measures, finding a way to MAKE him fall off that roof. After all, an experienced Santa wouldn’t be that easily startled and clumsy, would he?

THEORY #3: SCOTT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BECOME SANTA CLAUS

Was it chance that Santa fell off Scott’s roof? Or was it destiny?

According to one Redditor, Scott was chosen by the Council of Legendary Figures (as seen in “The Santa Clause” sequels). Father Time himself, played by the late Peter Boyle, went to a company and posed as an executive to scout for the next Santa, and that happened to be Scott. They even noted that Bernard makes it seem like Scott being Santa is a done deal.

We actually get confirmation of a version of this theory in the Disney+ series “The Santa Clauses,” when Scott is shown by Bernard that he was chosen to become Santa because of his giving spirit as a child, and the various clauses were created to help lead him to the job all along.

THEORY #4: THE ELVES ARE INTO SOME DARK STUFF (SERIOUSLY)

If you believed the elves were capable of orchestrating the death of Santa for their own ends, then this next theory might not be as much of a stretch for you as it is for us.

A conspiracy theorist on X (formerly Twitter) is convinced that the elves are engaging in cannibalism.

HUH?

Their evidence is that the elves are incredibly casual about the death of Santa, not to mention the alleged hundreds of missing elves over the centuries who simply disappear, even between movies, and are never heard from or referenced again.

There’s also the question of the Mrs. Clauses over the years. In “The Santa Clause 2,” Scott has to find a Mrs. Claus in time for Christmas, which head elf Bernard mentions is a first in over 900 years. So the X user speculates that all the past Santas must have already been married, bringing up the question: When those men stopped being Santa, what happened to their wives?

The dark answer, in their opinion, is that “The elves are clearly baking women (& possibly children) in their oven, then using the bodies to make ceremonial cocoa, which they then feed to future Santas.”

This one isA LOT. If we have to go with any of the theories, maybe it’s just the one where Scott was meant to be Santa all along.