Kurt Russell Channeled Music Man Into Christmas Chronicles 2

In Chris Columbus’ holiday musical “The Christmas Chronicles 2,” Kurt Russell plays Santa Claus, a jolly tough guy living in connubial bliss with Mrs. Claus (Goldie Hawn) at the North Pole. The film reunites Santa with Kate (Darby Camp) and Jack (Jahzir Bruno), the stars from the first film. While they visit the cozy Claus home, a bitter ex-elf named Belsnickel (Julian Dennison) attempts to steal a magical Christmas Tree Star from Santa’s village, throwing the future of Christmas into question. Santa, you see, needs the star to freeze time on Christmas night and provide the power needed to keep his village running. It will be up to the kids and the Clauses to recruit the help of Turkish forest elves (represented by Malcolm McDowell) and retrieve the stolen star. 

The film has a notable scene in an airport where Russell got to sing a huge soul number called “The Spirit of Christmas” with the legendary Darlene Love and Steven Van Zandt’s Disciples of Soul. Those are impressive gets for a Netflix Christmas musical sequel. 

When Columbus made “The Christmas Chronicles 2” in 2020, he spoke with Entertainment Weekly about shooting the airport musical sequence and shared details about some of the scene’s technical aspects. Like any musical, Russell shot the scene with a recording, using vocal tracks that he had laid down before the fact. Columbus recalled recording the music with Russell, and the discussions they had about how one performs a Santa Claus singing voice. One might picture the voice of Burl Ives in their heads or Thurl Ravenscroft. Russell could do a decent Elvis Presley (he played the star in a 1979 TV movie and an Elvis impersonator in “3000 Miles to Graceland”). He and Columbus, however, blended Elvis with another unexpected source: “The Music Man.”

Russell’s Elvis impersonation came in handy in the first “Christmas Chronicles,” as his vocals were supposed to sound a little bit like the King. This time around, however, a big soul number required something a little different. Columbus said: 

“In the studio, there were times when Kurt was curious about what I was looking for in terms of Santa Claus’s performance. I said, ‘In the first movie, we wanted more of an Elvis’s performance. This particular musical number has to be more of Kurt Russell’s version of Santa Claus.'”

And what did that sound like, the more Russell version of Santa Claus? Russell knew that he had to bring a little bit more soul, but also a little bit more Broadway-style pizzazz. When Russell suggested that he perform his musical number more like in “The Music Man,” Columbus was surprised, saying: 

“I was a little taken aback by that. […] But if you watch the film and you know that, there are moments where it’s kind of ‘The Music Man’ meets Elvis meets Steven Van Zandt.”

“The Music Man,” of course, debuted on Broadway in 1957 and was adapted into a popular film in 1962. It’s a show about a charismatic con man who convinces the locals of River City, Iowa, that the presence of a pool in their town will cause an increase in iniquity, and the only solution is to buy his hundreds of instruments … which he doesn’t have yet. It’s a classic, brassy show full of demonstrative performances. 

Elvis was no problem, have Steve Van Zandt’s band dictated a certain vocal. The addition of “The Music Man” into the mix, however, was an unexpectedly effective wrinkle.