Was Scott Clavin preselected as the new Santa?

good post!

1. I think that Scott having the same initials as Santa is coincidental.
**EDIT**
I don't know what I was thinking when I first posted. I think that Santa and Scott having the same initials was done on purpose by Santa.

2. Maybe he'd already delivered the presents
3. True. I think that wave was a "good luck" type of thing.
4. It could be your answer or maybe they're so used to a "new" Santa that they don't worry. Or they've already been prepared.
5. Yeah, I think the elves that we don't notice in the beginning are foreshadows of Scott's future as Santa. Also, they may have been sent to scout future Santas.

Overall, I think that maybe he was pre-selected. I've never really thought about it before. But, perhaps the elves and Bernard scout for new Santas; people who might be good for the job or people who might really need the job like Scott. He needed to become Santa so that his relationship with Charlie would change.


"Do you even remember what you came here to find?"

I agree. Like he said in the third one, it's something that chooses you. That could have been the previous Santa's first stop.

Clavin?

I definitely think it was predestined. Here are my reasons:

If you saw the third movie, when Jack Frost stole Santa's coat, Scott went back to what his "normal" life would have been if he had never been Santa. It's possible then, that the original Santa from SC1 had the same fate.

Also in the third movie, when Scott stops Jack Frost, he says, "Santa isn't something you can take, it's something that chooses you". This seems to imply that Scott was specifically chosen to be Santa and that Santa falling off his particular roof wasn't a random happenstance.

Back to the original film, Scott and Charlie come out of the house because they hear a lot of noise on the roof. Wouldn't a seasoned Santa Claus know how to quietly get on and off of the roof without making noise? It's almost like he wanted Scott to come out, see him and "scare" him into falling off the roof.

There is also the issue of the elves that show up in the beginning (At Denny's for example). This is before Santa falls off Scott's roof. Why are they keeping tabs on Scott who, at that point, was a nobody?

Later, when Scott gets to the North Pole for the first time, there is no mourning and no surprise from any of the elves. They all act like they expected it and are all prepared to bring him up to speed when he shows up.

So, my theory is that the first Santa Claus felt he was ready to retire and, after talking it over with the elves, specifically chose Scott to be his successor, came up with the plan to land on Scott's roof, attract his attention and fall off the roof thereby letting Scott take over. He then went back to a non-Santa life and lived the rest of his days in quite retirement.