- “In putting on the suit and entering the sleigh, the wearer waives any and all right to any previous identity, real or implied, and fully accepts the duties and responsibilities of Santa Claus, in perpetuity to which some time the wearer becomes unable to do so, by either accident or design.”
- ―Bernard
Bernard is an elf and one of the main protagonists of Disney's 1994 film The Santa Clause and its first sequel.
Personality[]
Bernard is a stickler for getting things done that are necessary. He can tend to be very grumpy and less cheerful than the other elves, but he acts how he does to keep the other elves working. Being the head-elf (or arch-elf), he has the responsibility of looking after the workshop and the other elves.
Appearances[]
The Santa Clause[]
When Bernard realizes that Santa Claus has died and has been replaced, he waits for the new Santa, Scott Calvin, to arrive. When Scott arrives with his son Charlie, he introduced himself as the head elf, Bernard explains that Scott has assumed the duties of Santa Claus by putting on Santa's suit, which he proves by showing a clause written on the former Santa's business card. Though Scott immediately denies this, Bernard explains that Scott will have until Thanksgiving to get his affairs in order before returning to become Santa full-time. Bernard also bonds with Charlie, giving him a snow globe (while also calling him "sport" as Scott does). Charlie thanks Bernard for the snow globe and promises to take good care of it, and Bernard replies with "Make sure you do."
During the year, Scott begins transforming into Santa. At some point, Bernard sends Santa's list to Scott's home address.
Around Thanksgiving, Bernard arrives at the home of Charlie's mother and stepfather, Laura and Neil Miller, where Scott is trying to visit Charlie despite the previous suspension of Scott's visitation rights. By this point, Scott has been inspired by Charlie to become Santa, and Bernard takes them both to the North Pole. Bernard and the other elves help with the preparations for Christmas. However, on Christmas Eve, Scott is arrested on the belief that he kidnapped Charlie. In response, Bernard sends E.L.F.S. to rescue him.
After the rescue, Bernard suddenly appears at the Millers, shocking them both, who have accepted Scott as Santa by this time. When Charlie learns he must stay with his mother and stepfather instead of his father, Bernard reveals that the snow globe he gave Charlie will allow him to summon Scott whenever he wants to see him. Bernard returns to the North Pole afterwards.
The Santa Clause 2[]
Eight years after the first film, Bernard and his assistant, Curtis, discover a hidden clause that states that Santa must be married before or within the first eight years of assuming the role. If not, then Santa will lose his power, and Christmas will end. After Bernard has Curtis inform Scott of this hidden clause, Scott returns to his hometown to try to find a wife before the deadline. Meanwhile, Curtis creates a "Toy Santa" to cover for the absence of the real one, against Bernard's wishes, but Bernard reluctantly goes along with it, and tells the other elves that Santa had a makeover, so they won't question Toy Santa's synthetic appearance. Before Scott leaves, Bernard gives him a watch that shows how much his magical power he has, warning him that if he uses any, it'll go down, and if it gets down to zero, Scott won't be able to get back to the North Pole.
Curtis gives Toy Santa the handbook with the roles of being Santa to study. However, Toy Santa finds himself following the handbook too strictly, noticing a lot of rules aren't being followed by the other elves. In addition, he insists on double-checking the naughty-nice list, even though Benard insists the Real Santa has already done so (twice), so Toy Santa need not worry about it, but he refuses to listen. Having no sense of grace, slack, or mercy in his plastic heart, Toy Santa deems all children of the world naughty by every single misbehavior, no matter how minor or infrequent. Despite both Bernard and Curtis trying to explain that said standards are completely unrealistic, especially around the holidays, Toy Santa plans on giving everyone nothing but coal for Christmas, going as far as to create an army of life-sized toy soldiers to enforce his orders. At this point, Bernard can't take it any longer, and exposes Toy Santa as a fraud, pleading with the elves to not listen to him, or let him ruin Christmas, but the toy soldiers capture him, and Toy Santa has Bernard locked up, rendering him powerless to do anything more.
Bernard is eventually freed by a returning Scott and helps Scott, Charlie, and Scott's girlfriend, Carol, and the other elves in overpowering the toy soldiers, and foiling Toy Santa's plan.
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause[]
Bernard does not appear in this film, due to his actor, David Krumholtz being in the TV series Numb3rs, and electing not to work out a schedule between both projects, due to his character's reduced significance. His absence goes unmentioned and Curtis is head-elf in his place. It's possible that he either retired from his position as Head Elf or was on a (probably much-needed) furlough at the time of the film and Curtis only assumes his position temporary. Even though he doesn't appear, he appears the novelization.
The Santa Clauses[]
Bernard appears in the series, this time as an older elf. His absence after the second movie in that left the North Pole to marry Vanessa Redgrave. In season one, it is mentioned that this was the result of him going on his own Kribble Krabble, Earth vacation for elves.
Trivia[]
- Bernard is one of the few characters in Disney history to be married to a real person, in this case Vanessa Redgrave. In real life, she has been married to filmmaker Franco Nero since 2006.
- Bernard follows Lydia Pearson from Pepper Ann as another character married to a real person.
Gallery[]
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