The following contains spoilers for The Santa Clauses Episode 5, "Chapter Five: Across the Yule-Verse," now streaming on Disney+.
David Krumholtz made his grand return as Bernard in the latest episode of Disney+'s The Santa Clauses, with the episode explaining what Santa's former right-hand elf has been up to since the events of 2004's The Santa Clause 2.
The fan-favorite character made his long-awaited return in "Chapter Five: Across the Yule-Verse," with Bernard being revealed as the one responsible for freezing Scott Calvin's family in time at the end of the previous episode. While Scott is overjoyed at seeing his old friend, he does have a few questions for his former head elf, including why he never came back to the North Pole after leaving for Kribble-Krabble, the elf equivalent of Rumspringa, sometime after The Santa Clause 2. "I met someone. A human," Bernard admits to Scott, explaining that he chose to give up his eternal youth to live with her on Earth.
However, the fifth episode later reveals just who Bernard gave up being an elf for -- Oscar winner Dame Vanessa Redgrave. Although they are "several hundred years apart" Bernard ensures Scott that they "still find things to talk about." Redgrave, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 1977's Julia, is also known for her roles in Camelot (1967), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Mission: Impossible (1996), Atonement (2007) and The Butler (2013).
Bernard the Elf Is Back
Krumholtz's return as Bernard was first announced in July 2022. The actor originated the role of Santa's Head Elf in 1994's The Santa Clause. He returned for 2002's The Santa Clause 2, which revealed that Bernard had taken a protégé named Curtis (Spencer Breslin) under his wing. Curtis was later promoted to Head Elf in 2006's The Santa Clause 3 after Krumholtz was unable to appear in the trilogy capper due to his commitment at the time to the CBS series Numb3rs.
Krumholtz is not the only actor from The Santa Clause trilogy who returned for the legacy sequel series. Tim Allen, Elizabeth Mitchell and Eric Lloyd also reprised their roles from the film series as Scott Calvin/Santa Claus, Carol Calvin/Mrs. Claus and Charlie Calvin, respectively. While Lloyd appeared for a guest shot in the second episode, Allen and Mitchell serve as the series' co-leads, with Austin Kane, Elizabeth Allen-Dick and Kal Penn rounding out the main cast as Buddy "Cal" Calvin-Claus, Sandra Calvin-Claus and Simon Choski/Santa Claus, respectively. Matilda Lawler, Devin Bright and Rupali Redd also star.
The first five episodes of The Santa Clauses are now available to stream on Disney+, with the season finale set to release on Dec. 14.
Source: Disney+