Continuity mistake: When Neil is teaching yoga to the elves, you can see the Elf in the blue sweatshirt from the back with her sleeves pushed up, but when the camera is in the front facing the elves, her sleeves are down. (00:31:42 - 00:32:16)
Continuity mistake: The first movie shows Santa slipping on the roof and kicking up a white snow blanket as he falls. The flashback in the third movie does not show the blanket being kicked up as Santa slips.
Continuity mistake: Charlie and Scott come across the empty Santa suit in the flashback to the first movie, and the body and all the limbs of the suit are flat in the snow. A shot from the unconscious Santa's right shoulder then shows his arm and gloved hand still upright and in position to wave "bye-bye" before he disappears.
Continuity mistake: Santa is holding the snowglobe as Jack Frost enters the scene. As Santa bends down to speak with Lucy, his hands are empty and Lucy is holding the snow globe and she proceeds to give it to Santa.
Continuity mistake: The second time Jack and Santa fall from the sky and are laying in the snow outside the townhouse, it cuts to the scene from the The Santa Clause where Scott Calvin first puts on the coat. However, in the original movie, Scott doesn't put the coat on until after he and Charlie have left the townhouse in the sleigh and are on the roof of the first house in which Scott goes down the chimney.
Continuity mistake: In the flashback to the first "Santa Clause", Scott Calvin witnesses the old Santa disappear from the Santa suit, as indicated by the suit deflating. He did not witness it in the first movie.
Continuity mistake: About 8 minutes into the movie, there is a news rolling display in the background which is rolling from right to left which is normal for the English language. In a close-up of Mrs. Claus, she has an expression on her face and the news scroll is going left to right behind her which doesn't work for the english language.
Continuity mistake: In the Snow Globe Room with Scott and Lucy, she holds the snow globe of herself and the snowman by the base in the long shots, then by the glass globe in the closeups.
Continuity mistake: When the Christmas tree falls after Scott places the tree topper on it, Jack Frost's drinking glass instantly switches hands before the tree hits the floor.
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the movie when Santa is rushing Mrs. Claus to the delivery room for the first time the room is complete, but when her parents come to visit the delivery room is still under construction.
Continuity mistake: Most everything in the flashback is the same as the first movie. Except when Santa falls off the roof. In the first movie, you can only hear Santa screaming. In this movie you can hear him say Uh-Oh.
Answer: David Krumholtz (Benard) is busy on his show "Numb3rs" on CBS and is committed to that so he didn't return for The Santa Clause 3. I guess they could have explained his absence, but the filmakers decided not to. They simply promoted Curtis since he was in the 2nd movie.
Carl Missouri