The Night Before the Night Before Christmas

Two minutes to departure. Two minutes.

Oh, dear! I'm late!

Two minutes, only two minutes.

You are fine, sweetheart, you have plenty of time.

Two minutes is not "plenty of time", Mrs. Claus.

Now why are you so anxious?

Everything is going to be fine and you know it.

I don't know, my dear. That's just it.

Something just doesn't feel right.

Nonsense.

You've done this thousands of times.

What could go wrong?

Uh...

Nothing I supppose.

Of course not.

Now I put a thermos of hot cocoa

under the seat, because--

The first rule of winter:

put something warm on the inside...

...so you won't feel cold on the outside.

You take such good care of me.

Am I wrong, my dear,

or did this year pass by faster than usual?

They say time passes faster the older you get.

And you, my darling, are positively ancient.

What does that make you, Mrs. Claus?

A gentleman isn't supposed to notice a lady's age.

This gentleman never does.

Time to go, Santa.

It's time to go.

Such a taskmaster, our Nigel.

Be safe, my darling.

I'll be back before you know I'm gone.

Santa. It's time.

Come along!

Yes!

One minute to departure, one minute.

My beauties!

What? What is it?

My map. I don't have it.

You don't?!

I was sure I gave it to you.

Don't tell me I forgot it.

Maybe I dropped it.

Oh! Hah! Here it is!

I had it all the time. Silly me.

No harm done.

Now remember...

First stop: New Zealand.

Where midnight begins its journey around the globe.

You know, I still can't believe

how fast this year went by.

Yes, yes, time flies.

And now so do you. Off we go!

- Up, up and away! - Quite right, Nigel!

Here we go!

All clear!

Goodbye, my love!

To the sky!

Mrs. Clause!

What was that?

Everything seems fine. I'm sure it was nothing.

"December 24th, 2010. 6:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Santa departs on schedule."

There you go.

Another Christmas set in motion.

Max.

Max, Max, Max, Max and Max.

All the Maxs'.

Not enough.

I need more.

Hannah?

Hannah!

Can't you see I'm in an important conversation?

I'm collecting Christmas presents

for the Christmas Hope Foundation,

but I don't have enough yet.

And this matters to me, why?

'Cause you can't expect Santa Claus to give us stuff

if we're not willing to give stuff to other people.

Okay, you are not gonna believe this.

My little brother's gone all bono on me

trying to collect for charity.

Yeah, he's playing the Santa card

to make me feel guilty.

Can you believe it?!

Are you still here?

Please.

Okay.

Hold on.

I didn't like it anyways. You happy?

Good. Bye!

Mom?

In a second, Toby!

I'm just getting some prints out of the bath!

Okay.

Okay. Mom and dad.

Now Hannah.

And then me.

It's a family photo.

Well... kind of.

Gorgeous.

These are just gorgeous.

I think this is probably the best work I've ever done.

And if my boss doesn't think so, then he's just crazy.

So what's up with my favorite little man?

The truck from the Christmas Hope Foundation

Is coming in the morning,

And I was wondering if you had anything you'd like to donate.

I think that's wonderful what you're doing, Toby.

And I would certainly love to donate something.

Not sure what just now, but I'll think of something.

Okay? But right now I think we should go

and figure out what we're gonna have for dinner,

'Cause daddy's gonna be home any minute.

Come on.

Guys?!

Hey.

Hey.

- How was your day? - Oh, don't ask.

It was murder. You're lucky you work at home.

First of all, the office fax machine breaks down,

then my secretary calls in sick,

and the internet decides to stop working

for some reason.

And then you know what? To top it all off,

I've got a jetstream and a King Air on the ground

in Bakersfield, both of them need fuel pumps.

I found a couple in the L.A. Warehouse,

but, you know, try getting a delivery company

to pick up the phone, two days before Christmas.

I've been on hold for like an hour.

Hey ya, sport, how was your day?

Pretty good, I guess.

Cool. What's in the box?

Stuff for the Christmas Hope Foundation.

Do you have anything you'd like to donate?

Absolutely! I just can't think of what right now.

Can we do this later?

Sure, dad.

Hey, Wayne! You still with me, buddy?

Yeah. I'm still here.

You left me on hold forever.

Now where were we?

Wow!

A shooting star!

I get to make a wish!

Okay, okay...

I wish my family would come together

and have a great Christmas this year.

Oh, and I wish it would snow too.

Wouldn't be much of a Christmas without snow.

Come on, let's have some pizza.

I think it's your favorite - "Meat lovers".

It right to Davis... to drive

Okay, this is for you.

You know, I can't even think about eating

until I get out of these work-clothes.

They smell like the dark room.

You be all right by yourself for a minute, kiddo?

Sure, mom.

What was that?

Is that coming from the roof?

That's what it sounds like.

What do you suppose that was?

I don't know. A tree branch maybe?

Oh, ah, uh...

Oh.

Oh.

So who do you think he is?

Looks like one of those mall Santas.

What would a mall Santa be doing up on our roof?

I don't know. Maybe he's really into his job?

Well, you got me, honey. Look...

Don't you think maybe we should take him to emergency?

I mean, what if he's hurt?

He doesn't appear to have any injuries.

That's true.

Hey, mom! I know who this is.

You do? Who?

It's Santa Claus.

Uh...

Gee, sport, I don't know about that.

It is.

Well, you never know, right?

Hey, who's the old geezer on the couch?

It's Santa Claus!

What?

It's Santa Claus!

Okay, get serious. Even if it was Santa Claus,

it's not like he'd be here the night before

the night before Christmas, hello?

Oh yeah? Well, you never know.

Right, mom?

That's right, honey. You never know.

Actually we don't know who he is.

He was up on the roof and then he just...

He fell off.

He fell off, huh?

Yeah.