Santa Clause is a neo-Western Christmas epic directed by Yuji Naka and starring Tim Allen that takes place in the year 1994. Despite Allen starting his career in 1998, Naka wanted the film to be so accurate to the time period that they time-traveled 4 years into the past and released it in 11 November 1994. The plot is based on real life events, specifically Allen's, where he accidentally killed Santa Claus and had to take his place 7 months before the film was even conceived. Some key details were changed, especially near the end of the story. An example is the unrealistic climax in which Santa's elves and the main character's wife have a huge War and Peace battle.