What Happened to the Lactose Intolerant Little Girl in 'The Santa Clause'? Sarah's All Grown Up!

The holiday season may come and go, but The Santa Clause is forever. The 1994 classic Christmas film grossed more than $140 million (per IMDb) in theaters and inspired not one but two spinoff films.

More than twenty years after the flagship film first debuted on the big screen, Disney Plus rebooted the franchise with the release of The Santa Clauses. In the six-episode limited series, more than a few fan-favorite characters reprise their roles.

Along with Tim Allen, Eric Lloyd, and Elizabeth Mitchell will also reprise their role in the film. However, there are a few familiar faces who are missing from the show — one of which was Melissa King. In The Santa Clause, Melissa starred as Sarah. But Sarah looks a little different in the reboot. Here's why!

Sarah stole all of our hearts in The Santa Clause when the lactose-intolerant little girl offered Santa a cup of soy milk. Although an adult Sarah appears in The Santa Clauses, she’ll be played by someone else.

IMDb confirms that Melissa wasn’t cast in the 2022 series. Instead, the role of Sarah is played by Casey Wilson.

As far as we can tell, Melissa has pretty much been off the grid since the early 90s. Ahead of her role in The Santa Clause she starred in Ordinary Magic alongside Ryan Reynolds. However, those are the only credits she has listed in her filmography.

Aside from her profile on IMDb, Melissa has no digital footprint. This makes it hard to tell where the Canadian actress went when she stepped out of the spotlight.

Although Melissa won’t make an appearance in The Santa Clauses, a few new characters signed on in her absence. In the series, viewers are introduced to the new head elf, Betty. But who plays Betty?

Bernard ran a tight ship during his tenure as the head elf of the North Pole. But there’s a new toy boss in town, and her name is Betty. The actress who stars as Santa’s chief of staff is Matilda Lawler. And if she looks familiar, it’s because she is.

Before Matilda joined the cast of The Santa Clauses, she was featured on the HBO Max miniseries Station Eleven, where she stars as Kirsten. In addition, she’s also appeared on the since-canceled CBS supernatural series, Evil and starred as the lead in Disney’s Flora & Ulysses.

But Betty’s arrival doesn’t mean that we’ve seen the last of Bernard. Although he hasn’t made an appearance on the show as of yet, reports reveal that David Krumholtz will, in fact, make an appearance in the Disney Plus series at some point.

New episodes of The Santa Clauses are available for streaming on Disney Plus now!