12/11/2025
Hear me out, Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) and The Santa Clause (1994) are two of the more accurate retellings of the Holly King and Oak King.
Frazer's Golden Bough calls it "The Killing of the Tree Spirit" which is the same universal motif as Killing of the King (King Kill 33)
A dying god (the Tree Spirit) must be ritually replaced so the world doesn't collapse.
The "god" dies/retires, but the office survives and a younger figure is compelled (or tricked) into taking his place.
Ernest Saves Christmas and The Santa Clause re-enact this exact ritual.