The Naughty Nine Costume Designer Talks Danny Glover As Santa

The Naughty Nine premieres tonight on Disney Channel and viewers will be delighted to meet Danny Glover as Santa Claus. In the Disney Channel Original Movie, the beloved actor is the man in charge up at the North Pole. ComicBook.com interviewed The Naughty Nine costume designer Julia Caston about working with Glover and his interactions with the cast and crew. When a star of that caliber steps onto set, it inspires everyone to bring their A-game. With Santa, Caston said that she really wanted to communicate him being in his off-time, while still keeping his gentlemanly leisure feel. Read about her process down below. 

"Oh yes, he was so wonderful to work with and it was a surprise when they told me the casting. I was so happy to hear that it was somebody as amazing as Danny Glover and it's so great," Caston began. "So yes, this is an Alberto [Belli] thing. We work together to come up with the look we really wanted because its the day after Christmas, right? So, Santa would kind of be on his off hours. What does he look like on his off hours?"

"And we decided that we kind of wanted him to be, a gentleman. We wanted him to have an elegance about him. We wanted him to be relaxed, but with fabrics that were rich, right? We wanted him to feel cozy," she continued. "He's just based on a very elegant, trendy kind of well-fitted. I was like, he's incredibly like put together. He's just like,  you walk in his office and he's like, oh no, I got a handle on this thing."

"It was fun. And we also wanted to do justice to the actor as well. The idea for this kind of grew. We had discussions before he was cast, but then once he was cast, we're like, 'Let's grow this into his very nattily dressed gentleman on his days off," the designer added. "So, that's how that came about. It was really fun to work with him. When we heard I was like, 'This is great!' He's so wonderful and he's such an acting icon. He's so incredible and what a what a win for us. It elevated the whole movie, in a way I thought."

How Do The Naughty Nine Assemble Their Christmas Looks?

Elsewhere in our conversation with Julia Caston, we talked about tackling the look of Christmas in The Naughty Nine. They had Santa covered, but young actors like Winslow Fegley, Imogen Cohen and Ayden Elijah are all in the mix too. How did the costume designer dream up how these young adventures would look? Well, it comes down to some collaboration with director Alberto Belli and some classic color influences. 

"How do I conceive it? Okay, so. Well, you know, I met with the director Alberto and I Listen to his concept and think what he wants to do with it. He was really interested in creating this kind of magical, elevated, special place that we had never seen before," Caston revealed. "He did that with the the scenery and just how his vision was very clear that he wanted it to be elevated. He wanted it to be on trend and he wanted it to have a little fashion. He wanted it to have a little like fabulousness, right? So taking that on, and then listening."

"Reading the script and everything, I just I just was like oh how do I make these characters pop a little bit? Let's get him a little edge. Let's give him a little fun. And ,I wanted the kid that watched it to think, 'That's cuter than the normal elf!' You know? I wanted them to feel. I've never seen a tracksuit elf for a or a racing suit elf. I wanted to take the characters that were being played by all these great actors and give them a little nuance," she added. 

Caston continued, "So they all were different and they all felt like they had personality. And so that's, how I went about it was just like listen to Alberto's vision and then add to it. Or elevated it, you know? Just try to make it what he wanted."

The Naughty Nine Is Out Today!

"Mischievous fifth grader Andy finds himself without a visit or presents from Santa on Christmas morning. Realizing he must have landed on the "naughty list" and feeling unfairly maligned, Andy pulls together a team of eight other "naughty listers" to help him execute an elaborate heist at the North Pole to get the presents they feel they deserve. Along the way, the group comes to realize that the very best way off the naughty list is to redirect their unique talents for good -- instead of mischief."

The Naughty Nine premieres on Disney Channel today and will release on Disney+ Thanksgiving Day!

Are you surprised by Glover playing Santa Claus? Let us know in the comments!