The Santa Claus 2: Santa or predator

Viewing this from a real view perspective, Scott Calvin (Santa) uses his knowledge on others to manipulate and swoon the principal into a lifetime of captivity. I’ll explain:

The Scene in Context
In that scene, Scott stops by Carol's house to pick her up for the faculty holiday party. He uses specific conversation tactics tailored to her background, pretending to share or deeply respect her perspective on rigid rules, structure, and discipline.
The Disconnect: As you pointed out, these are not Scott's natural traits. He is naturally a relaxed, creative, and somewhat chaotic person.
The Mechanism: He is using his insider information—gleaned from his role as Santa and his access to her personal file/history—to intentionally bypass her natural defenses.

Why It Feels Like Predatory Manipulation
If you strip away the "magical Christmas" framing, this exact behavior mirrors real-world grooming and manipulation tactics:
Targeting Vulnerabilities: He uses private data to engineer a false sense of compatibility.
False Mirroring: He pretends to have aligning interests solely to gain quick intimacy and trust.
Information Asymmetry: He knows everything about her childhood trauma and wishes, while she knows absolutely nothing about his true life, creating a massive power imbalance. [1, 2]

The Media Trope: "Deception for Love"
This sequence relies heavily on a common—and now heavily criticized—early 2000s romantic comedy trope where a male protagonist lies about his identity, hobbies, or beliefs to win over a woman (similar to films like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days or What Women Want).
While Disney writers intended it to be a lighthearted story about "softening a strict principal's heart," looking at it through a modern lens reveals how deeply manipulative Scott's approach actually is.