Santa Claus narrates the story of Buddy: a human whose mother gave him up for adoption before she died following his birth, and who crawled into Santa's toy sack that Christmas Eve. He was unknowingly taken to the North Pole and raised into adulthood by Santa as one of his Christmas elves, unaware of his actual origins despite his height difference and lack of toy-making skills. Overhearing the truth about his species, Buddy confronts Santa, who encourages him to travel to New York City, where his birth father Walter Hobbs now works as an executive for a children's book publishing firm. Buddy also learns that Walter is on Santa's naughty list due to his lacking belief in Santa.
Buddy arrives at the publishing office in the Empire State Building and musically greets Walter, who mistakes him for a singing telegram entertainer and calls for security to escort him to the nearby Macy's Department Store. Buddy gets a job as one of the "elves" for the North Pole Village and becomes smitten with cynical coworker Jovie, successfully inviting her on a date. The next day, he exposes a mall Santa as an impostor leading to a scuffle that ends with the police taking him to the Hobbs family's apartment. He helps Walter's wife Emily and son Michael complete a school science project and is allowed to stay for the night.
The following morning, several DNA tests confirm that Buddy is Walter's son. Walter reluctantly takes Buddy to his office at Emily's insistence, where his supervisor Mr. Greenway threatens to fire him if he does not publish a successful new book by Christmas Eve. That evening, Buddy takes Jovie to a romantic dinner at Tavern on the Green and helps bring out her Christmas spirit by having her sing "A Christmas Song". Excited to share this news with Walter, Buddy makes it "snow" in the office by shredding a manuscript Walter was working on. Enraged, Walter expels Buddy from the office.
A despondent and hungry Buddy encounters some out-of-work Santa actors at a Chinese restaurant and delays in arriving for his next date with Jovie, to whom he gives a snow globe Santa gave him. She is disappointed and departs. Emily and Michael read Buddy's goodbye letter and set out to retrieve him, but not before noticing Santa's sleigh outside their window. The pair and Buddy arrive at the Empire State Building where Walter is frantically trying to craft a pitch for Mr. Greenway. Buddy suggests a story based on his adventure. Mr. Greenway thinks it should be about a horse and orders Walter to work through Christmas on the idea. When Mr. Greenway rudely criticizes Walter's sons, Walter quits his job. Michael informs Buddy about Santa's sleigh and the Hobbs family races to Central Park. Buddy realizes the sleigh needs Christmas spirit to be able to fly again.
At Central Park, Buddy takes a microphone from a news crew covering what appears to be a UFO event and encourages everyone watching the news to spread Christmas spirit to repower Santa's sleigh. Jovie arrives and begins singing "A Christmas Song", inspiring everyone watching to sing along and thus restoring the sleigh's flight. Santa invites Buddy to come home to the North Pole, but he chooses to stay in New York, having found a new purpose in making the residents happy. Some time later, Buddy and Jovie settle down and have a son named Baby Buddy. The whole Hobbs family visits Santa's North Pole residence on Christmas Day per their new annual tradition.
Cast
Jim Parsons as Buddy Hobbs, an eccentric but well-meaning young man who was raised as a Christmas elf. Parsons replaces Will Ferrell, who played Buddy in the film.
Mark Hamill as Walter Hobbs, an overworked children's book publishing executive and Buddy's estranged father. Hamill replaces James Caan, who played Walter in the film.
Kate Micucci as Jovie, a Macy's North Pole Village employee and Buddy's love interest. Micucci replaces Zooey Deschanel, who played Jovie in the film.
Ed Asner as Santa Claus, Buddy's adoptive father. Asner is the only actor to reprise his role from the original film.
Max Charles as Michael Hobbs, Buddy's younger half-brother and Walter and Emily's son. Charles replaces Daniel Tay, who played Michael in the film.
The special was viewed by 4.82 million viewers.[2]Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas received positive reviews from critics. The review-aggregation website Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 74 out of 100 based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[3] Ray Rahman of Entertainment Weekly gave the special a B+, saying "Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas probably won't become a classic, but it's a fun break from the usual standards."[4] Brian Lowry of Variety gave the special a positive review, saying "Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas suits the genre well, and suggests there is an alternative to simply running the sprockets off old holiday perennials. And in albeit in a minor way, that's good reason to be happy — if not all the time, at least for an hour or so."[5] Erik Adams of The A.V. Club gave the special a B, saying "Narratively and emotionally rushed, at least Buddy's Musical Christmas smartly emphasizes its animated nature, through visual inventiveness and top-flight voice talent."[6]
Bloom, Charles, Dorf, Mark Hamill, MacFarlane, Micucci, Ramras and Shinick
3:31
9.
"The Story of Buddy The Elf"
Cast
2:32
Total length:
18:32
Home media
Warner Home Video released Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas on DVD and Blu-ray on November 3, 2015.[7]
Accolades
The film was nominated for seven Annie Awards and won one for Character Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production.[8]
References
↑Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p.97. ISBN9781476672939.
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