Plot
At the struggling Witty Bitty Farm in North Dakota, Elliot, a miniature horse, dreams of flying on Santa Claus's sleigh team. His only supporter is a goat named Hazel. Inherited by former baseball player Walter Whittick, the farm operates as both a petting zoo and a training camp for reindeer, who are known for being arrogant and self-centered. Although Elliot trains too, Walter overlooks him. Blitzen becomes the latest of Santa’s reindeer to retire, and tryouts are announced at the North Pole to find a replacement. Hoping to save the farm, Walter believes his most athletic reindeer DJ can earn the position. Meanwhile, businesswoman Ludzinka arrives and offers to buy the farm's animals. Walter agrees to sell only the petting zoo animals, refusing to sell the reindeer, but Elliot and Hazel discover that Ludzinka's plan is to turn the animals into dehydrated food. In an effort to save them, they secretly stow away in Walter’s flying car as Walter travels to the North Pole with DJ and the farm's lead horse Clyde.
Using disguises, Hazel signs up Elliot for the tryouts with an elf named Jolene. As the head elf, Lemondrop welcomes the reindeer and goes over all the reindeer who left before sending the candidates off into the first round of competition. Despite his small stature, Elliot narrowly advances. Clyde recognizes Elliot and Hazel, but Elliot pleads with him to keep his identity secret. Hazel follows journalist Corkie into a hidden room filled with flying mechanical sleighs. Lemondrop appears and explains that the sleighs were previously used to deliver presents due to the reindeers’ poor performance in recent years, describing them as a backup system. Corkie and Hazel remain skeptical. Meanwhile, DJ confesses to his father, Donner, that he is afraid of flying. Donner pressures DJ to preserve the family reputation and secretly has him eat additional magic cookies that grant flying abilities to boost his performance in the next round, which involves navigating airborne hoops. Hazel witnesses DJ receiving the cookies from a disguised elf bearing a wrist tattoo. Despite DJ's advantage, Elliot achieves the highest score. DJ then exposes Elliot's true identity after spotting Hazel. The revelation shockes everyone, but Hazel proves that DJ cheated by pointing out that he can still fly, having eaten the same cookies herself. Santa loses faith in reindeer and cancels the tryouts, deciding to rely on the mechanical sleighs instead. Afterward, Hazel suggests that she and Elliot escape with the other animals once they return to the farm, but Elliot, discouraged, believes the situation is his fault.
As Walter retrieves Elliot, he talks to Ludzinka over the phone and agrees to sell her all the animals, including the reindeer. Hazel later notices Jolene's wrist tattoo and realizes she was the elf who fed DJ the cookies. Hazel leads Corkie to a device capable of translating animal speech, allowing Hazel to communicate with her. Using the device, Hazel and Corkie discover that Lemondrop ordered Jolene to give DJ the cookies and orchestrated the reindeer retirements. They expose the scheme to Santa and everyone else. Feeling unappreciated for his work, Lemondrop confesses that he sabotaged the sleigh team to make Santa lose faith in reindeer and turn to mechanical sleighs, which he believed were the future. Enraged, Lemondrop activates a weather machine to create a snowstorm, but it spirals out of control. As everyone seeks shelter, Hazel is swept up in the storm. Elliot manages to shut down the machine and rescue Hazel, earning admiration. After Walter learns of Ludzinka's true intentions, he attempts to contact her, but she does not respond. When Walter's car fails to start, Elliot asks Santa for magic cookies so he and DJ can fly the group back to the farm. Impressed by Elliot’s courage, Santa offers him the position on the sleigh team, but Elliot declines in order to save his friends.
Corkie accompanies Walter and the animals back to the farm. Upon arrival, they find the farm empty and initially believe Ludzinka has left with the animals, only to discover that the animals have restrained her. Ludzinka is arrested and revealed to have been wanted by the authorities. Santa arrives and announces that another opening has become available on his sleigh team. Donner admits that Lemondrop had been secretly supplying him with extra magic cookies to enhance his flying and voluntarily retires to be with DJ. Santa again offers the position to Elliot, who accepts. Santa departs with Elliot as a member of his sleigh team while the others celebrate.
