Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas is a 2014 American stop-motion animated Christmas musical television special directed by Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh and written by Aron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan. It is based on the 2003 film Elf and the Broadway theatre Musical Elf: The Musical. The special stars Jim Parsons, Mark Hamill, Kate Micucci, Ed Asner (reprising his role from the original film), Max Charles and Rachael MacFarlane. The special premiered on December 16, 2014, on NBC.
Plot[]
Santa narrates the story of Buddy's travels to New York City to meet his father. Along the way, his unrelenting cheer transforms the lives of everyone he meets and opens his father's eyes to the magic of the holiday.
Cast[]
- Jim Parsons as Buddy Hobbs
- Mark Hamill as Walter Hobbs
- Kate Micucci as Jovie
- Ed Asner as Santa Claus
- Max Charles as Michael Hobbs
- Rachael MacFarlane as Emily Hobbs, Fake Santa #3
- Fred Armisen as Matthews
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Fake Santa #2, Jerry Hobbs, Additional Voices
- Gilbert Gottfried as Mr. Greenway
- Jay Leno as Fake Santa #1
- Steve Higgins as Chadwick
- Matt Lauer as Mr. Sea Serpent
- Kevin Shinick as Fake Santa #4, Additional Voices
- Rachel Ramras as Additional Voices
- Larry Dorf as Additional Voices
- Rachel Bloom as Additional Voices
Songs[]
- "Happy All The Time" - Santa, Buddy, and the elves
- "World's Greatest Dad" - Buddy
- "I'll Believe In You" - Emily and Michael
- "Sparklejollytwinklejingley" - Buddy, Emily, and Michael
- "A Christmas Song" - Buddy and Jovie
- "Nobody Cares About Santa" - Fake Santas and Buddy
- "There Is a Santa Claus" - Emily and Michael
- "A Christmas Song (Reprise)" - Jovie, Walter, Emily, Michael, and the townspeople
- "The Story of Buddy the Elf" - The cast
Reception[]
The special was viewed by 4.82 million viewers. Elf Buddy's Musical Christmas received positive reviews from critics. The review-aggregation website Metacritic, which assigns a normalized 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". 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." 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." 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."
Home media[]
Warner Home Video released Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas on DVD and Blu-ray on November 3, 2015.
Accolades[]
Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas has been nominated for seven Annie Awards and won one for Character Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production