Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas
| Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Mark Caballero Seamus Walsh |
| Screenplay by | Aaron Horvath Michael Jelenic Bob Martin Thomas Meehan |
| Produced by | Chris Finnegan Aaron Horvath Michael Jelenic |
| Starring | Jim Parsons Mark Hamill Kate Micucci Ed Asner Max Charles Rachael MacFarlane |
| Cinematography | Ralph Kaechele |
| Edited by | Mike Wright |
| Music by | Christopher Guardino Matthew Sklar |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Television |
Release date |
|
Running time | 43 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
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 Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan. It is based on the 2003 film Elf. The special stars Jim Parsons, Mark Hamill, Kate Micucci, Ed Asner, 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
- Mark Hamill as Walter Hobbs
- Kate Micucci as Jovie
- Ed Asner as Santa
- Max Charles as Michael Hobbs
- Rachael MacFarlane as Emily Hobbs
- Fred Armisen as Chadwick
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Fake Santa #2, Jerry Hobbs
- Gilbert Gottfried as Mr. Greenway
- Jay Leno as Fake Santa #1
- Steve Higgins as Matthews
- Matt Lauer as Mr. Sea Serpent
- Kevin Shinick as Fake Santa #4
Cultural References
The various ideas for children's books are parodies of Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Differences from the Movie
- Papa Elf was removed, with narration duties delegated to Santa; other cut characters include Arctic Puffin, Mei-Mei, and Miles Finch
- All scenes at Gimbels are omitted in an effort to modernize the story; instead, Jovie works as a sidewalk bell ringer outside a diner
- Mr. Greenway and Miles Finch were combined into one character also named Mr. Greenway
- The fight between Buddy and the fake Santa takes place at the diner where Jovie works, rather than Gimbels
- Emily Hobbs has a larger role
- The Central Park Rangers are replaced by Mr. Greenway and a cadre of kids on the naughty list
- The prison, hospital, mail room, and snowball fight scenes are omitted to fit the running time
- Buddy and Jovie's date only takes place at the Rockefeller Center Ice Rink
- In the movie, Buddy was arrested for fighting the fake Santa; in the special, Jovie helps him escape to an alleyway as the police arrive
- There is a new scene taking place after Walter's tirade against Buddy set in a diner, in which Buddy drowns his sorrows in maple syrup and actually gets drunk and meets several other fake Santas (including the fake Santa he fought earlier), who lament about kids in the modern day
- In the movie, Buddy finds Santa and his sleigh crashed in Central Park; in the special, Buddy and his family are on hand when the sleigh crashes
- In the movie, Walter and Michael find Buddy with the sleigh, and Walter apologizes to Buddy; in the special, this happens before the sleigh crashes, and Emily is present
- In the movie, Mr. Narwhal is the one who comes out of the water to bid goodbye to Buddy, who is riding an ice floe; in the special, Buddy rides on Mr. Narwhal, and his farewell is given to a sea serpent (voiced by Matt Lauer)
- Jovie and the other carolers sing classic Christmas songs in the movie, but in the special, they instead sing songs made for the musical.
- In the movie, the elves look like miniature people. In the special, they are blue, inhuman-looking beings.
- In the movie, Santa's Sleigh runs on Christmas cheer with the help of a motor; in the special, it only runs on Christmas cheer.
Reception
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 72 out of 100 based on 7 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[1] 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."[2] 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."[3] 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."[4]
References
- ^ "Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas". Metacritic. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^ "Tonight's Best - TV - Entertainment Weekly". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^ "'Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas' TV Review on NBC". Variety. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^ "Review: An animated retelling of Elf justifies its existence with visual daring". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
