Elf:_Buddy's_Musical_Christmas
Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas
American TV series or program
Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas is a 2014 American stop-motion animated Christmas musical television special produced by Warner Bros. Animation, 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 and the Broadway theatre musical Elf: The Musical. While Ed Asner reprises his role of Santa Claus from the film, the rest of the cast consists of Jim Parsons, Mark Hamill, Kate Micucci, Max Charles, and Rachael MacFarlane. The special premiered on December 16, 2014, on NBC.[1]
| Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster | |
| Based on | Elf by David Berenbaum Elf: The Musical by Bob Martin Thomas Meehan |
| Written by | Thomas Meehan Bob Martin Aaron Horvath Michael Jelenic |
| Directed by | Mark Caballero Seamus Walsh |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Ed Asner |
| Theme music composer | Christopher Guardino Matthew Sklar |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Sam Register Toby Emmerich Mark Kaufman |
| Producers | Chris Finnegan Aaron Horvath Michael Jelenic |
| Cinematography | Ralph Kaechele |
| Editor | Mike Wright |
| Running time | 43 minutes |
| Production companies | New Line Cinema Warner Bros. Animation Animation Services: Screen Novelties |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | December 16, 2014 (2014-12-16) |
 |
Santa Claus narrates the story of Buddy's travels to New York City to meet his father Walter Hobbs. 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.
- 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 Claus #3
- Fred Armisen as Matthews
- Gilbert Gottfried as Mr. Greenway
- Jay Leno as Fake Santa Claus #1
- Steve Higgins as Chadwick
- Matt Lauer as Mr. Sea Serpent
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Fake Santa Claus #2, Jerry Hobbs
- Kevin Shinick as Fake Santa Claus #4
Additional voices by Rachel Bloom, Larry Dorf, Rachel Ramras, and Kevin Shinick.
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]
| No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Happy All the Time" | Fred Armisen, Ed Asner, Rachel Bloom, Larry Dorf, Jim Parsons, Rachel Ramras and Kevin Shinick | 2:27 |
| 2. | "World's Greatest Dad" | Parsons | 1:03 |
| 3. | "I'll Believe In You" | Rachael MacFarlane & Max Charles | 2:08 |
| 4. | "Sparklejollytwinklejingley" | MacFarlane, Charles and Parsons | 1:47 |
| 5. | "A Christmas Song" | Kate Micucci and Parsons | 1:59 |
| 6. | "Nobody Cares About Santa" | Shinick, MacFarlane, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jay Leno and Parsons | 1:48 |
| 7. | "There Is a Santa Claus" | MacFarlane & Charles | 1:17 |
| 8. | "A Christmas Song (Reprise)" | 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 | ||
All tracks are written by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin
Warner Home Video released Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas on DVD and Blu-ray on November 3, 2015.[7]
The film was nominated for seven Annie Awards and won one for Character Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production[8]
- 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. ISBN 9781476672939.
- Kondolojy, Amanda (December 17, 2014). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS' & 'The Voice' Adjusted Up, No Adjustment for 'Person of Interest' or 'MasterChef Junior'". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 21, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
- "Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas". Metacritic. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- "Tonight's Best - TV - Entertainment Weekly". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 14 October 2009. 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.
- "Annie Awards Nominees". Annieawards.org. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
