Holiday season is approaching and even if it is only still early November, let's start this year's with the animated 26-minute short film "An Elf's Story: The Elf on the Shelf". Like the title and poster already tell you, this one is centered around an elf and his task in here is to restore a boy's faith in Santa Claus and Christmas again. There are no famous names in the cast here and same goes for the crew with the exception of Martin Scorsese's daughter perhaps. All in all, this was a decent short film. I don't think there were any moments of true greatness, but in terms of story, animation, heart and music, there were also no real weaknesses either in here. As a whole, it is a decent watch for the holidays, especially for very young audiences. It is a truly harmless movie and even the drama is nothing too severe. I recommend it.
9 Reviews
It Strikes Me As Mostly A Marketing Ploy
sddavis6327 November 2011
I wouldn't say this is destined to reach the holiday status of "Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer" or "A Charlie Brown Christmas." It's a basically child-friendly story about "scout elves" who visit a family every year as part of their Christmas celebrations. It comes across perhaps too overtly as a marketing ploy for "The Elf On The Shelf" book. We have one of those. Our daughter named our elf Louie and he appears every year around this time, taking nightly reports back to Santa on how she's doing. The elf that this show revolves around is named Chippey, and he's been sent to help a young boy named Taylor McTuttle rediscover what Christmas is all about, because he's started not to believe in Santa.
Chippey doesn't really do anything except fly back and forth from the North Pole to the McTuttle's house. That's true. Taylor seems to rediscover what Christmas is about but I wasn't entirely sure why or how an elf on the shelf helped him to do that. Of course, that's all explained by Santa, who says that scout elves never make people believe because that has to come from within the person. No argument, but I saw nothing that would have made Taylor think twice.
The show includes some appropriate holiday messages about not being selfish and being forgiving. One can't argue with that, of course. The animation was nothing special - somewhat similar to the type of animation found in "Rudolf." Christmas message aside, this still struck me as being too much of a marketing ploy for "The Elf On The Shelf." (3/10)
Chippey doesn't really do anything except fly back and forth from the North Pole to the McTuttle's house. That's true. Taylor seems to rediscover what Christmas is about but I wasn't entirely sure why or how an elf on the shelf helped him to do that. Of course, that's all explained by Santa, who says that scout elves never make people believe because that has to come from within the person. No argument, but I saw nothing that would have made Taylor think twice.
The show includes some appropriate holiday messages about not being selfish and being forgiving. One can't argue with that, of course. The animation was nothing special - somewhat similar to the type of animation found in "Rudolf." Christmas message aside, this still struck me as being too much of a marketing ploy for "The Elf On The Shelf." (3/10)
20 minutes ad
ketutar16 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I was pretty disappointed and one might think one shouldn't have expected much of an obvious marketing ploy, but I did. Because I believe in Christmas and Santa and magic.
I love the idea of how naming the little toy it becomes magic and can fly (or teleport).
I like the way Santa was depicted.
But
Too much time was used in how the elf was shipped to the house compared to how much time was used to the main point of the movie. Now, I like that part of the movie, but they could have skipped the poetry part and snowball fight and hospital scene etc. etc. and used that time to actually work on how Chippey actually managed to make Taylor get the Christmas spirit back.
It would have been nice if they had actually placed the elf somewhere where it wasn't so obvious the parents could have placed him. After all, he was supposed to be able to fly. It felt like "let's not make it hard on parents". So "I tried!" feels so whiny and defeatist. Tried what? He did NOTHING that couldn't be explained by parents moving a doll around. It wasn't even demanding elf-on-the-shelf-ing! I mean, sitting on a shelf/tree/mantelpiece/table - Chippey gives up too quickly and easily and gets too depressed. And then Santa tells him that he can't make anyone believe, so it was a wild goose hunt from the beginning. All this "you are so brave" and "it won't be easy" talk is really just crap. What is so brave and hard in "just being there"? *sigh* I know, I know, it's just an ad and kids love cartoons, and don't care about such little details, but - I'm not a kid. Also, the guilt tripping going on is horrible! The idea "if you touch it, it loses its magic and becomes just a plastic doll" just causes a lot of troubles. He "killed" the elf, he spoiled the Christmas, Christmas is going to be horrible and it's all his fault! Now, merry Christmas, why aren't you happy? "Mom! Dad! Taylor hit Chippey!" Siblings squealing on each other. Kids touching the elf without parents' knowing, and it continues moving around. What does that tell the kids? That it was just a piece of plastic all along. What about inventing some sort of magical ritual to re-magicize the elf again? What if they had made Taylor do this ritual? And then, like, have the elf sitting on his nightstand in the morning with a thank you letter especially written to him from Santa or something? I mean... sure, not everyone can write with swirly letters, ink on parchment, but wouldn't that be worth it? There's bound to be a school with art teacher somewhere nearby, and she/he could certainly script a letter from Santa if that's too hard for the parents. Totally achievable and would be a lot harder to explain. Then he would feel really good about himself and get back his belief in magic etc. Now it was just... *sigh* Apparently the boy believed more than Santa gave him credit for, and what does that tell about Santa? Nothing I want my kids to think. Then the song lyrics... "Christmas is a time for forgiveness That is why we all believe in Christmas" What? Christmas is not and has never been "a time for forgiveness". It's the time of joy and peace and happiness and merriment and enjoying time with your loved ones and sharing and caring and the song began all right, but then came that part of "forgiveness". What is there to forgive here? That Taylor doesn't believe and breaks the rule of no touching? Oh, swell! Let's pile guilt on the 9yo! Nothing makes better Christmas memories than guilt! "Extravaganzalorious"? *sigh* "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" went down so well, let's do it again. As if.
So... brr...
BTW, "Doodle is cool"? Doodle? X-D Yeah, name your elf Doodle.
It would have been nice if they had actually placed the elf somewhere where it wasn't so obvious the parents could have placed him. After all, he was supposed to be able to fly. It felt like "let's not make it hard on parents". So "I tried!" feels so whiny and defeatist. Tried what? He did NOTHING that couldn't be explained by parents moving a doll around. It wasn't even demanding elf-on-the-shelf-ing! I mean, sitting on a shelf/tree/mantelpiece/table - Chippey gives up too quickly and easily and gets too depressed. And then Santa tells him that he can't make anyone believe, so it was a wild goose hunt from the beginning. All this "you are so brave" and "it won't be easy" talk is really just crap. What is so brave and hard in "just being there"? *sigh* I know, I know, it's just an ad and kids love cartoons, and don't care about such little details, but - I'm not a kid. Also, the guilt tripping going on is horrible! The idea "if you touch it, it loses its magic and becomes just a plastic doll" just causes a lot of troubles. He "killed" the elf, he spoiled the Christmas, Christmas is going to be horrible and it's all his fault! Now, merry Christmas, why aren't you happy? "Mom! Dad! Taylor hit Chippey!" Siblings squealing on each other. Kids touching the elf without parents' knowing, and it continues moving around. What does that tell the kids? That it was just a piece of plastic all along. What about inventing some sort of magical ritual to re-magicize the elf again? What if they had made Taylor do this ritual? And then, like, have the elf sitting on his nightstand in the morning with a thank you letter especially written to him from Santa or something? I mean... sure, not everyone can write with swirly letters, ink on parchment, but wouldn't that be worth it? There's bound to be a school with art teacher somewhere nearby, and she/he could certainly script a letter from Santa if that's too hard for the parents. Totally achievable and would be a lot harder to explain. Then he would feel really good about himself and get back his belief in magic etc. Now it was just... *sigh* Apparently the boy believed more than Santa gave him credit for, and what does that tell about Santa? Nothing I want my kids to think. Then the song lyrics... "Christmas is a time for forgiveness That is why we all believe in Christmas" What? Christmas is not and has never been "a time for forgiveness". It's the time of joy and peace and happiness and merriment and enjoying time with your loved ones and sharing and caring and the song began all right, but then came that part of "forgiveness". What is there to forgive here? That Taylor doesn't believe and breaks the rule of no touching? Oh, swell! Let's pile guilt on the 9yo! Nothing makes better Christmas memories than guilt! "Extravaganzalorious"? *sigh* "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" went down so well, let's do it again. As if.
So... brr...
BTW, "Doodle is cool"? Doodle? X-D Yeah, name your elf Doodle.
Very obvious and possibly racist advertisement
nelsonakomolafe13 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This "movie" is so clearly a marketing ploy that came from a lifeless and gray office building. The possible raciism comes in when the elf of color (presumably black) starts rapping, which is a stereotype, he is also the only one who starts a snowball fight, and gets beaten by the white female elf. But thats just my view.
Nothing More Than An Almost Half Hour Commerical
jeremycrimsonfox30 November 2021
An Elf's Story: The Elf on the Shelf is a special that serves as nothing more than a nearly 27 minute commercial for the Elf on the Shelf, a series of elf dolls that are used by parents to keep their kids from being naughty. Here, a new scout elf chooses to go to family with a boy Santa wants him to help, as he does not believe in Christmas anymore. Given the name Chippy, the elf tries to help the boy get back in the spirit of Christmas.
The special is horrible and serves as nothing more than a commercial for the Elf On The Shelf dolls and book. When the Scout Elves are sent out, they are packed in a box that comes with a book similar to the ones the product comes in (as if the special keeps screaming out that it's serving as nothing more than a half hour advertisement for a stupid elf doll meant to spy on kids for Santa). Also, the boy, Taylor, sounds like one who deserves his place on the naughty list, as he wants to call Chippy horrible names like Stinkypants, and only changing after his sisters tattle on him for touching Chippy (because of the belief that touching the elf causes him or her to lose his or her magic, which is lame as the elf is just a doll). I recommend avoiding this commercial in favor of specials with better morals and not selling something.
The special is horrible and serves as nothing more than a commercial for the Elf On The Shelf dolls and book. When the Scout Elves are sent out, they are packed in a box that comes with a book similar to the ones the product comes in (as if the special keeps screaming out that it's serving as nothing more than a half hour advertisement for a stupid elf doll meant to spy on kids for Santa). Also, the boy, Taylor, sounds like one who deserves his place on the naughty list, as he wants to call Chippy horrible names like Stinkypants, and only changing after his sisters tattle on him for touching Chippy (because of the belief that touching the elf causes him or her to lose his or her magic, which is lame as the elf is just a doll). I recommend avoiding this commercial in favor of specials with better morals and not selling something.
Cute! My 3 and 5 year old kids love it!
alpoopla19 December 2012
Nothing special about this movie and perhaps it is a marketing gimmick, but so what? My 3 and 5 year old kids love it. They ask to see it over and over, and that's what I base my rating on. No need to over analyze this one. It's cute to see the kids wake up every morning and search for the elf. After that, they want to see this short movie. I appreciate the fact that it's a short movie for the fact that small kids generally have a short attention span. Kids shouldn't really spend too much time watching TV anyway. All in all, I think it's a cute movie perfect for young kids. Not sure why this got so many low ratings; surely the kids watching it are not the ones rating it on here. I rated it 9/10 for young audiences.
A must-watch every year!
awwplutto25 December 2020
This movie is extravaganzalorious
wkwavnick24 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
W O W ! This movie is so good I am watching it now ong. I have watched this movie every year since birth and still am never disappointed??!!!?!!?!?
Watching this film makes me all holly and jolly. Me being Taylor Mctuttle myself makes me enjoy the movie even more as I am the center of it and I come to believe and then everyone is so proud of me. I love how they display how sad and unbelieving I am and then show the character development to me believing in Santa. They even include my little sisters I don't remember their names but I love them I promise. The following points support my true statement that this movie is lit:
The songs are fire.
10/10 cinematic masterpiece.
10/10 characters
Extravaganzalorious plot.
Watching this film makes me all holly and jolly. Me being Taylor Mctuttle myself makes me enjoy the movie even more as I am the center of it and I come to believe and then everyone is so proud of me. I love how they display how sad and unbelieving I am and then show the character development to me believing in Santa. They even include my little sisters I don't remember their names but I love them I promise. The following points support my true statement that this movie is lit:
The songs are fire.
10/10 cinematic masterpiece.
10/10 characters
Extravaganzalorious plot.
Kids love it
petesha9 January 2019
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