Elves (2033 film)

Elves is a 2033 animated Christmas musical buddy comedy film, serving as a spin-off prequel to The Christmas Movie franchise. It is written and directed by Brandon Greene and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Bardel Entertainment, and Sergio Pablos Animation Studios. The film stars the voices of Jason Schwartzman, Chris Pratt, Kelly Clarkson, James Marsden, Jack McBrayer, Rashida Jones, Nick Jonas, Patrick Stump, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Hart, Janelle Monáe, James Corden, Matt Berry, Pitbull, Wanda Sykes, Bebe Rexha, Charli XCX, Lizzo, Martin Short, and Blake Shelton. It was first foreshadowed during the credits of The Christmas Movie 2 (2025), where Darwin and Mikey, two of the elves and the film's main characters, are seen setting up other elves for the audition for the film. In the film, the elves search for their replaceable boss after accidentally killing all of those in history and are recruited by Kris Kringle (a young Santa Claus) to help him deliver toys to the children of Sombertown.

Elves was released on November 23, 2033 on Netflix as part of the 10th anniversary of The Christmas Movie. It received mixed reviews from critics, some praised the comedic aspects of the film, the creative origin story of both the elves and Santa, and the vocal performances of Clarkson and Marsden, while also saying they felt that the title characters were not able to carry the film on their own. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song for Kelly Clarkson's "Grown-Up Christmas List". A stage musical adaptation of The Christmas Movie was released on the same day as Elves. The sequel, Elves World Tour, is scheduled to be released in November 2040.

Plot
In a dark theater (a parody of ) Darwin and Mikey were watching The Christmas Movie with their elfling students (Bob, Charlotte, Mason, and Olivia) until Mason decides to fast-forward to their scenes. Bob's protest over this eventually prompts Darwin and Mikey to tell the story of both them and the rest of the elves and Santa Claus in order to answer the elflings' questions and the children's letters when they get overwhelmed by so many of them asking various questions regarding Santa. The rest of the elves agree with his idea and Darwin rewinds the film to before the beginning where the story begins.

Elves are small, pointy-eared creatures who have existed since the beginning of time, evolving from single-celled organisms into beings which exist only to serve a perfect boss. They started off as mischievous troublemakers, but slowly became more kind and generous and learned how to make toys. After rolling a Tyrannosaurus into a volcano, getting their caveman leader eaten by a saber-tooth tiger, crushing a Pharaoh under a pyramid after constructing it upside-down, burning a shoemaker to death with a oven after setting it too high, and accidentally firing a cannon at a Roman Emperor, the elves are driven into isolation and start a new life in a massive cave.

The head elf, Earl and Darwin's father, Bernard find a baby with a name tag reading "Claus" hidden in parts of the cave and Earl and the three spy elves, Tinsel, Kat, and Lilia take the baby to a gloomy small town called Sombertown, which is ruled by the grouchy, ill-tempered, child-hating mayor known as Burgermeister Meisterburger. The two elves place the baby on his doorstep, with a note requesting that Burgermeister raise the child as his own with love and care. However, Burgermeister angrily orders his right-hand man, Grimsley, to take the baby to the "Orphan Asylum." On the way there, a gust of wind blows both sled and baby far away from Grimsley, to the Mountains of the Whispering Winds. There, the animals hide him from the Winter Warlock, a powerful wizard who dislikes anyone trespassing on his land, before he comes investigating where the sled crashed.

The animals then bring the baby to the other side of the mountain, to Rainbow River Valley, where he is found by an elf family by the name of Kringle, made up of five brothers led by their queen, Tanta Kringle. They adopt the baby and name him "Kris". After many years, at first the elves are happy and living their lives, but become sad and unmotivated without a boss to work for. Bernard and his wife Carol set off into retirement to find their tribal ancestors. To regain their dignity and sense of purpose, Darwin recruits Mikey (who just moved out of his house), setting out to look for a new boss, leaving Darwin's frenemy/rival and elf trainer Quillgin in charge.

Meanwhile, Kris who is now old enough, volunteers to deliver the toys to Sombertown. While Darwin and Mikey are traveling, they stop at the Kringle house. Mikey notices a five-pointed star on the wall, but when he asks about it, the Kringle pub-goers become hostile. Tanta tells Mikey and Darwin that they're known for making toys like they do, having been "the first toymakers to the king" long ago. The pair decide to head to Sombertown, and the Kringles handed them new suits and warn them to keep an eye out for the Winter Warlock near the Mountains of the Whispering Winds. As Darwin and Mikey walk through the Mountains of the Whispering Winds, they meet two other elves named Jingle Bells and Jangle Bells who carrying a one-antlered reindeer on a pole to eat, but releases it. It is explained to Darwin and Mikey that Jingle and Jangle work for the town's mayor—the Burgermeister—comprising nearly all of the populace. Thinking that they found their perfect boss, they decide to go to Sombertown with Jingle and Jangle and the reindeer whom they name Comet. But meanwhile, the Burgermeister has outlawed all toys in the town, due to him breaking his funny bone due to having been injured by tripping over a toy duck while walking out of City Hall causing him to wear a cast on his foot. He declares that anyone found possessing a toy will be arrested and thrown in the dungeon.

When the four elves enter the town, the other townspeople are frightened by the elves saying "toy" and are questioning him about the new green and blue suits that Mikey and Darwin wear. They see the children of the town have been put into labor, mostly washing their stockings. They meet Kris and a penguin named Topper and Darwin said that there's no one to give toys to due to people hating toys and they have no one to work for since the Burgermeister (who was going to be their new boss) was the one who banned toys, so Kris decides to change that and begins helping the elves hand out toys to the children. They are briefly stopped by Miss Jessica, a local schoolteacher who at first doesn't take kindly to him and the Elves giving out toys, but quickly warms up to him when he gives her a China doll as a "peace offering". Finding their new boss at last, Darwin and Mikey write a letter to their friends to come to Sombertown for help. Back in the village, one of the elves named Roxy receives the letter and leaves the village to find her way through the Mountains of the Whispering Winds, followed by Stuart, Hermey, Carl, Sugarplum Mary, Roberto, Quillgin and the spy elves.

Just then in Sombertown, the Burgermeister arrives and, upon seeing the children playing with the toys, almost arrests them for violating the law, but Kris and Darwin confess it was them who gave them the toys and Jingle and Jangle were even a part of it. He tries presenting the Burgermeister with a yo-yo, which the Burgermeister happily plays with upon that he loved Yo-yos as a child, only for Grimsley to remind him that he's breaking his own law, infuriating the Burgermeister. Kris and the elves barely manage to escape the Burgermeister's forces as they pursue them to the edge of the city before losing sight of them when they enter the woods. As Kris, Darwin, Mikey, Jingle, Jangle, Topper, and Comet pass through the forest, the Winter Warlock's magic trees capture the elves, and two animals. Kris tries to get the elves out of trouble by offering the warlock one of his toys. He gives him a toy train, and melts the Warlock's evil icy heart. Touched by this act of kindness, the Warlock, now preferring to be called just Winter, turns to a friendlier, more human-looking form and befriends Kris and the elves. To repay him, Winter shows the elves and Kris how to make a magic snowball, showing that other elves are searching for them. Darwin and Mikey find the others along with Quillgin and the Spy Elves and introduces Jingle and Jangle to them and that they'll be working with them. Roxy contacts the rest of the elves to get them to join. David introduces their friends to Kris and Jessica. Jessica informs them that the Burgermeister destroyed all of the toys Kris, Darwin, and Mikey previously delivered and the children now request new ones.

Maddie, an elf school teaching aide in Sombertown, sympathizes with the children, and gives Darwin, Mikey, and Roxy some pointers, and helps them build a sled for a small Sámi girl named Márge, who lives in an isolated settlement with her people. The Kringles also move from Rainbow River Valley onto Winter's mountain, since they now granted them unlimited access across his territory. Kris becomes burdened every night with the ever increasing demands with Darwin, Mikey, and the Spy Elves prepping the houses, while the Burgermeister implements harsher measures to ensure that he does not succeed. After Kris and the elves simply deliver toys by entering the unlocked front doors of the homes, the Burgermeister orders all doors to be locked tight, where Kris starts using chimneys to deliver them. More elves arrive at the Kringle house. As Darwin is writing a letter to the rest of the elves about their new job and boss, Márge and the rest of her people arrive at the Kringle house to help out Kris and the elves. Finding more toys, the Burgermeister order his guards to patrol the whole houses and capture the elves. Darwin has an idea to get the children to hide the toys in their stockings. They manage to deliver the toys to the children without getting caught by the guards, only for Quillgin to get captured and taken hostage. The next day, the Burgermeister begins searching houses outright and the children outsmart by hanging their stockings by the fireplace to bluff the Burgermeister so he thinks that the stockings were being dried in front of the fireplace, but it was a sign to Kris that he could put their gifts inside so that Burgermeister can't find them.

Growing frustrated with his inability to stop Kris and the elves, the Burgermeister sets a trap for them as he makes another delivery. He has Grimsley and the Meisterburger soldiers jail the elves, the Kringles, the Sámi people, Topper and Winter and destroy the workshop in retributions. Roxy, Jingle, Jangle, and Maddie try to escape, but the Burgermeister shows up and captures them, and Roxy is horrified to learn that Quillgin, in exchange for his own freedom, has betrayed them all to the Burgermeister. He steals Roxy's cowbell and for their betrayal, Quillgin and the Burgermeister leave Jingle, Jangle, Maddie, and Roxy in a deep hole to be executed. One of the Meisterburger soldiers try to capture Darwin and Mikey, but they escaped to a waterfall and survived. Quillgin uses Roxy's cowbell to summon Earl and the rest of the elves, whom the Meisterburger soldiers capture and place in the dungeon, while the Burgermeister awaits to capture Kris, who surrenders willingly once he found out that Quillgin betrayed him and his friends. With the elves, the Kringles, and most of their allies now in the dungeon, the Burgermeister personally has the children watch as he destroys their toys, declaring they will never play with toys again, much to their despair.

Jessica pleas to the Burgermeister to release Kris, the elves, the Kringle clan, the Sámi people, and Winter, but her pleas falls on deaf ears as the Burgermeister dismisses her. Realizing now that all of Sombertown and the Burgermeister are against her, Jessica finds Darwin and Mikey and with help from Hermey and Márge (who have both escaped the Burgermeister's trap), they rescued Roxy, Jingle, Jangle, and Maddie. They discovered an abandoned church in Myra and come across a poverty-stricken townsman. He told Jessica and the elves about how as a young boy, Kris have rescued three girls from being forced into prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house each night for three nights so their father could pay a dowry for each of them. The gift to the girls saved them. The elves found out that Kris' real name is.

Jessica and the two elves visit the dungeon and Darwin and Jessica try pleading Winter to use his magic to break everyone out, but the old warlock despondently feels that he has no more magic left except for a few items, including magic feed corn, but it can only make reindeer fly. Mikey and Darwin disguise themselves as a Meisterburger soldiers to get inside. Jessica gives some of the feed corn to Comet and his reindeer friends - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. With the help of the flying reindeer, the elves, the Kringles, Sámi people, Kris, Topper, and Winter escape, enraging the Burgermeister when he discovers them making a break for it and orders his guards to recapture them. Darwin, Mikey, and the rest of the elves manage to escape the guards and sneak around the palace to the gates. During the escape, one of the soldiers, Askel knocks Comet down with a stalactite and pursues with his army and try to destroy the toys and kill the elves and Kris. Darwin and Mikey try to stop the Burgermeister and the Meisterburgers from destroying the remaining toys but apparently fails. However, Roxy had already been informed of the plot by the town's children, and so she and the kids had replaced the toys with decoys. During the chase for the toys, Quillgin, in a chariot, attempts to stop them but accidentally smashes into Aksel's chariot, which sends both their chariots into a ditch killing them both. Though Quillgin manages to survive the fall, he is floated off to sea. Darwin and Mikey accompany Comet, who wakes up, but his remaining antler is broken off by the hit. The Burgermeister makes an oath that the Meisterburger family shall hunt them down.

After having spent months of being outlaws and discovering that their home on Winter's mountain was destroyed by the Burgermeister's troops, Kris and the elves return to the woods, at which point it is shown that Kris has now grown a beard. Tanta suggests that he return to his real birth name "Claus" for safety. Kris asks Jessica to share the name Claus with him, as his wife. After the marriage, the elves say goodbye to Márge and her family in hopes that they'll meet again. The group travels to the North Pole, where they eventually build Santa Claus's Workshop, making more toys for the children in Sombertown. Eventually, the people of Sombertown realize how silly the Meisterburgers' laws were once the Burgermeister and his descendants died off and lost power over the town. Years later, Darwin, Mikey, and Roxy went to see the fairies and nymphs of the Northern Forest. As Kris nears the end of his life, he suggests that his friends remember him by decorating a tree every year. Darwin explains there was no boss like him and after hearing about Kris' life and good deeds and the way he inspired all the elves, the council unanimously votes to give Kris, along with Jessica, and the reindeer immortality.

Thanks to Darwin, Mikey, and the rest of the elves, Kris' legend goes worldwide, and, having now officially become "Santa Claus", he realizes that he cannot keep up with all the toy requests. This leads to Darwin's decision to Santa visiting just once a year, on December 24th, Christmas Eve, "The Night of Profound Love". As Santa, Darwin, Mikey, and some of the other elves prepare to head out on that night, Winter tells him that he has regained his magic and can guarantee a white Christmas. Roxy, Mrs. Claus, and the other elves waved goodbye to Darwin, Mikey, and Santa as they fly away on the sleigh through the night sky and that is how the plot will be set up for The Christmas Movie.

In a mid-credits scene, Quillgin is shown to be floating at sea and is greeted by Bernard and Carol on a small boat. He asked them for help but, he ends up being eaten by a whale. In a post credits scene, once the story finishes, Bob thinks the end credits were squiggles and asks him why they are on the screen. Darwin explains end credits, and Roxy, Jingle, Jangle, Maddie, Hermey, Stuart, Carl, Earl, Mary, Roberto, Santa, Mrs. Claus, and all the other elves join Darwin, Mikey and the elflings to rewatch the film in the theater.

Voice cast

 * Jason Schwartzman as Darwin, one of the scout elves and Mikey’s best friend who both set off to find a boss to work for, which they end up with Kris and helps bring much-needed happiness to Sombertown.
 * Chris Pratt as Mikey, a kind, enthusiastic, and humorous everyman scout elf and Darwin’s best friend who loves his job of making toys and helps Kris deliver toys to the children of Sombertown.
 * Kelly Clarkson as Roxy, a peppy and outgoing elf and Darwin's love interest, later girlfriend with lots of confidence, hope, and curiosity.
 * James Marsden as Kris Kringle, A young human who was raised by the Kringle Elves and helps Mikey and Darwin deliver toys to the children of Sombertown. His birth name is.
 * J.K. Simmons as Santa Claus
 * Ronin Willingham as Young Kris
 * Jack McBrayer as Hermey, one of Darwin and Mikey’s friends who will pursue a career of dentistry in the future.
 * Rashida Jones as Miss Jessica, Sombertown’s school teacher who falls in love with Kris.
 * Maya Rudolph as Mrs. Claus
 * Blake Shelton as Earl, the head elf and mentor to all of the other Elves.
 * Nick Jonas as Quillgin, the elf trainer of the Elf Academy, Darwin’s arrogant, conceited, and preppy rival with a generous and inspiring personality. He is later revealed to be a coward and traitor willing to sell out his fellow Elves just to save himself. He is also the secondary antagonist of the film.
 * Patrick Stump as Stuart, a cool and smooth elf and one of Mikey and Darwin’s friends.
 * Jason Sudeikis as Jingle Bells, a level-headed, grumpy, and sarcastic elf, Jangle's buddy, and the Burgermeister’s former soldier.
 * Kevin Hart as Jangle Bells, a cautious but bold and calmer in tough elf, Jingle's buddy, and the Burgermeister’s former soldier.
 * Janelle Monáe as Maddie, a kindhearted elf, Sombertown’s teaching aide, Jingle and Jangle's closest friend, Roxy's best friend, and Mikey's love interest, later girlfriend who befriends the other elves.
 * James Corden as Carl, a dim-witted elf and one of Mikey and Darwin's friends.
 * Matt Berry as the Winter Warlock, an immortal hermit with vast magic that lives on the Mountain of the Whispering Winds and Kris and the elves’ former enemy turned friend.
 * Martin Short as Burgermeister Meisterburger, the grouchy and abusive mayor of Sombertown and Jingle and Jangle’s former boss who despises toys and will stop at nothing to capture Kris and the Elves and stop them from bringing fun and play into his town. He is the main antagonist of the film.
 * Pitbull as Roberto, a slick party animal elf and Roxy's closest/best friend.
 * Wanda Sykes as Sugarplum Mary, an cynical baker elf who can be frequently found cooking up some amazing and inventive culinary concoctions.
 * Bebe Rexha as Tinsel, a green-haired elf, one of the Spy Elves, and Stuart’s love interest.
 * Charli XCX as Kat, a red-haired elf, one of the Spy Elves, and Carl's love interest.
 * Lizzo as Lilia, a indigo-haired elf, one of the Spy Elves, and Jangle's love interest.
 * Alan Tudyk as:
 * Grimsley, Burgermeister Meisterburger's right-hand man and the tertiary antagonist of the film.
 * Topper, a lost penguin who was trying to find his way to the South Pole.
 * The Kringle brothers, Dingle, Wingle, Bingle, Tingle, and Zingle
 * Meisterburger guards
 * Paul, one of the elves
 * Doctor
 * Townspeople
 * Lance, on of the scout elves
 * A poverty-stricken townsman who Kris helped to prevent his daughters from prostitution.
 * Maggie Smith as Tanta Kringle, the Elf Queen and the head of the Kringle family, and the guardian of Kris Kringle when he was a child.
 * Neda Margrethe Labba as Márge, a young Sámi girl who becomes well-acquainted with Mikey and Darwin despite their language barrier.
 * Jason Statham as Aksel, one of the Meisterburger soldiers
 * Adam Carolla as Muggs, the sarcastic ferryman of Sombertown who enjoys humor that comes at others' expense.
 * David Krumholtz as Bernard, Darwin's father, Carol's husband, and the former leader of the scout elves.
 * Jane Krakowski as Carol, Darwin's mother and Bernard's wife.
 * Ariel Winter as Nellie, one of the prepper elves.
 * Olivia Colman as Elfie, one of the prepper elves.
 * Gina Rodriguez as Trixie, one of the prepper elves.
 * George Lopez as Pepper Minstix, the guardian of the Village's secret location.
 * David Koechner as Wunorse Openslae, the creator of Santa's magical flying sleigh.
 * Hugh Laurie as Alabaster Snowball, the administrator of Santa's Naughty or Nice List.
 * Bill Nighy as Shinny Upatree, the oldest elf and Santa's Village co-founder.
 * Jeff Dunham as Bushy Evergreen, the inventor of the amazing Magnetic Kinetic Toy Hulla-Ballu toy making machine.
 * Billy West as Lou, one of the elves.
 * Christian Slater as Sam, a bartender elf.
 * Nasim Pedrad as Mikey's mom
 * Ryan Todd as Steve, Mikey and Darwin's annoying neighbor
 * Billy Stamos as Bob, Mikey and Darwin's student and one the elflings listening to the story of the Elves, how they met Santa.
 * Thea Eddey as Charlotte, one the elflings listening to the story.
 * Fox Messitt as Mason, one the elflings listening to the story.
 * Kath Soucie as Olivia, one the elflings listening to the story.
 * Brandon Greene as:
 * Strudel, a german elf
 * Townspeople
 * Ken, one of the prepper elves
 * Norbert, the Au Naturel elf
 * The Elves
 * Jock, a pilot elf
 * Dee Bradley Baker as:
 * Comet
 * Charlie, one of the elves
 * Mark, one of the scout elves
 * April Winchell as Julie, one of Santa's elves
 * Winchell also voices the female townspeople
 * Natalie Martinez as Meg, a lawyer/model elf
 * Stephen Zimpel as Dan, an engineer/model elf
 * Enrique Santos as Nolan, one of the scout elves
 * Jake Johnson as Barry, one of the scout elves
 * Melissa Sturm as Katie, one of the elves
 * Dave Franco as Willy, one of the elves
 * Troy Baker as the Head Council of the fairies and nymphs of the Northern Forest
 * Debi Derryberry as Young Clark Hopeful, the younger version of Ben and Patrick's father. He was previously voiced by Abel Arnett as a kid in The Christmas Movie 2.
 * Kari Wahlgren as Young Liz Hopeful, the younger version of Ben and Patrick's mother.
 * Dan Aykroyd as Doug Hopeful, Clark's father and Charity's husband
 * Glenn Close as Charity Hopeful, Clark's mother and Doug's wife
 * Maurice LaMarche as Liz's father

Soundtrack
Music from and Inspired by Elves, the soundtrack of the film, it will be released on November 17, 2033. Kelly Clarkson contributed a cover song of "Grown-Up Christmas List", JoJo Siwa contributed a cover song of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and Zedd and Aloe Blacc contributed the song "Candyman", which are all playing at the film's credits. Janelle Monáe contributed a cover song of "Winter Wonderland". For the film's first official trailer, The The's song "This Is The Day" from their album Soul Mining can be heard. The film's teaser trailer features the song titled "Whole World" by Loch Lomond. The two songs are not featured in the actual film, but are still both on the film's soundtrack.

No. Title.......................................................................Music


 * 1) ""....................................Zedd, Aloe Blacc
 * 2) ""....................................Louis Prima
 * 3) "Couldn't Be Better"....................................Kelly Clarkson, Elves Cast
 * 4) "The First Toymakers to the King"....................................Maggie Smith, Jason Schwartzman, Chris Pratt
 * 5) "No More Toymakers to the King"....................................Martin Short, Alan Tudyk
 * 6) ""....................................Blake Shelton,, , Fletcher Sheridan, Elves Cast
 * 7) "Put One Foot in Front of the Other"....................................James Marsden, Jason Schwartzman, Chris Pratt, Matt Berry
 * 8) ""....................................Janelle Monáe
 * 9) "Shake Hands with Santa Claus"....................................Louis Prima
 * 10) "What Will Santa Claus Say?"....................................Louis Prima
 * 11) ""....................................Kelly Clarkson
 * 12) " - Instrumental....................................
 * 13) "Love Goes On"....................................Kelly Clarkson, Aloe Blacc
 * 14) "Couldn't Be Better (Reprise)"....................................Elves Cast
 * 15) ""....................................Kelly Clarkson
 * 16) ""....................................JoJo Siwa
 * 17) ""....................................Kelly Clarkson
 * 18) "Put One Foot in Front of the Other"....................................Quaker City String Band
 * 1) ""....................................Kelly Clarkson
 * 2) "Put One Foot in Front of the Other"....................................Quaker City String Band

Development
Netflix and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer first announced in October 2025, that the Elves from the franchise would get their own spin-off film, originally scheduled for a 2028 release but delayed to 2033. Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger were asked to write the film's screenplay. Brandon Greene became writer and director again. Kelly Clarkson, the voice of Roxy was asked to compose and write the music along side Christopher Lennertz.

Casting
Most of the elf cast from The Christmas Movie films return for the spin-off including: Jason Schwartzman and Chris Pratt as Darwin and Mikey (who are the film's main characters), Kelly Clarkson as Roxy, James Corden as Carl, Jack McBrayer as Hermey, Jason Sudeikis and Kevin Hart as Jingle Bells and Jangle Bells, Patrick Stump as Stuart, Blake Shelton as Earl the Head Elf, and Wanda Sykes as Sugarplum Mary. In February 2031, James Marsden joined the cast to voice Kris Kringle (a young Santa Claus), with Rashida Jones joining two months later as Miss Jessica (a young Mrs. Claus). In March 2033, it was announced that the voice of rapper Pitbull would be featured in the film for an unknown role. Clarkson reprised her role as Roxy. In June 2033, Nick Jonas joined the voice cast of the film. In July 2033, comedians Martin Short and Matt Berry joined the film. It was announced that Charli XCX, Janelle Monáe, Bebe Rexha and Lizzo had been cast in the film.

Animation
The film was foreshadowed in the end credits scene of The Christmas Movie 2 (2025), where Darwin and Mikey, two of the elves and the film's main characters, are seen setting up six other elves for the audition for the film; three for winners and three for losers.

Marketing
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Netflix, and its partners spent $593 million in advertisements and promotion, across all media and platforms. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer spent a total of $26.1 million on television advertisements for the film. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer described the promotional campaign as the "largest and most comprehensive" in its history.

The Christmas Movie 10th Anniversary Celebration
To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Christmas Movie, Elves is launching the biggest marketing campaign in its history, "Celebrate with St. Nicholas." It's a two year-long marketing bash that will feature star-studded events, product innovation, music collaborations, and unexpected partnerships meant to cement the brand's place in pop culture history. In November 2033, ran several Elves promotions to tie in with the movie's release. M&M's were offered "eggnog", "chocolate chip", and "sugar plums". They were sold at many stores displayed in huge cardboard-cutout elf displays. In November 7, 2033, the "Wheredafungo" promotion features advice from Mikey and Darwin to insert fun into celebrating Christmas, such as funny words in a business call.

Elves also kicked off the campaign with the release of "" a modern remake of 's The Candy Man song (1972). Nostalgia and soulful riffs come together in this new version featuring Grammy award-winning artist Zedd and Grammy-nominated musician Aloe Blacc. The single is available for download in iTunes and streaming on Spotify, and comes with a full-length music video featuring Aloe Blacc, Zedd, and Mikey, Darwin, Roxy, Jingle Bells, Jangle Bells, Maddie, Hermey, and Stuart.

"Elves collaboration with Aloe Blacc and Zedd was not about creating a soundtrack for a new television spot. Rather, it's about inspiring a new generation of fans to sing along and celebrate with us," says de Pablos-Barbier. "It was also our ambition to be 'digital first' as we were able to create an incredible amount of engaging content through this partnership that will enable us to be culturally relevant with millennials and Gen Z fans."

Release
Elves was released theatrically in select theaters on 8 November 2033, and was released digitally through Netflix on November 23, 2033 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Christmas Movie. It is the first film in the franchise to be released in theaters. In January 2029, Netflix reported the film was watched by 40 million members over its first four weeks of release.

The film was released a year later on December 1, 2033 on Freeform during 25 Days of Christmas.

Critical Response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, which categorizes reviews only as positive or negative, 54% of 222 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.80/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Elves' brightly colored brand of comedic antics and insanity stretches to feature length in their self-titled Christmas Movie spinoff, with uneven but often hilarious results." According to the review aggregator Metacritic, which sampled 35 reviews and calculated a weighted average of 56 out of 100, Elves received "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Glenn Kenny of The New York Times gave the film a C, saying "Elves has idiosyncratic roots, but it's a franchise play all the way. Finally, even 5-year-olds have their own movie that mechanically cashes in on something they loved when they were younger". Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "I, too, once enjoyed the Elves, in the small doses that they came in. But the extra-strength Elves is, for better or for worse, too much of a good thing". Brian Truitt of USA Today gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying, "Brian Lynch's screenplay features a series of amusing sight gags and physical comedy that mostly hits; watching the Elves play polo while riding Corgis is an exercise in cuteness". John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, writing: "Elves is like "One big Looney Tunes cartoon" that invents an unexpected and very enjoyable origin story for the big guy who gives out toys every Christmas eve. Shaking off most Yuletide clichés in favor of a from-scratch story about how even dubiously-motivated generosity can lead to joy, it contains echoes of other seasonal favorites (especially, in a topsy-turvy way, Dr. Seuss' Grinch) while standing completely on its own." Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a mixed review, calling the film over-complicated and saying: "What goodwill the movie does inspire owes more to the splendid visual world than to anything the story supplies." Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club gave the film a grade C− and wrote: "Like their Troll ancestors, the Elves combine an evergreen cuteness with a why-now lack of currency."

Some fans of were critical of the film and its premise, opining that Kris Kringle would have been the one who was mainly responsible for the creation of Christmas and it's traditions and that the Elves would not be doing corny jokes, puns or gags.

Accolades
Elves was awarded a ReFrame Stamp in the category "Top 100-Grossing Holiday Feature" for involving identifying people in at least four of eight key areas of production. Kelly Clarkson Grown-Up Christmas List was nominated for Best Song in the 2033 Teen Choice Awards in the category "Choice Song From A Movie".

Sequel
Main article: Elves World Tour

Elves was followed by Elves World Tour, the fifth overall installment in The Christmas Movie franchise. In the film, the elves go on a tour with Elfis and his new band the Sleigh Riders while also trying to stop a Rock Elf from overthrowing the foreign music genres and destroying Christmas all together.

Gallery
Main article: Elves (2033 film)/Gallery

Trivia

 * The film's plot and characters are inspired by ' (1970), ' (2015), Trolls (2016), ' (2019), and ' (2019).
 * The scenes where Darwin, Mikey, and the elflings are shown in silhouette commenting on the movie being shown before them, in a style nearly identical to that of . It is also similar to The Lion King 1½ (2004) (which also parodies Mystery Science Theater 3000).
 * Like in The Christmas Movie and it's sequels, the casts who voiced the elves improvised some of their lines to add more humor.
 * Quillgin is named after the character of the same name from the Regular Show Christmas Special.
 * The scene where Kris and the elves escape from the Meisterburger soldiers was the same way as Indiana Jones fleeing the Hovitos from the 1981 film . The sequence even keeps the music intact.
 * The scene where the elves escape the Meisterburger dungeon is a reference to The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.
 * The film was released on the same day as The Christmas Musical, which was based on The Christmas Movie.
 * It is the first and only film in the franchise to be released in theaters.
 * It is the only film in the franchise to not be released on Friday as it is released on Wednesday.
 * Santa Claus' origin is a merge between St. Nicholas and the modern Santa.