Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

'Happy Elf' has designs on Christmas past

By CHASE SQUIRES
Published December 2, 2005

Seems like they stopped making television Christmas classics in the 1960s, the golden era that produced animated specials How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

It's not that folks haven't tried. Who could forget 1978's Star Wars Holiday Special , when Han and Luke try to get Chewbacca home for his family's important Life Day celebration?

But none have matched the classics from production company Rankin/Bass. The old specials were yearly events, from the sponsors and the exciting drumbeat of the "CBS Special" logo, to the bowl of popcorn and the extended bedtime.

NBC's new yuletide entry, The Happy Elf, makes a valiant bid for the old magic, with a few modern twists. There's snow and Santa and elves and the old-school Christian American worldview, promising "all the world's children will wake up to a joyful Christmas morning."

But even star Harry Connick Jr. said he isn't sure anyone can recapture the special feeling of the old TV specials, thanks to today's endless replays on cable and a smorgasbord of animated fare available on DVD.

Still, Happy Elf tries. For inspiration, creators mined the mother lode of Christmas TV nostalgia, Santa's sleigh ride, forlorn children, a cute love interest and a singing, dancing narrator (Connick) telling a story to a gang of kiddies.

Of course, claymation has given way to computer-generated graphics, and instead of Burl Ives, we get the voice of Mickey Rooney (as Santa).

Connick - a jazz and big band performer, as well as an actor - said the idea for a Christmas special came long after he wrote the title song, The Happy Elf, at a friend's suggestion.

"I said, "Go ahead and put that together, and lay it on me,' " Connick recalled.

Connick said he's honored to be part of a holiday special, but downplays an NBC publicist's suggestion this could be the next classic.

"For me, it's all about doing what I like to do artistically. ... If it gets played year after year and people start singing the song like they sing Rudolf, that would be unbelieveable."

Happy Elf tells the tale of Eubie, a perpetually chipper but inept elf in Santa's workshop. Checking the list of naughty and nice, he finds the children of Bluesville are all naughty. His investigation finds a town full of baleful folk at the bottom of a canyon who never see the sun and never celebrate Christmas. He makes things right, wins the hearts of his fellow elves, gets special recognition from Santa and delivers joy to the town.

Hooray for Eubie.

But something's not quite right in the hourlong production. The computer graphics are a bit too smooth, the songs are clipped a bit too short. The story is a bit too jumbled. It tries, but it doesn't make it all the way back to the golden age.

Maybe we can never go back.

--Chase Squires can be reached at 727 893-8739 or squires@sptimes.com His blog is www.sptimes.com/blogs/tv

[Last modified December 2, 2005, 10:52:32]