The Happy Elf

A street musician with the voice and likeness of crooner Harry Connick, Jr. relays the story of a misfit elf to a sister and brother who think Christmas Eve is too late to get moved to Santa's naughty list. He tells the tale of Eubie, the happy elf, who is so gleeful that he annoys everyone else at the North Pole. When Eubie is moved to the list checking department, he discovers a town where all the children are on the naughty list. Eubie makes it his mission to travel to the town of Bluesville and find out what's wrong so that he can help make it right!

Featuring the original holiday music of my personal favorite singer, Harry Connick, Jr., "The Happy Elf" is a delightful new Christmas special for the whole family. Capturing some of that old Rankin/Bass holiday special magic (note that Mickey Rooney, who plays Santa here, played him more than once for Rankin/Bass), this new, computer animated special provides impressive animation and plenty of laughs and smiles, plus the great music you'd expect from Harry, whose "Happy Elf" song was the inspiration for this special. The 45-minute movie features an impressive cast, with Harry as the narrator and Mickey Rooney as Santa, Carol Kane as Eubie's best friend, Gilda, Lewis Black as Norbert the elf, animation fave Rob Paulsen as Eubie, and more! The DVD offers both enhanced widescreen and fullscreen presentations and a plethora of bonus features. There's a thorough storyboard presentation, trailer, character gallery, behind the scenes interview with Harry Connick, Jr., the "build an elf" game (which is a short but amusing mix and match game), and several DVD-Rom/printable features (such as coloring pages, games, and holiday cards). And, the slip cover even lights up and plays a bit of the title song, if you can still get one with the slip cover that is!

"The Happy Elf" is definitely a DVD to pick up if you're looking for a new holiday special in the style of the R/B classics and is certainly a much better choice than most of the recent, wannabe sequels to those beloved specials. You don't even have to be a fan of Harry Connick, Jr. to enjoy this one, as it is more about the story than anything else and doesn't feel bogged down with forced musical numbers like some specials of the kind. Of course, it doesn't hurt to be a fan of Harry's, and if you find yourself loving the jazzy Happy Elf song, you may want to pick up his other Christmas DVD, "Harry for the Holidays." I also highly recommend his CD of the same title, and even more, his first Christmas CD, "When My Heart Finds Christmas." I just wish the holiday special that came out with that CD would come to DVD too!

I purchased this DVD last week even though I had never heard of it before. I hadn't watched it yet, and the other night I was curious to see what people said about it. After reading the "review" from the lady that said it was "Disgusting", I was completely bummed and hesitant to watch the movie. Well, I just got done watching it, and now I am left wondering....LADY, DID WE WATCH THE SAME MOVIE??

First of all, in the beginning when the little girl says "shut up", it was said in the context of "nooo way", which is how kid's say it these days. And it was the ONLY time it was said. There is NO bad language, and NO HISSING CHILDREN.

It was a cute Christmas movie, with a happy conquers sad theme. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to share it with my nieces and nephews.

As for it being scary, the only way your child will "soil their pants" is if your child is scared of candy and puppy dogs!!!

I am ten years old and this movie might be fun for toddlers (ages 2-4) but I did not like it. It is short, quite strange, and whenever I watch it I run to my room and slam the door. I cannot stand this movie. The best part of this movie is that when you touch a certain place on the case, it (the case) lights up and sings. When my mom bought it, it was rated four and a half stars, but it was quite a dissapointment. If you want to watch the worst movie ever, buy this item!

The children (ages 2-3) love this movie, and request to watch it all the time. It is a very cute movie, but the little girl in the beginning of the movie says "Shut up!", which is something I don't want the kids to pick up. Overall, the kids love it, and I recommend this movie as a very cute, slightly cheesy Christmas movie.

It was a good movie for my 7 year old - cheesy for me . . . Most of the movies I can sit through, Dora, Barbie, My little Pony . . . but I couldn't sit through this one. The good thing is it's not that long . . . so you won't be overwhelmed.

It's OK - not bad, but I wouldn't suggest for them to PICK that one . . . maybe I'd hide it for a few months to save myself!! LOL