Elves (2028 film)

Elves is a 2028 American animated Christmas musical 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 and Cinesite Animation. The film stars the voices of Jason Schwartzman, Chris Pratt, Kelly Clarkson, James Marsden, Jack McBrayer, Rashida Jones, Nick Jonas, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Hart, Janelle Monáe, James Corden, Eric Idle, Patrick Stump, Pitbull, Wanda Sykes, Bebe Rexha, Charli XCX, Lizzo, Kelsey Grammer, and Blake Shelton. It was first foreshadowed in the mid-credits scene of The Christmas Movie 2 (2025), where Kevin and Dave, two of the elves and the film's main characters, are seen setting up other elves for the audition for the film.

Elves was released on November 23, 2028 on Netflix as part of the 5th 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 Claus, 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 2036.

Plot
As Dave and Kevin watch the original film in a theater with their elfling students (Bob, Charlotte, Noah, and Olivia), Dave decides to fast-forward to their scenes. Kevin's protest over this eventually prompts 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 gets overwhelmed by so many of them asking various questions regarding Santa, going back to before the beginning of the movie.

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 bear, crushing a Pharaoh under a pyramid after constructing it upside-down, exploding a roman inventor, 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 Mayor of the Elves, Earl and the head elf and Kevin's father, Bernard find a baby hidden in parts of the cave and send two elves to 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 name tag reading "Claus" and 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, leaving Kevin as the new head elf. To regain their dignity and sense of purpose, Kevin recruits Dave (who just moved out of his house), setting out to look for a new boss, leaving Kevin's frenemy/rival and elf trainer Quillgin in charge.

Meanwhile, Kris who is now old enough, volunteers to deliver the toys to Sombertown. While Dave and Kevin are traveling 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 Dave and Kevin that Jingle 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 Donner. 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 Dave and Kevin wear. They see the children of the town have been put into labor, mostly washing their stockings. They Kris and a penguin named Topper and Kevin said that there's no one to help them deliver toys to due to people hating toys and don't want to end up in the dungeon, so Kris decides to change that and begins helping the elves hand out toys to the children toys. 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". Meanwhile back in the village, one of the elves named Roxy leaves the village to find her way thorugh the Mountains of the Whispering Winds, followed by Stuart, Hermey, Carl, Sugarplum Mary, and José. Quillgin eventually finds out about this and sends his three Spy Elves to go after them.

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 confesses it was he 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 manages 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, Kevin, Dave, Jingle, Jangle, Topper, and Donner 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. Kevin and Dave finds 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. Kevin introduces their friends to Kris and Jessica. Jessica informs them that the Burgermeister destroyed all of the toys Kris, Kevin, and Dave previously delivered and the children now request new ones.

Mindy, an elf school teaching aide in Sombertown, sympathizes with the children, and gives Kevin, Dave, 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 Kevin, Dave, 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 delivers 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 Kevin is writing a letter to the rest of the elves about their 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. Kevin 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 Mindy 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, Mindy, and Roxy in a deep hole to be executed. One of the Meisterburger soldiers captured Dave and Kevin and thrown off a waterfall, but they 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 founds out his friends were captured. 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 Kevin and Dave and with help from Hermey and Márge (who have both escaped the Burgermeister's trap), they rescued Roxy, Jingle, Jangle, and Mindy. They discovered an abandoned church in Myra and that Kris' real name is Nicholas. Jessica and the two elves visit the dungeon and Kevin 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. Dave and Kevin disguise themselves as a Meisterburger soldiers to get inside. Jessica gives some of the feed corn to Donner and his reindeer friends - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, 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. Kevin, Dave, and the rest of the elves manage to escape the guards and sneak around the palace to the gates. During the escape, the Burgermeister shots down Donner and pursues with his army and try to destroy the toys and kill the elves and Kris. Quillgin, in a chariot, attempts to stop them but accidentally smashes into the Burgermeister's chariot, which sends both their chariots into a ditch. The moving carriage continues to escape as the Burgermeister is about to angrily capture Quillgin, but Quillgin escapes to sea shore near by, leaving a furious Burgermeister. Dave and Kevin accompany Donner, who survived the shot, but his remaining antler is broken off by the shot. 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 and go their seperate ways. 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, Kevin, Dave, and Roxy went to see the fairies and nymphs of the Northern Forest and asked them to make Kris immortal like them and the rest of the elves so that they can continue working for him and to help him deliver toys to children. The faires and nymphs agree to this, but they warn that with immortality, Kris would see loved ones come and go. The elf trio accept and the faires and nymphs ask for a new name to be reborn into, and remembering the time when they found out Kris' birth name, simply state, "Santa Claus". With this, the fairies and nymphs of the Northen Forest grants Kris, along Jessica, and the reindeer immortality.

Thanks to Kevin, Dave, 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 Kevin's decision to Santa visiting just once a year, on December 24th, Christmas Eve, "The Night of Profound Love". As Santa, Kevin, Dave, 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 Kevin, Dave, 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 after-credits scene, once the story finishes, Bob thinks the end credits were squiggles and asks him why they are on the screen. Kevin explains end credits, and Roxy, Jingle, Jangle, Mindy, Hermey, Stuart, Carl, Earl, Mary, José, Santa, Mrs. Claus, and all the other elves join Dave and Kevin to rewatch the film in the theater.

Voice cast

 * Jason Schwartzman as Kevin, the head elf and Dave’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 Dave, a kind, enthusiastic, and humorous everyman scout elf and Kevin’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 Kevin'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 Dave and Kevin deliver toys to the children of Sombertown. His birth name is Nicholas.
 * J.K. Simmons as Santa Claus
 * Ronin Willingham as Young Kris
 * Jack McBrayer as Hermey, one of Kevin and Dave’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 Unofficial Mayor of the elf tribe and mentor to all of the other Elves.
 * Nick Jonas as Quillgin, the elf trainer of the Elf Academy, Kevin’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.
 * 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 Mindy, a kindhearted elf, Sombertown’s teaching aide, Jingle and Jangle's closest friend, Roxy's best friend, and Dave's love interest, later girlfriend who befriends the other elves.
 * James Corden as Carl, a dim-witted elf and one of Dave and Kevin's friends.
 * Eric Idle 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.
 * Kelsey Grammer 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.
 * Patrick Stump as Stuart, a cool and smooth elf and one of Dave and Kevin’s friends.
 * Pitbull as José, 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.
 * Martin Short as Grimsley, Burgermeister Meisterburger's right-hand man and the tertiary antagonist of the film.
 * 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 Sami girl who becomes well-acquainted with Jesper despite their language barrier.
 * Alan Tudyk as:
 * 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
 * Jason Statham as Aksel, one of the Meisterburger soldiers
 * David Krumholtz as Bernard, Kevin's father, Carol's husband, and the former head elf.
 * Jane Krakowski as Carol, Kevin's mother and Bernard's wife.
 * Amy Poehler as Nellie, one of the prepper elves.
 * Ariel Winter as Elfie, one of the prepper elves.
 * Gina Rodriguez as Trixie, one of the prepper elves.
 * George Lopez as Pepper Minstix, guardian of the Village's secret location.
 * David Koechner as Wunorse Openslae, the creator of Santa's magical flying sleigh.
 * Bill Nighy as Bushy Evergreen, the inventor of the amazing Magnetic Kinetic Toy Hulla-Ballu toy making machine.
 * Billy West as Lou, one of the elves.
 * Jeff Bennett as Alabaster Snowball, the administrator of Santa's Naughty or Nice List.
 * Corey Burton as Shinny Upatree, the oldest Village co-founder.
 * Ryan Todd as Steve, Dave and Kevin's annoying neighbor
 * Brandon Greene as:
 * Strudel, a german elf
 * Townspeople
 * Ken, one of the prepper elves
 * Norbert, the Au Naturel elf
 * The Elves
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Charlie, one of the elves
 * Baker also voices Mark, one of the 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 Mike, 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
 * Billy Stamos as Bob, Dave and Kevin's mentor and one the elflings listening to the story of the Elves, how they met Santa, and.
 * Thea Eddey as Charlotte, one the elflings listening to the story.
 * Fox Messitt as Noah, one the elflings listening to the story.
 * Kath Soucie as Olivia, one the elflings listening to the story.
 * Debi Derryberry as Young Clark Hopeful, the younger version of Ben and Patrick's father. He was previously voiced by Bodhi Hawn Hudson as a kid in The Christmas Movie 2.
 * Kari Wahlgren as Young Liz Hopeful, the younger version of Ben and Patrick's mother.
 * Kurt Russell as Doug Hopeful, Clark's father and Charity's husband
 * Goldie Hawn 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 16, 2028. 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".

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


 * 1) "Candyman"....................................Zedd, Aloe Blacc
 * 2) "Winter Wonderland"....................................Janelle Monáe
 * 3) "Pennies From Heaven"....................................Louis Prima
 * 4) "Couldn't Be Better"....................................Kelly Clarkson, Elves Cast
 * 5) "The Candy Man"....................................Sammy Davis Jr.
 * 6) "No More Toymakers to the King"....................................Kelsey Grammer, Martin Short
 * 7) "Be Prepared to Pay" (featuring Jason Schwartzman and Chris Pratt)....................................James Marsden
 * 8) "Put One Foot in Front of the Other"....................................James Marsden, Jason Schwartzman, Chris Pratt, Eric Idle
 * 9) "Colour My World"....................................Elves Cast
 * 10) "Shake Hands with Santa Claus"....................................Louis Prima
 * 11) "What Will Santa Claus Say?"....................................Louis Prima
 * 12) "White Christmas"....................................Kelly Clarkson
 * 13) "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 - Instrumental....................................Trans-Siberian Orchestra
 * 14) "Love Goes On"....................................Kelly Clarkson, Aloe Blacc
 * 15) "Couldn't Be Better (Reprise)"....................................Elves Cast
 * 16) "Underneath the Tree"....................................Kelly Clarkson
 * 17) "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"....................................JoJo Siwa
 * 18) "Grown-Up Christmas List"....................................Kelly Clarkson
 * 19) "Sleigh Ride"....................................Leroy Anderson

Development
Netflix and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer first announced in October 2025, that the Elves from the franchise would get their own spin-off film, scheduled for a 2027 release. Glenn Berger was asked to write the film's screenplay. Brandon Greene became writer and director again with newcomer. Jason Schwartzman, the voice of Kevin would be producing the film. Aloe Blacc was asked to compose and write the music along side Kelly Clarkson.

Casting
In February 2026, 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 2028, it was announced that the voice of rapper Pitbull would be featured in the film for an unknown role. Kelly Clarkson reprised her role as Roxy. In June 2028, Nick Jonas joined the voice cast of the film. In July 2028, comedians Kelsey Grammer and Martin Short 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 Kevin and Dave, 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 5th Anniversary Celebration
To celebrate the 5th 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 2028, M&M's 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, 2028, the "Wheredafungo" promotion features advice from Dave and Kevin to insert fun into celebrating Christmas, such as funny words in a business call.

Elves also kicked off the campaign with the release of "Candyman" a modern remake of Sammy Davis Jr.'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 Dave, Kevin, Roxy, Jingle Bells, Jangle Bells, Mindy, 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 2028, and was released digitally through Netflix on November 28, 2028 to celebrate the 5th 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, 2028 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 invents an unexpected and very enjoyable origin story for the big guy who gives out toys every Christmas eve. Shaking off most Yuletide cliches 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."

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 2028 Teen Choice Awards in the category "Choice Song From A Movie".

Sequel
Main article: Elves World Tour

The spin-off sequel, titled Elves World Tour, will be directed by Roger Allers, with Brandon Greene and Chris Columbus co-directing it, and is scheduled to be released on November 22, 2035.

Trivia

 * The film's plot and characters are inspired by Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970), Minions (2015), Trolls (2016), UglyDolls (2019), and Klaus (2019).
 * The scenes where Kevin, Dave, and the elflings are watching the film is similar to The Lion King 1½.
 * Like in The Christmas Movie and it's sequel, the casts who voiced the elves improvised most of their lines.
 * Quillgin is named after the character of the same name from the Regular Show Christmas Special.
 * The scene where Burgermeister Meisterburger goes after Dave and Kevin on a carriage is similar to Cruella De Vil's road rage in Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
 * The scene where the elves escape the Meisterburger dugeon 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.
 * Santa Claus' origin is a merge between St. Nicholas and the modern Santa.