Elf:
Buddy's Musical Christmas (2015/Warner Bros. Animation Blu-ray
w/DVD)
Picture:
B+/B- Sound: B+/B- Extras: C+ Film: C+
Following
the story of Jon Favreau and Will Ferrell's Christmas film Elf,
comes this beautifully animated short film by Warner Bros. Animation
entitled Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas (2015). Using
traditional stop motion animation techniques (a signature of several
classic holiday TV specials) with a blend of digital animation, the
look is very clean and detailed. The narrative itself feels pretty
familiar and rushed but with the voice talents of Jim Parsons, Mark
Hamill, Kate Micucci, and Ed Asner; it's still fun for the kids.
Santa
narrates the musical story of elf Buddy, who travels to New York City
to meet his real Father to whom isn't too thrilled about meeting him.
Along the way, his unrelenting cheer transforms the lives of
everyone he meets and opens his father's eyes to the magic of the
holiday.
Presented
in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and
a powerful. lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mix, playback is
better than expected. There's also a DVD version of the film with a
standard definition presentation and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track
that is good enough for the format, plus Ultraviolet Copy also
included.
Extras
include Elfin All The Way: Inside Buddy's Recording Sessions
and trailers for other Warner releases.
While
it probably won't become a Christmas classic or anything, this fun
animated family film is great for kids and has some pretty impressive
animation. For the adult crowd though, you may just want to re-watch
the live action version instead.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
