Jon Favreau's holiday movie "Elf: It Came from Santa's Country" [Mizumaru Kawahara's CINEMONOLOGUE Vol.64]

Respect for the Christmas special program and attention to detail

While it is a story about a foreigner visiting New York, the overall way it is put together has the feel of a Christmas special. The stop-motion animation that begins with Buddy's adoptive father, played by Bob Newhart, speaking as a host, and depicts the arctic world, is full of respect for Rankin-Bass's Christmas special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and is perfect for puppet anime lovers. Even so, it is able to draw you in.

Léon: The Professional, the snowman who appears in the stop-motion animation part, looks a lot like Sam the snowman from Rudolph. The voice of Léon: The Professional is a singer named Léon: The Professional Redbone, and he appears to be wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a walking stick, and it seems that not only the name but also the whole thing is a platitude (by the way, "LEON") ” becomes “NOEL” when read upside down). Also, Buddy's green costume is the same as the one worn by the elf who appears in "Rudolph", and although it is a typical image of an elf who helps Santa, overall the costumes of the elves in this work are different. , the design seems to be derived from ``Rudolph.''

At first glance, the arctic animals, which are shaped randomly, are quite cute, but director Jon Favreau provided the voices for the walrus, puffin, and narwhal (Favreau also appeared in the New York scene), and somehow stopped the voice for the polar bear. It's so detailed that Ray Harryhausen, the master of motion special effects, has hit it off. It's amazing how he seems to be joking, but his love for the classics is so honest. This sense of commitment and respect gives the whole performance a persuasive power, and maintains its strength as a stage for comedy. Of course, comedy can't be made just by goofing around.

The interior of Santa's workshop is based on white, making it look like the background of a line drawing in a picture book, but the workshops also feature toys such as Mr. Potato Head and Etch-A, who are familiar from " Toy Story ". It's funny because it's a major manufacturer's product such as Sketch (Barbie dolls are also included in the list). It makes me wonder if there are so many children in the world who want Etch-A-Sketch. (I end up drawing a copy of a text or a copy of the Mona Lisa).

It can be said that the inclusion of products from actual manufacturers, rather than the vague unbranded toys that tend to appear in such cases, also adds detail to the world of fairy tales. The slightly cheap choice of toys is also a good idea.

The promise of Christmas is that it will warm your heart at the end.