The ubiquitous seated The Elf On The Shelf joins Netflix as the streaming service is developing a TV show and movie based on the brand for this year's slate of winter programming. The Elf is a recently popular Christmas tradition in which parents place an elf doll somewhere in their house to "watch over" their children on Santa's behalf.
The sedentary sprite first appeared in 2005 in a children's book titled The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition, written by mother-daughter duo Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell and illustrated by Coë Steinwart. In the book, Santa's elves hide in families' homes to monitor their naughtiness and/or niceness, eventually returning to the North Pole on Christmas Day for debriefing. If anyone touches their house-elf, it loses its magic. The book is sold with a toy doll that has inspired parents to reenact the story's concept as a holiday tradition by hiding the elf around the house in an ongoing game of hide-and-seek.
Multiple projects based on The Elf On The Shelf are in development at Netflix now that the streaming giant has acquired the rights to the story. The Lumistella Company, founded by Aebersold and Bell, has given Netflix the go-ahead to produce content based on its brands, including Elf Pets and Elf Mates. Netflix will release original live-action and animated shows, movies, and specials for kids and families using material from the elven universe starting this winter. Two animated shorts from the company, Elf Pets: Santa's Reindeer Rescue and Elf Pets: A Fox Cub's Christmas Tale, will also be available for streaming later this year.
Roy Lee (How to Train Your Dragon) and Miri Yoon will produce all Elf On The Shelf content. Aebersold's and Bell's classic Christmas character was a hot commodity before Netflix picked it up and should generate plenty of reliable holiday content to add to the queue. It's no surprise that the streaming service was eager to adapt the property, as Netflix has cornered the market on Christmas specials in recent years. Cold, lonely streamers who once-upon-a-time might have turned to Hallmark or Lifetime for their feel-good holiday movies have since gravitated toward Netflix for sleeper hits like A Christmas Prince, countless holiday specials, and various wintery franchises starring Vanessa Hudgens.
A few short movies based on the property have already been made, but The Elf On The Shelf's potential to breed Christmas specials is infinite. Acquiring the shelves' elves also presents Netflix with an opportunity to further incorporate the characters into an existing Christmas universe that has been materializing as the streaming service puts out more installments in all of its original holiday movie series. Coupled with Netflix's demonstrated ability to churn out holiday content, the elf will be anything but hidden from your screen for many holiday seasons to come.
Source: Netflix