Review Roundup - NBC's Animated Special ELF: BUDDY'S MUSICAL CHRISTMAS; Updating Live

NBC is bringing in the holiday spirit with the stop-motion hourlong animated special "Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas," set to air Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 8 p.m. Based on the popular film "Elf" and the hit Broadway show "Elf: The Musical," the special will star four-time Emmy Award winner Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory") as Buddy.

Reviews for the all-new animated special are beginning to come. Let's see what the critics have to say:

Brian Lowry, Variety: The truncated format, inevitably, involves a good deal of story-crunching. But as conveyed by Parsons, who has already stuffed Warner Bros.' stockings, and vice versa, thanks to "The Big Bang Theory," Buddy's childlike innocence - the proverbial fish out of water, or elf out of snow - shines through.

Bruce R. Miller, Sioux City Journal: Part of the problem could be in casting. Since this is animated, Ferrell could have reprised his role and brought the same dumb-guy wonder. Here, with Parsons (whose Buddy looks somewhat like a spoon with hair), there isn't a shred of irony to be found. The songs by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin are cute but often more filler than anything.

Karen D'Souza, Mercury News: Certainly the songs (score by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin) are festive enough if not exactly sparkling. "Sparklejollytwinklejingley" and "Nobody Cares About Santa" are perhaps the best of the Yuletide bunch...The bottom line is that you really have to be in a deck-the-halls mood to savor this holiday concoction. But if you are, then Rudolf and Frosty better watch out, because "Elf" is the new kid in town.

About the show:

"Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas" combines the humor and spirit of both the beloved 2003 holiday film, which drew glowing reviews and earned $173 million at the domestic box office, and the hit Broadway production. The special is an all-new retelling of Buddy's delightfully absurd yet heartwarming story and blends the look and feel of the stop-motion animated Christmas specials of the past with the sharp sensibility of the modern-day classic holiday film.

Santa narrates the story of Buddy's travels to New York City to meet the father he never knew he had. Along the way his unrelenting cheer transforms the lives of everyone he meets and opens his father's eyes to the magic of Christmas.

The voice cast also includes Mark Hamill, Ed Asner, Fred Armisen, Jay Leno, Matt Lauer, Gilbert Gottfried, Kate Micucci, Rachael MacFarlane, Max Charles and Steve Higgins.

There are nine songs in the special, including "Happy All the Time," "A Christmas Song" and "Nobody Cares About Santa Claus."

"Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas" is produced by Warner Bros. Animation, directed by Mark Caballero and Seamus Walsh, teleplay by Thomas Meehan & Bob Martin and Aaron Horvath & Michael Jelenic.

Score by Matthew Sklar and Christopher Guardino. Original songs from "Elf: The Musical" - music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Chad Beguelin. Based on the New Line Cinema theatrical motion picture "Elf," written by David Berenbaum, and the Broadway musical "Elf," originally produced by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures in association with Unique Features.

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