Here we have "Elliot the Littlest Reindeer", a new Canadian English-language movie at 1.5 hours and the most recent and second filmmaking effort by director Jennifer Westcott, also a writer here. If you take a look atg the cast here you will find some famous names, voice acting castg that is of course, such as Baccarin, Hutcherson and Cleese. Family holiday films sure attract big name actors too i suppose. You could say that this is the story of a little pony who wants to be a reindeer on Santa's sleigh very basically. So we got a zero-to-hero story line basically and the film is about all the obstacles the pony is facing on his road to said goal, which he eventually achieves as if this was never in doubt. There are several character who may get in the pony's way to this achievement and you can never be quite sure who the main antagonist is: the vain pompous other reindeer? the bizarre woman (why was she voiced most amateurishly by a male in the german dub)? the older elf? the grumpy female elf? Watch for yourself. But I can say a negative thing about pretty much all of these. For example, said woman did not fin in the film at all, she was there early on described as so evil and at the very end when we had bascially forgotten about her. The specacular green battle sequence about said other elf at the very end was strange too. i think it was supposed to be one of the film's visual highlights, but it felt extremely shallow. Same can be said about the brief moment when they rushed in a conflict between the pony and his goat friend because he seemingly grew too close to the reindeer and forgot who he can count on. But yeah, this was forgotten about again immediately for whatever reason, so no idea why it was even included in the first place. Same about the competition parts about who was gonna become the next reindeer for the sleigh. Looks-wise the characters are okay I think, the settings and landscapes could have been better. I did like the goat bff to be honest, she was somewhat funny. There is also a very awkward situational comedy I liked at times, such as the very first scene with the female human speaking about the effects of her interview. I had nice hopes for the film the way it began, but they got disappointed pretty quickly unfortunately. There are just too many negative aspects, like the main antagonist's real motivation for something he pursued over decades apparently or the very much for-the-sake-of-it story line about the two humans because seemingly they really wanted to show us at least the tendencies of a romantic story line and they could not do it in the world of animals. And maybe, as a final conclusion the worst of it all is that the film really did not get me in the spirit of Christmas at all and for a film with this background, it is definitely a negative deal breaker in my opinion. So yeah, I like animation, but this is nowhere near the best of the year. Gotta give these 90 minutes a thumbs-down and my suggestion is to skip the film.
17 Reviews
Tough to say what's wrong with this one, but somehow it did not feel smooth
Horst_In_Translation15 November 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Simple graphics
dino_flores13 December 2018
Predictable
karen-shaffer1 December 2019
Not worth the watch
lonetraveler8624 December 2019
The characters are incredibly annoying. My four year old nephew asked why we were watching it about 15 minutes in. It was so terrible even he didn't like it and he'll watch anything animated. Except this. Hazel is exceptionally annoying.
A biy rubbish
gavinbonser13 December 2019
One for the kids... and only the kids.
Blazehgehg25 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Watched this while I was staying at my brother's with my 5 year old nephews, and it's definitely a movie kids will enjoy. For anyone over the age of 13, there's not much here, outside of some strangely tone-deaf attempts at humor.
This is basically Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, but worse. In this universe, Santa isn't a secret and people from around the world train new reindeer to join his team when the old ones retire. Enter Elliot, a miniature horse with big aspirations to join Santa's team, who sneaks in to the reindeer competition in the hopes of proving himself and saving his farm from bankruptcy. You can probably fill in the blanks from there.
Like a lot of bad Christmas movies, the problem here is cynicism. The elves are grouchy and tired of working so much, and the reindeer are all ego-driven jocks. Santa himself is barely in the movie and looks more like a weightlifter than a jolly old elf. It just doesn't evoke the holiday spirit and feels more like a sports movie, given the reindeer competition is framed like the Olympic games.
Things get even weirder when it's revealed that the only reason the reindeer can fly is because they eat Mrs. Claus' magic cookies. The movie treats these sort of like marijuana edibles - a goat character eats too many of these "magic" cookies and begins tripping out, having hallucinations as she finds she can no longer control herself. Other parts of the movie treats these cookies like steroids, as it's discovered some of the reindeer are cheating by eating extra cookies to give them an advantage in the competition. What better way to spend the holidays than teaching the kids about substance abuse, eh?
The ending is complete garbage; after ignoring the main plot thread for most of the movie, Elliot rushes home to save his farm only to find out the farm saved itself, off camera, and there was never anything to worry about to begin with, with no reason to go on the adventure.
Merry Christmas, I guess?
This is basically Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, but worse. In this universe, Santa isn't a secret and people from around the world train new reindeer to join his team when the old ones retire. Enter Elliot, a miniature horse with big aspirations to join Santa's team, who sneaks in to the reindeer competition in the hopes of proving himself and saving his farm from bankruptcy. You can probably fill in the blanks from there.
Like a lot of bad Christmas movies, the problem here is cynicism. The elves are grouchy and tired of working so much, and the reindeer are all ego-driven jocks. Santa himself is barely in the movie and looks more like a weightlifter than a jolly old elf. It just doesn't evoke the holiday spirit and feels more like a sports movie, given the reindeer competition is framed like the Olympic games.
Things get even weirder when it's revealed that the only reason the reindeer can fly is because they eat Mrs. Claus' magic cookies. The movie treats these sort of like marijuana edibles - a goat character eats too many of these "magic" cookies and begins tripping out, having hallucinations as she finds she can no longer control herself. Other parts of the movie treats these cookies like steroids, as it's discovered some of the reindeer are cheating by eating extra cookies to give them an advantage in the competition. What better way to spend the holidays than teaching the kids about substance abuse, eh?
The ending is complete garbage; after ignoring the main plot thread for most of the movie, Elliot rushes home to save his farm only to find out the farm saved itself, off camera, and there was never anything to worry about to begin with, with no reason to go on the adventure.
Merry Christmas, I guess?
Nice little diversion.
barrelracer-967064 December 2018
First off, I love animation. So that is my bias here. I will try to be spoiler-free. Elliot the Littlest Reindeer is not a blockbuster movie. But it is safe for all, fun to watch and easy to enjoy. The story is not unique, but done pretty well. Elliot is not the first of its kind, nor will it be the last. The movie does try to differentiate itself from the rest by giving a subplot partway through. Although it did feel a but rushed. Actually, though, the subplot is hinted at in the very first two minutes of the movie. This is a movie aimed at kids, nothing rough or overly violent, despite a few wonderfully flashy action scenes. I would have loved a more complex story line, or at least a more unique one. There were a few plot elements and characters that seemed to need a bit more explanation as to their motives. Elliot had some potential to be different. The world itself has some unique cues in it. I finished the movie wanting to know more about this world, and how Santa's operation fit into it. There was a few missed opportunities for some good language barrier and comprehension jokes. Although, that was not something I expected to pop up to begin with.
Elliot's animation is higher than middle grade, and nicely detailed. It more felt like I was watching an extended ps4 games cutscene. Not to say it was bad. The visuals were quite beautiful at times, with the weather effects an scope and scale presented. I noticed details like chipped hooves, misaligned teeth, imperfections in the surrounding environs. Although there was noticeably more detail in the main actors than in the sub and sides. Special effects were handled quite well for a kids movie. I loved the scenes nearing the end of the movie, especially the competition scenes. It is not pixar quality, but still quite pleasing to look at.
The characters are run of the mill feeling, but diverse enough to be memorable. Peanut Butter tragically needed more screen time. I liked him as much as I did Elliot an Hazel. Character handling was done pretty well, you have the annoying types, as well as the hero types. A little bit of character building was hinted at, but not executed very well. The VA cast was fluid sounding most the time, and flat at others. Some roles were acted very well, Hazel, DJ(annoyingly), Lemondrop, and for the most part, Elliot. Hazel, did at first completely remind me of Lupe from Ferdinand( must watch ), but I quickly dismissed that notion. Others were a bit flat sounding and or just sounded a bit off. The banter back and forth was quite good at times. Do understand, it is leagues better than any saturday morning cartoon's VA work, and leaps and bounds better than programming for 8 and under.
All in all, the animation is pleasing to look at for a kids movie. VA work is not obnoxious, ear grating, nor constantly sarcastic sounding. The score could have been less looney tunes sounding with less sound effects accompanying every change in facial expression. There is too much garbage Christmas and general cgi toons coming out every day. I was fearful to watch Elliot the Littlest Reindeer. Although I am glad I did. Elliot is no Toy Story, or Transformers Prime. It was, however, a nice diversion to sit down with the family or friends and just watch at the end of the day with some hot tea and popcorn, which was what I did. Elliot was also about a Miniature Horse, other animations or movies normally feature exotics, ponies, horses, zebras, other farm animals, not Minis. The Mini characters even visually had Miniature Horse characteristics. All of the animals did have a nicely stylized appearance. You can see alot of time and care went into their designs. Even with all the goats in a few scenes. I love goat's eyes by the way. Which was one of the funniest scenes to me.
All in all, if you like cartoons, even ones aimed for kids. Give Elliot the Littlest Reindeer a shot. I was glad I did. Maybe you will too.
Elliot's animation is higher than middle grade, and nicely detailed. It more felt like I was watching an extended ps4 games cutscene. Not to say it was bad. The visuals were quite beautiful at times, with the weather effects an scope and scale presented. I noticed details like chipped hooves, misaligned teeth, imperfections in the surrounding environs. Although there was noticeably more detail in the main actors than in the sub and sides. Special effects were handled quite well for a kids movie. I loved the scenes nearing the end of the movie, especially the competition scenes. It is not pixar quality, but still quite pleasing to look at.
The characters are run of the mill feeling, but diverse enough to be memorable. Peanut Butter tragically needed more screen time. I liked him as much as I did Elliot an Hazel. Character handling was done pretty well, you have the annoying types, as well as the hero types. A little bit of character building was hinted at, but not executed very well. The VA cast was fluid sounding most the time, and flat at others. Some roles were acted very well, Hazel, DJ(annoyingly), Lemondrop, and for the most part, Elliot. Hazel, did at first completely remind me of Lupe from Ferdinand( must watch ), but I quickly dismissed that notion. Others were a bit flat sounding and or just sounded a bit off. The banter back and forth was quite good at times. Do understand, it is leagues better than any saturday morning cartoon's VA work, and leaps and bounds better than programming for 8 and under.
All in all, the animation is pleasing to look at for a kids movie. VA work is not obnoxious, ear grating, nor constantly sarcastic sounding. The score could have been less looney tunes sounding with less sound effects accompanying every change in facial expression. There is too much garbage Christmas and general cgi toons coming out every day. I was fearful to watch Elliot the Littlest Reindeer. Although I am glad I did. Elliot is no Toy Story, or Transformers Prime. It was, however, a nice diversion to sit down with the family or friends and just watch at the end of the day with some hot tea and popcorn, which was what I did. Elliot was also about a Miniature Horse, other animations or movies normally feature exotics, ponies, horses, zebras, other farm animals, not Minis. The Mini characters even visually had Miniature Horse characteristics. All of the animals did have a nicely stylized appearance. You can see alot of time and care went into their designs. Even with all the goats in a few scenes. I love goat's eyes by the way. Which was one of the funniest scenes to me.
All in all, if you like cartoons, even ones aimed for kids. Give Elliot the Littlest Reindeer a shot. I was glad I did. Maybe you will too.
A half hearted attempt at a Christmas film.
flik-0725628 December 2019
I had really high hopes for this film when I saw the advert graphic on netflix and read the summary. I thought this would be a nice Christmas film to put on to pass the time. I am a huge fan of animation everything from Disney to indie films. This film is just off and seems very half hearted. It's about 50% good animation with lovely texture and 50% terrible and completely lifeless. The main character lacks texture and it seems almost as if they couldn't quite give him a full character profile, sadly he is very dull to watch. Yet, the sidekick has beautiful flowing texture and seems fully rounded as a character. She is far more likeable and is fun to watch. The script was OK but had far too many adult life references in certain areas. Now I enjoy that in children's films because it makes for fun viewing for the adults but, without good animation it is impossible for the adults to stay interested enough to enjoy them, only the kids are still watching and it will be lost on them. I have no issues with the story but it is a a huge shame that everything else in the film only half complimented it. Such a shame as we had high hopes for viewing. I see it would be a great attempt but it really is just that, an attempt.
Not Pixar but not that bad either
kosmasp17 December 2020
The animation is not the best - let's get this straight from the beginning. The dialog could have been better on certain occasions too. Still the movie is fine for little ones and those who are willing to cut this some slack and accept it for what it is - not perfect, but decent enough.
Some things may feel muddled and a bit deluded and tough to comprehend in the story. But overall it is a story about someone who wants to break a standard! You may not agree with this social message, you may like to think in boxes and certain structures that people or things are not supposed to break out of. For everyone else, give it a try. Worse things could be seen - believe that
Some things may feel muddled and a bit deluded and tough to comprehend in the story. But overall it is a story about someone who wants to break a standard! You may not agree with this social message, you may like to think in boxes and certain structures that people or things are not supposed to break out of. For everyone else, give it a try. Worse things could be seen - believe that
The writing ruins everything
preston-mercer15 November 2020
I honestly tried to watch this with my kids. 1hr in and I still struggled to understand what was going on. The dialogue is sporadic and doesn't flow naturally with the story. They continually introduce new characters and existing characters constantly deviate from their "personality". Same old cartoon tropes-stereotyped animals with exaggerated accents. Overall it's just another generic B-level cartoon.
Ungulate fans rejoice
cascadiarch2 December 2018
Its the most wonderful tiome of the year
rabenulrik1 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
There is this old Danish song that says Xmas ends in Easter. Another animal who wants to be a reindeer cliche cartoon. The background animation of North Dakota is fine, but not the same to say about the character animation. Good to stream for a Xmas party with the whole family, but no Xmas masterpiece.
Perfection
supergrahmzilla14 December 2020
Not even children will enjoy this
haw-9894913 December 2022
Elliot the littlest reindeer review
We're starting off this christmasathon pretty weak.
Heres the plot. Elliot is a miniture horse. With dreams of becoming a reindeer for santas sleigh. He finally gets his chance. And theres alot more than just that. But thats basicly the main plot.
First of all. The main problem. I HATE EVERYONE!!! EVERYONE IS SO ANNOYING AND BAD AND STUPID AND AHHHHHH
The animation is atrocious also
The story is pretty basic for a chrismas movie. Its basicly just every other reindeer movie on christmas.
The pacing was ok enough. Tho now that i think of it i feel like they kinda stretched this movie out abit.
Now i should also menton that this is a KIDS MOVIE (atleast i hope it is) But i still think there are WAY better christmas movies to choose for your children than this. Like its bad. But its also boring at some parts... So its bad for everyone!
Voice acting is also pretty trash... Only that elve guy thats on the thumbnail of this video has good voice acting.
Overall this was not a good movie. Characters probably the worst ive ever seen, Story is cliche, Animation is garbage. Voice acting is trash, And overall it was just a bad take on reindeer movies.
Plus i should mention that it doesnt really feel that christmasy. Sure it involves santa and elves and reindeer. But while your watching your think about nothing christmas
So i will rate this a 2/10..
I dont reccomend to anyone.... this sucked.
We're starting off this christmasathon pretty weak.
Heres the plot. Elliot is a miniture horse. With dreams of becoming a reindeer for santas sleigh. He finally gets his chance. And theres alot more than just that. But thats basicly the main plot.
First of all. The main problem. I HATE EVERYONE!!! EVERYONE IS SO ANNOYING AND BAD AND STUPID AND AHHHHHH
The animation is atrocious also
The story is pretty basic for a chrismas movie. Its basicly just every other reindeer movie on christmas.
The pacing was ok enough. Tho now that i think of it i feel like they kinda stretched this movie out abit.
Now i should also menton that this is a KIDS MOVIE (atleast i hope it is) But i still think there are WAY better christmas movies to choose for your children than this. Like its bad. But its also boring at some parts... So its bad for everyone!
Voice acting is also pretty trash... Only that elve guy thats on the thumbnail of this video has good voice acting.
Overall this was not a good movie. Characters probably the worst ive ever seen, Story is cliche, Animation is garbage. Voice acting is trash, And overall it was just a bad take on reindeer movies.
Plus i should mention that it doesnt really feel that christmasy. Sure it involves santa and elves and reindeer. But while your watching your think about nothing christmas
So i will rate this a 2/10..
I dont reccomend to anyone.... this sucked.
Perfectly satisfies my love for colorful animated films with lovable animal characters.
cpfrederick-9631818 December 2019
A friend recommended this to me, and I was not disappointed. It's full of fun humor from simple to complex, bright colors and attractive art in all scenes. My favorite part is absolutely the characters! All the animals, from the little pony to the cocky reindeer were so much fun to go along with on this little adventure. Best of all was the cute goat character who stole the show with her silly behavior!
Well recommended for anyone who is a kid or a kid at heart!
Well recommended for anyone who is a kid or a kid at heart!
Adorable!
mansour-718 December 2018
I don't normally write reviews, but this thing was so cute! Loved it, and my nieces were in awe. They thought it was hilarious lol
Definitely a new yearly tradition must watch for our family, from now on.
Loved the goats, and John Cleese was awesome(as usual).
Check it out if you want something fun to watch with the kids during Christmas break.
Check it out if you want something fun to watch with the kids during Christmas break.
Very Comedic & Original
kellyrned26 December 2020
Our entire family watched this the day after Christmas, along with my 4 year old grandson, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it and laughed throughout. The dialogue was original for both adults and children.
We loved this movie!
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