Santa Claus runs a pretty tight ship up at the North Pole, so its reasonably safe to assume most of his elves belong on the nice list. But as Christmas movies over the years have shown us, sometimes the holidays bring out some awfully naughty behavior, too. Heres how 13 of Santas cinematic elves stack up.
13. Nazi Elf, Elves
Dan Grizzly Adams Haggerty plays a down-and-out ex-cop in this double-Z-grade Christmas horror flick about a demonic elf whose sudden return to Earth revives the late Adolf Hitlers secret scheme to create a race of human-elf hybrids. There are neo-Nazis, a teen who cant stand Christmas (normal) who doesnt realize her Aryan bloodline means the elf is going to try and breed with her throughout the movie (not normal), and also the distinct sense that every dollar of Elves tiny budget is used onscreen, and even then things dont look great. Still: Nazi elf is most definitely the naughtiest of them all.
12-11. Elves, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale and Elves, Krampus
Its a tie between these two gangs of truly nightmarish critters who pal around with creatures that represent the very darkest side of Santa Claus. Pick your poison: Krampus ghoulish elves, whose idea of a good time is tossing people into hell, or the equally horrifying Rare Exports brigade, who kidnap little kids and commit actual murder.
10. Belsnickel, The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two
Who dares step to Kurt Russells Hot Santa (and the even more formidable Mrs. Claus, played by Goldie Hawn)? Belsnickel (Julian Dennison), thats who. The antagonist of this recent Netflix releasean elf who is such an asshole hes been cursed by being transformed into a humanis determined to sabotage Christmas at any cost, with a scheme that involves stealing the enchanted tree-topper star in Santas village and dosing all the other elves to make them naughty. Hes a nasty piece of work, but hes not really dangerous, despite his best effortshes basically the Christmas-movie equivalent of coal in a stocking.
9. Obie, Alien Xmas
Voiced by an uncredited Jon Favreau (producer of this Netflix special by the Chiodo Brothers, who contributed the stop-motion scenes to Favreaus 2003 film, Elf), Obie is the North Poles top inventor who nearly cracks under the pressure of making sure Santas flashy new sleigh is ready for flight. It eventually takes the help of alien technology to get the sleigh up and runningand the experience helps Obie, whose workaholic tendencies mean he inadvertently neglects his family, learn where his real priorities lie.
8. Jingle Bell and Jangle Bell, The Year Without a Santa Claus
In this Rankin-Bass musical classic, Mrs. Claus tasks two of Santas elves with infiltrating human society to see if theres any Christmas spirit left in the world, a problem thats gotten worse now that Santa has decided he needs a year off. The bumbling dudes are neither quick on the draw nor especially stealthy (and the sock-based disguise they whip up for Vixen the reindeer gets her sent to the dog pound), but the funny little characters at least have the sense to call Mrs. Claus, who ends up being the North Poles real MVP, when they realize theyre in way over their stocking-cap-clad heads.
7. Wayne, Prep & Landing
Dave Foley voices Wayne, call sign Little Drummer Boy, in this animated Disney short about an elite team of elves who handle their festive duties with high-tech, super-spy-fi precision. After Waynes longtime partner gets the promotion hes been counting on, hes too bummed out to properly train the rookie hes soon stuck withresulting in a near-disaster for Santa thats only averted with a scramble of hard work and an overdue reminder that Christmas is about joy, kindness, and giving…not the career paths of ambitious elves.
6. Willie, Fred Claus
In this comedy charting the redemption of Santas neer-do-well brother (Vince Vaughn), John Michael Higgins plays the North Poles pocket-sized head elf. Willies an upbeat fellow who steps up to help the black sheep of the Claus family despite Freds over-it attitude, culminating in a frantic bit of Christmas Eve gift-delivering teamwork; in return, Fred helps Willie woo his glamorous elf dream girl, played by Elizabeth Banks. Word to the wise, though: while most of Fred Claus is harmless holiday fun (Paul Giamatti plays Santa; Rachel Weisz plays Freds girlfriend), the Kevin Spacey factor will forever keep it from earning classic status.
5. Elf Polly, Noelle
Salty, sassy, and equally stylish in both folkloric North Pole garb and Arizona mall couture, Elf Polly (Shirley MacLaine) accompanies Noelle (Anna Kendrick) when her older brother, the reluctant new Santa (Bill Heder) goes AWOL right before Christmas. With her pointy ears carefully covered, Pollys there to nudge Noelle into realizing her true destiny, sexist traditions be damned…as well as stage a jailbreak with the help of a full team of flying reindeer.
4. Hermey, Rudoph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Hes an elf who (gasp!) doesnt like making toys; hed much rather be a dentist, a dream thats nearly as impossible as freak-nosed reindeer Rudolphs goal of joining Santas sleigh team. With cries of Youll never fit in! ringing in their ears, the two meet in a lonely snowbank and decide to become misfit pals. In their ensuing adventurewhich includes a perilous encounter with the fierce Abominable Snow MonsterHermeys deft teeth-yanking skills are precisely whats needed to save the day, an act of heroism even the abusive Head Elf cant deny.
3. Bernard, The Santa Clause
North Pole elf Bernard (David Krumholtz) must break the news to regular-dad-dude Scott (Tim Allen) that the act of donning Santas jolly red suit means hes now signed himself up for the job. Though he has a jaunty hat and glittery face, Bernard also has the distinct air of someone whos had to wearily explain you put on the suit, youre the big guy to aghast middle-aged men more than once in his long elf-life. But you can tell he secretly enjoys the hell out of the gig; when Christmas rolls around again, Bernard takes charge of the new Santas training, with help from Scotts Santa-obsessed sonand he also materializes in Scotts ex-wifes house to casually eat a messy sandwich while giving her skeptical new husband (Judge Reinhold) the wake-up call of his life.
2. Patch, Santa Claus: The Movie
Until Buddy the Elf (see below) came along nearly 20 years later, chipper Patch (Dudley Moore) had maybe the most compelling character arc of any of Santas big-screen helpers. When we first meet him, the industrious worker is obsessed with coming up with ways to revolutionize toy production in Santas workshop; the movie later takes him to New York City, where he mistakenly allies himself with an oily, opportunistic, cigar-puffing toy exec played by John Lithgow, who most definitely is lacking in what Patch likes to call elf-control. Patch, who builds himself a pretty rad flying car along the way, eventually learns some hard lessons about why, for instance, old-fashioned elf craftsmanship is importantand why he doesnt need to plot a second Christmas in March to earn Santas approval.
1. Buddy the Elf, Elf
Of course, Buddy (Will Ferrell) isnt a real elf; hes a human who accidentally crawled into Santas sack as an infant and ended up being raised (by Bob Newharts Papa Elf) at the North Pole. But he tops the list anyway becausewith his goofy innocence, intense love of sugar, snowball-tossing skills, serious commitment to holiday flair, and genuine desire to make everyone around him happyhe just might be the ultimate embodiment of Christmas spirit.
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13 Christmas Movie Elves, From Naughty to Nice
