The Elf On The Shelf takeover continues unabated, this time with Netflix announcing a “seven-figure” deal to acquire the rights to all Elf-related properties and create movies and shows based on Santa’s favorite contract-based employee. The beloved children’s book has exploded in popularity in recent years, branching out to merchandise and slowly expanding the Elf On The Shelf universe And on Friday, Netflix announced it had acquired the rights to a lot more Elf.
Netflix shared the news with a three stanza poem about how, despite the fact that it’s October, the ever-escalating police state we live under must continue to grow and monitor our lives, now through the popular streaming service.
Throughout the North Pole, the work has begun
on series, and movies, and specials to run.
Animation… live action… both will appear
to deliver the world some holiday cheer.
In Tokyo. In Mumbai. From Montreal to Rome.
On a plane, on a train or in the comfort of home.
Whatever the name that you’ve given your elf,
soon Scout Elves will stream from Netflix’s shelf!
The second stanza (and the whole release) honestly isn’t very clear about what’s happening, but Deadline has more concrete details: not one but two already-existing Elf On The Shelf specials are coming to Netflix in time for the holiday season, and the streaming service has won the rights to create more live-action and animated properties based on the Elf On The Shelf IP.
Netflix will develop live-action and animated content, taking aim at pre-school audiences, as well as for family audiences through both series and film. As part of the deal, two of Lumistella’s existing animated short films, Elf Pets: Santa’s Reindeer Rescue and Elf Pets: A Fox Cub’s Christmas Tale will be on Netflix in North America this holiday season.
Netflix winning the bidding war over the perpetual holiday best-seller means you should expect to see a lot of Elf on your screen in the coming years. Deadline reported that it’s a seven-figure deal that includes all the properties created by The Lumistella Company, which created the Elf series. That includes, in case you didn’t know they existed, The Elf on the Shelf, Elf Pets, and Elf Mates. That should give families plenty to watch over the next few holiday seasons, which may be enough to distract from the fact that the Elf is, of course, always watching you.