The hugely successful author and screenwriter admits that his elf-meets-leprechaun ‘Santa Scout’ nestles somewhere between cozy and disturbing in the all-new 3DCG movie, based on his novels, that follows a disaster-prone middle school student who is having an especially stressful holiday season; the film debuts December 8 on Disney+.
The holidays are fast approaching and with them comes warm familial traditions… as well as a few unsettling ones. If you take a minute to think it over, Christmas celebrations can include some odd festivities – like having a plant dictate who gets kissed (mistletoe) and braving the frigid temperatures to build snow creatures with coal for eyes and sticks for hands – so it’s no wonder the festivities have been the subject of Hallmark successes as well as terrifying tales.
And Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever, releasing Friday, December 8 on Disney+, nestles itself right between cozy and creepy.
“With other interviewers, I tried to get a sense of whether or not we pushed it too far with the elf,” says Jeff Kinney, creator and writer of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series and screenwriter for the animated films. “So far, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.”
Kinney is referring to the “Santa Scout,” an elf-meets-leprechaun homemade doll he conjured 12 books ago as a play off Elf on a Shelf. In the most recent animated film – following Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules – the winter holidays turn out to be especially stressful for Greg Heffley. After accidentally damaging a snowplow while making a snowman with best friend Rowley Jefferson, Greg worries he won’t get the new video game console he so desperately wants for Christmas. To make matters worse, he gets snowed in with his family, including his grumpy older brother Rodrick and annoying younger brother Manny.
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And, during all the chaos, Greg is being “watched” by his Santa Scout.
“During production, we were definitely trying to get this elf just right, but the fact that you don't really know if the elf is alive or not during the movie adds another level to puzzle out,” says Kinney. “But, at the same time, it was fun to have this kind of horror element in a Christmas film.”
The elf is truly horrifying. With cracked eyes void of eye-lids, faded green felt skin, and a crudely stitched mouth, it’s not the stuff of gumdrop fairy dreams. But that’s kind of the point.
“It was a fun idea I explored where Greg would have this conscience, this pair of cracked eyes on him, because even when Greg's getting away with what he's doing, he knows that somebody knows and it’s meant to be a bit unsettling,” explains Kinney. “It's a good stand-in for Santa.”
Another concept not too far off the creepy meter is an old man too large to sensibly climb down the chimney, who does anyway, breaking into your house, stealing your sweets, but leaving some gifts in return. Not to mention the fact that he keeps a list of naughty and nice children.
“There are also cameras everywhere these days,” notes Kinney. “And this elf is like the camera on Greg’s soul.”
Though an accurate rendition of Kinney’s original comic illustrations, the 3D animation, notes Kinney, added more pizzaz to the Santa Scout.
“Of course, the 3D textures are great,” he shares. “It looks like he's made of a worn-out felt. The designers and animators did a really good job of bringing the spirit of that character to life. I didn't have many critiques at all.”
The Santa Scout has certainly earned its place on the shelf (pun intended) of unsettling Christmas characters, right next to Tim Burton’s Jack Skellington and Rankin/Bass’ Winter Warlock from Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town.
“Creepy” isn’t a foreign aspect to holiday classics, as plenty of studios have capitalized on the more eerie aspects of Christmas. Or, at least, have had no trouble inventing them.
“I like to think that we weren't drawing from any other films, but I guess you can't go through life without picking up on their influences,” says Kinney, who admits the movie, at times, feels a bit like A Christmas Story meets a much more toned-down version of Leprechaun. “I would be very interested to see how many influences viewers can pick up on in the movie. For example, there’s a part where Greg and Rowley go to the edge a cliff and they look behind them and a truck rolls up. And I'm pretty sure that was influenced by Thelma & Louise. At some point, I’ll have to ask the director about that.”
He continues, “We're also telling a really small story and, if you think of A Christmas Story, that's also a really small story. It's just about a boy who wants a BB gun. It's not an epic story. In the same way, this story is really just about Greg getting in trouble and trying to cover it up. I like those small stories because, for me, they're really big enough.”
Still, what’s a Christmas special without at least one over-the-top scene?
“There's a real big chase scene in the first third of the movie that's really fun and it's something we haven't really done before,” says Kinney. “I've learned, as I've grown as a screenwriter, that my writing is very chatty, and I make my characters talk a lot. I have to remember that, in animation, motion is really key. So, it was fun to have some things really moving and to have some big set pieces that came with that.”
Kinney shares that Disney has been a great partner is honing his writing skills and, despite the widely-known success of Kinney’s 17 books having sold more than 275 million copies globally, Disney isn’t afraid to ask for “better.”
“What's fun about Disney is that they never let something go as ‘good enough,’” says Kinney with a laugh. “Like a dog with a bone, they just keep coming to you and they challenge me a lot.”
It’s how Kinney came up with the idea for Rodrick as a mad scientist in the film, using potatoes to conduct electricity to find out what really happened with Greg and this snowplow.
“All that happened because Disney pushed back and said, ‘We haven't nailed this yet,’” says Kinney. “I like those kinds of challenges.”
This special was also the first time the Diary of a Wimpy Kid team had worked with snow, playing with as much realism as they could with the budget they had. Texture is notoriously amplified in Christmas specials, where tactility reigns supreme. But Kinney’s only regret with the film is that he didn’t lean more into the ugly and uncomfortable sweaters that come on the scene this time of year.
“The snow gear they’re wearing plays a big role, but one thing I didn't get into was, if you go to church on Christmas, or attend another holiday celebration, you often have to dress up,” notes Kinney. “And it's the worst thing because it's the day you most want to just be free. But you are stuck in this shirt and tie or an itchy sweater or something like that. If I ever make another Christmas movie, I'll definitely focus on that.”
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
