The Christmas Chronicles is a 2018 Netflix original Christmas film produced by 1492 Pictures and Wonder Worldwide. The film is directed by Clay Kaytis from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman. The film was released on November 22, 2018. The film that tells the story of two kids named Kate (played by Darby Camp) and her brother Teddy Pierce (played by Judah Lewis) who plan to catch Santa Claus (played by Kurt Russell) that turns into on a unexpected journey that no kid has been before. Upon sneaking into Santa's Sleigh and crashing it and derailing Christmas. It is up to Teddy, Kate, Santa, and his elves to save Christmas.
The film's sequel, The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two premiered on Netflix on November 25, 2020 with much of the original cast reprising their roles.
History with the Macy's Parade[]
The Christmas Chronicles was first represented in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2018, with a fleet of four helium novelty balloons representing some of Santa's most trusted elves; Fleck, Bjorn, Jojo and Hugg.
Sparking the holiday spirit along the Parade’s famed route, Fleck, Bjorn, Jojo and Hugg took flight as 30-foot tall helium, 20-foot wide character balloons. Fleck set off on his maiden New York City adventure carrying Santa’s bag tracker, Bjorn was showcased in his signature candy cane-fueled toy-making frenzy, while troublemaker Jojo was depicted delivering letters to Santa, and Hugg was featured hard at work on a new wood carving, with his trusty chainsaw close by his side.
When asked for comment, Hugg remarked, “Hövuumi virma rugvömma grüngrünki embruushi,” which loosely translates from Elvish to "I promise to keep my chainsaw away from the balloons."
Fleck, Bjorn and Jojo made their first public appearances at Macy's Balloonfest 2018—Hugg was not present, however, as the balloon had yet to be completed. Winds gusting up to 35mph meant several of the debutants were unable to complete their test flights, with The Christmas Chronicles Elves only starting to step-off before they were grounded.
Despite a failed test flight, the balloons were able to soar high on Thanksgiving Day 2018, with Hugg finally making a public appearance, with a deflated right ear. The elf quartet ushered in the arrival of Santa while touting the release of The Christmas Chronicles, which was released the same day. Following the procession, the balloons were temporarily retired from the lineup.
Fleck, Bjorn, Jojo and Hugg flew down from the North Pole once again for the reimagined 2020 Parade, now promoting the sequel to the previous film, The Christmas Chronicles 2. The balloons were originally planned to appear in the reimagined 2020 Parade, being flown down 34th Street by a team of mask-clad handlers. However, rising cases of COVID-19 caused the Fleck, Bjorn, Jojo and Hugg balloons to be demoted to a pre-recorded appearance. Archival footage of the balloons from their 2018 Parade appearance was used, dubbed over by commentary provided by The TODAY Show’s Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.