The Chiodo Bros. (Stephen, Charles, and Edward Chiodo) have been crafting awesome special effects for nearly forty years now, their credits including CRITTERS, KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE, the Large Marge scene in PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE, ERNEST SCARED STUPID, TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE, and the stop-motion sequence in ELF. Back in 2015, the Chiodos published a book called ALIEN XMAS (you can pick up a copy HERE), which told the following story:
On Christmas Eve, in this quiet little outpost at the top of the world, the battle for Earth began. Aliens swarmed the castle like insects, and Santa and the elves defended the village the best they could. Gift-wrapping guns bound the invaders in colorful paper and ribbon like mummies. Candy cane slingshots fired snowballs. Vats of caramel doused aliens climbing castle walls.
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Now the brothers are teaming with ELF director Jon Favreau and Netflix for a stop-motion animated special that will bring ALIEN XMAS to life on the screen.
Favreau broke the news of the collaboration during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where he said he's
working with Netflix on a stop-motion Christmas special. I've been trying to work with these guys the Chiodo brothers, who did the stop-motion on Elf, it took over 15 years, only because the business model changed."
The Chiodos then confirmed that the project is ALIEN XMAS on their Facebook page.
Although this is surely a lighthearted, family friend project, Chiodo-crafted stop-motion animation featuring Santa and his elves battling alien invaders sounds like a great time to me.
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