The Christmas Movie 2

The Christmas Movie 2 is a 2025 animated Christmas musical fantasy film loosely based on the 1823 poem by . It is written and directed by Brandon Greene and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Bardel Entertainment, and Sergio Pablos Animation Studios. A sequel to the 2023 film The Christmas Movie, it features J.K. Simmons reprising his role as Santa Claus. Also reprising their roles are Jeremy Maguire, Justin Bieber, Becky G, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Abbi Jacobson, Melody Hurd, Maya Rudolph, Jason Schwartzman, and Chris Pratt with new cast members Dolly Parton, Paul Rudd, Jimmy Fallon, Kelly Clarkson, Patrick Stewart, and Glenn Close. The film had a limited theatrical release prior to beginning to stream on Netflix on July 4, 2025.
The sequel and the spin-off prequel have been released: The Christmas Movie 3: Home for the Holidays (2036), and Elves (2033), respectively.
==Plot==
Two years have passed since the events of the last film. Ben and Patrick are spending a family Christmas in a tropical resort called Noel Island with their parents Clark and Liz, their sisters Lisa and Shane, their dog Nick, their uncle Clem, and their grandmother Charity along with Teddy with her mother Katherine and her new boyfriend Edward, and his daughter Nia. At the North Pole, Santa Claus is running his workshop business smoothly with his wife Mrs. Claus and elves. Misinterpreting this as stress from overwork, Mrs. Claus books a cruise so they can all take a break and spend more time together as a family. Santa, Mrs. Claus, Darwin, Mikey, and the elves board a cruise ship to Noel Island (where the Hopeful family are at). At the island, Teddy wants to be back home where it's snowing and more like a real Christmas. She decides to run away and get an early flight back home to New York. She catches a shuttle that Ben and Nia sneak on to.
Patrick went to go look for them and he meets the owner of the island Henry T. Noel and he offers Patrick tickets to the parade for him and his family. Patrick finds Ben, Teddy, and Nia but the four got captured by the tribe of primal elves and are about to eat them. On the same island, Santa finds out about this and sends Darwin, Mikey and Bob along with the other elves Stuart, Hermey and Roxy to go after them. They were captured as well, but they still manage to escape from the elf tribe.
They meet Santa and Mrs. Claus and he reveals that the lost tribe are the elf ancestors that Darwin's parents went to find. Mrs. Claus and the elves manages to befriend the lost tribe elves. Despite this, the tribe couldn't resist to try to eat them. At a Christmas luau in a private and secret jungle on the lower decks, Carl, one of Santa's elves is mysteriously kidnapped and turned into a green feral gremlin. Mikey finds out he's missing and releases Santa's magical pixies. When Mikey opened the tube, the pixies escaped and he and David try to catch them. When Charity and the kids meet Henry's student and the current owner of Noel Island Lilith Lorrain, she recruits them to join the parade. With a blizzard from out of nowhere keeping Santa from getting to the circus, Teddy is worried. At their room Liz plays "Silver Bells", while Ben goes to sit on Charity's lap. Charity tells her grandkids stories about her beloved, deceased husband Doug, who always enjoyed Christmas even when he tried to pretend otherwise, and concludes by saying that Christmas Eve is the night she misses him the most. After finishing the song, Liz tells Clark that it is time for Clem to read How the Grinch stole Christmas. Clem is not at all keen about this, as he is tired of reading the story every year, but reluctantly reads it anyway.
Meanwhile next door, Katherine encourages Edward to have a chat with Teddy to cheer her up. During their bond, Teddy tells him that she misses her old dad so much that he couldn't be replaced. Edward sympathizes with her and tells her that's the same thing what Nia said. They both bond over this and it made their relationship better.
The next morning, more of Santa's elves are kidnapped and turned into gremlins. Jingle and Jangle Bells went into Gordon's room to warn him but is to kidnapped. Jingle and Jangle decide to warn Santa about this. Henry's assistant Snatcher recruits Ben and Nia to steal money from the circus. Ben is concerned but agrees to it. Lilith and her partner Buckaroo Bob are upset when Ben tells them he and Nia stole the money, although Patrick and Teddy doubt Ben would lie to them. Seeing the pixies go in the Faux Club, Mikey and Darwin don disguises and sneak into the club, only to discover it's a hangout for all the now grown-up naughty kids in the past. After speaking to Wickes, they learn that he has abandoned his evil ways. Mikey goes dancing, but his disguise falls off and the two have to escape through a trash chute. The pixies show up and pull a garbage lever that dumps trash on them.
As Ben walks along the seashore, Santa arrives and Ben tells him the problems. Santa discovers the Noel Island's conspiracy, and revealed Henry's true greedy nature. When he was young, he was hacking into kids' databases which ended up putting him on the naughty list. It is also revealed that he's responsible for gremlin elves by using Santa's magical potion that he created (which became unstable).Meanwhile, Henry sends the first evil elf to attack Patrick and Teddy, until Mrs. Claus arrives with an antidote. The elves put the antidote in the snow reserves, and she, the elves and Patrick and Teddy hurry to Ben, Nia and Santa's aid. Henry takes advantage of Santa as well by lying and agreeing to help Ben in exchange for Santa's sack, with the intention of using its magic powers to create an army of toys. The manages to steal back the sack.
Santa, Ben, Patrick and Teddy return to the circus with a policeman who tells everyone Ben and Nia are innocent and everyone apologizes to them. Enraged, Henry arrives and before he tries to attacks the trio, he uses his scepter filled with Santa's magic potion to become a gremlin himself (but giant sized and with wings). Santa's elves, the lost tribe elves and the pixies then come across the scene and a fight breaks out between them and gremlin elves. The elves the use snow guns to restore their elf friends and families to their normal state. Henry is confronted by Santa. Santa and Lilith ask Henry to redeem himself, but he refuses. Henry charges, but Lilith throws her guns at his scepter, breaking it and causing him to turn into a mouse. Once Henry is defeated, Snatcher is arrested. Before Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves leave to go back to the North Pole, Lilith lets Santa lead the flying circus parade to thank him and the kids for getting the circus out of debt and the lost tribe elves now both work at Noel Island and sending letters to Santa. Ben and Patrick returned to their family and they inform an excited Clark and Charity about their adventure and Teddy becomes more accepting of Edward as her new stepdad.
Both the Hopeful family and the Darby family continue enjoying their Christmas vacation and Ben, Patrick and Teddy watch Santa on his sleigh riding over the moon.
==Voice cast==
*J.K. Simmons as Santa Claus, a magical figure who brings presents for people at Christmas night, when they are asleep.
*Jeremy Maguire as Benjamin "Ben" Hopeful, a boy who previously helped Santa Claus in the last movie.
*Justin Bieber as Patrick Hopeful, a former skeptic turned believer and the older brother of Ben.
*Becky G as Theodora “Teddy” Moore, Katherine’s daughter and Patrick’s girlfriend and love interest.
*Dolly Parton as Lilith Lorrain, The owner of Noel Island.
*Patrick Stewart as Henry T. Noel, The founder of Noel Island and the (hidden) main antagonist of the film.
*Will Arnett as Clark Hopeful, the father of Ben and Patrick.
**Abel Arnett as Young Clark Hopeful
*Amy Poehler as Elizabeth “Liz” Hopeful, the mother of Ben and Patrick.
*Abbi Jacobson as Lisa Hopeful, the older sister of Ben and Patrick.
*Glenn Close as Charity Hopeful, Ben, Patrick, Lisa, and Shane’s widowed grandmother, Doug’s wife, Clem and Clark’s mother and Liz’s mother-in-law.
*Paul Rudd as Clement “Clem” Hopeful, Ben, Patrick, Lisa and Shane’s uncle, Clark’s older brother, Charity and Doug’s eldest son and Liz’s brother-in-law.
**Archie Arnett as Young Clem
*Melody Hurd as Nia Brooks, the daughter of Edward.
*Maya Rudolph as  Mrs. Claus, Santa’s wife.
*Jimmy Fallon as Buckaroo Bob, Lilith's partner.
*Jason Schwartzman as Darwin, one of Santa's scout elves, and Mikey’s best friend.
*Chris Pratt as Mikey, one of Santa's scout elves and Darwin’s best friend.
*Kelly Clarkson as Roxy, a female elf.
*Patrick Stump as Stuart, one of Santa's elves.
*Jack McBrayer as Hermey, a dentist elf.
*Jason Sudeikis as Jingle Bells, a grumpy elf and Jangle's best friend.
*Kevin Hart as Jangle Bells, one of Santa's elves and Jingle's best friend.
*Elijah Eldrige as Bob, a young elf and Darwin and Mikey's student and friend.
*Tara Strong as Katherine Moore, the widowed mother of Teddy.
*Shemar Moore as Edward Brooks, Katherine's new boyfriend and Nia's father.
*Alan Tudyk as:
**Usizi, chief of the lost tribe elves, who he and his tribe want to eat Ben, Patrick, Teddy, the elves, but later became their friends.
**Snatcher, Henry's henchman.
**Pixies
*Meghan Trainor as Lara Lorrain, Lilith's daughter.
*Blake Shelton as Earl, the head elf.
*James Corden as Carl, a dim-witted elf.
*Ariel Winter as Nellie, one of Santa's prepper elves.
*Olivia Colman as Elfie, one of Santa's prepper elves.
*Gina Rodriguez as Trixie, one of Santa's prepper elves.
*Dan Aykroyd as Doug Hopeful, Ben and Patrick's deceased grandfather and Charity's deceased husband.
*Wanda Sykes as Sugarplum Mary, the chief assistant to Mrs. Claus in the Kitchen.
*John Goodman as Frank, one of Santa's elves.
*Dee Bradley Baker as Yule, an elf at Santa's quality control system and Tide's partner and friend.
*Jim Cummings as Tide, an elf at Santa's quality control system and Yule's partner and friend.
*George Lopez as Pepper Minstix, the guardian of the Village's secret location.
*Christian Slater as Sam, a bartender elf.
*Brandon Greene as:
**The lost tribe elves
**Gerald, one of Santa's elves
**Santa's Cuckoo Clock
**The clowns
*Ryan Todd as Steve, Darwin and Mikey's annoying neighbor
*Thea Eddey as Charlotte, one the elflings
*Fox Messitt as Mason, one the elflings
*Kath Soucie as Olivia, one the elflings
*Cree Summer as the female lost tribe elves
**Summer also voices the female pixies
*Steve Blum as the gremlin elves
==Music==
===Soundtrack===
Music from and Inspired by The Christmas Movie 2, the soundtrack of the film, it will be released on July 25, 2025. Walk It Off contributed the song "Christmas in July", which is playing at the film's credits.
No. Title.......................................................................Music
#"Christmas in July"....................................Walk It Off
#""....................................Dolly Parton, Jimmy Fallon
#""....................................
#"Jingle Bells"....................................Jimmy Buffett
#""....................................
#""....................................
#""....................................
#""....................................
#""....................................
#""....................................
#"Almost Too Early For Christmas".................................... Dolly Parton, Jimmy Fallon
#""....................................
#"The Little Drummer Boy"....................................
#""....................................Eartha Kitt
#""....................................Louis Armstrong
#""....................................Tom Jones, 
#""....................................
#""....................................Destiny's Child
#"Peace"....................................
==Production==
===Development===
On May 14, 2025, a sequel titled The Christmas Movie 2 was announced to have begun post-production. Writer and director Brandon Greene returned for the sequel. Matthew West, who was the narrator in the first installment came back to do the music alongside Christopher Lennertz for the sequel.
===Casting===
Stars J.K. Simmons, Jeremy Maguire, Justin Bieber, Becky G, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Abbi Jacobson, Maya Rudolph, Jason Schwartzman and Chris Pratt were all confirmed to reprise their roles, while Dolly Parton, Patrick Stewart, Paul Rudd, Jimmy Fallon, Kelly Clarkson, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Hart and Glenn Close were cast to appear in the sequel. Originally, Ian McKellen was going to voice Henry T. Noel. But they couldn't afford him, so he was replaced by Stewart. Anna Kendrick was suppose to voice Roxy, but then she was replaced by Clarkson.
==Release==
===Streaming===
The Christmas Movie 2 was digitally released by Netflix on July 4, 2025. The film also played in three cities (at about 32 Cinemark theaters) the week prior to its digital release, the first time Netflix allowed one of its films to be played in a chain theater.
The film was the most-watched item on the site in its debut weekend. Netflix later reported the film was watched by 61 million households over its first month.
The film was released a year later on November 30, 2026 on Freeform during 25 Days of Christmas.
==Reception==
===Critical response===
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on 57 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "While it's missing some of the magic of the original, The Christmas Movie 2 serves up a sweet second helping of holiday cheer that makes the most of its marvelously matched leads." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "average reviews."
==Sequels and spin-offs==
===Sequel===
Main article: The Christmas Movie 3: Home for the Holidays
The sequel, titled The Christmas Movie 3: Home for the Holidays, was released on November 14, 2036. Brandon Greene returned as director. It is written by Chris Columbus, who was one of the producers of the first two films.
===Spin-off===
Main article: Elves (2033 film)
The spin-off prequel, titled Elves, featuring the elves as the main characters, was released on November 23, 2033 as part of the 10th anniversary of The Christmas Movie. The film was first foreshadowed in The Christmas Movie 2's credits scene.
Following the release of The Christmas Movie 2, it enabled any additional Christmas Movie film to improve the franchise's success. Elves (2033) is a spin-off prequel focusing on the elves, and The Christmas Movie 3: Home for the Holidays (2036) is a sequel centering on a Teenage Ben and his little sister Shane. the third film got positive reviews, but the spin-off polarized critics. After Elves sequel Elves World Tour (2040), The Christmas Movie 4 is scheduled for release. Though the release date is unknown.
==Gallery==
Main article: The Christmas Movie 2/Gallery
==Trivia==
*The film and it's plot are inspired by Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, and .
*Clark's mother, Charity is named after 's (the author of the poem the movie was based on) mother, Charity Clarke.
*Clark's brother, Clem is a part of Clement Clarke Moore's name.
*The elves stole the show in the first film that they got more screen time in the sequel.
*The new elves introduced in the film (Roxy, Jingle Bells and Jangle Bells) were made to prepare them for their prequel/spin-off film.
*The gremlin elves are inspired by the Gremlins and the purple Minions from Despicable Me 2.
Category:Films
Category:Animated Films
Category:Animated films
Category:American animated films
Category:Sequels
Category:Sequel
Category:Sequel films
Category:Films based on poems
Category:Christmas
Category:Christmas Movies
Category:Christmas films
Category:Animated Christmas films
Category:Holiday films
Category:2025 films
Category:2025 animated films
Category:Animated movies
Category:Netflix
Category:Netflix original films
Category:Netflix Original Movie
Category:Netflix films
Category:PG-rated films
Category:Fantasy
Category:Fantasy films
Category:Animated fantasy films
Category:Musicals
Category:Musical Films
Category:Musical films
Category:Animated musical films
Category:Musical fantasy films
Category:2020s American animated films
Category:2020s animated films
Category:Movies
Category:Hand-drawn animated films
Category:Hand-drawn animation
Category:Hand-drawn animated movies
Category:Traditional animation
Category:Traditional animated films
Category:BrandonJG227's ideas
Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated films
Category:Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Category:Metro-Goldyn-Mayer animated films
Category:Bardel Entertainment