How TUI’s “Bag Full of Fun” Christmas Elves Took Us By Surprise
Booking a holiday is an important act of self care. That’s why it’s something many of us do in one of the most disheartening times of the year: just after the last of the Christmas leftovers have been polished off, the streets are dotted with desiccated and de-baubled fir trees and you begin to succumb to intrusive thoughts about opening your work inbox. This is when travel brands usually run their biggest campaigns of the year, reminding you that there is going to be plenty to look forward to this year if you make it happen.
But this season, TUI didn’t wait until its competitors were already running their campaigns. Working with its creative agency Leo Burnett UK, it decided to beat them to it, launching a Christmas ad. Full of festive joy, the film directed by Rogue’s Alex Boutell tells the story of Father Christmas’ elven workforce, who head to a climate quite the opposite of Lapland as soon as the hard graft of the year’s toymaking is over. It’s soundtracked by Ricky Martin magnum opus ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ and it’s a riot, planting the seed of where you can book your holiday weeks before the January blues sets in.
We loved it, so LBB’s Alex Reeves asked Leo Burnett UK creative directors Rob Tenconi and Mark Franklin and Rogue director Alex Boutell about its unique brilliance.
LBB> It feels quite new for a travel brand to be advertising ahead of Christmas, rather than the usual time of just afterwards. What was the creative process like working in such uncharted territory?
Rob & Mark> So this was the penny drop moment for us. We wanted to steal a march on our competitors and lodge ourselves in their hearts and minds ahead of the time when they traditionally book holidays – the week after Christmas. We knew no one would be expecting a holiday brand to make a Christmas campaign, so we totally embraced the unexpectedness of it all. It became our secret weapon. Right through to the narrative itself, we didn’t want anyone to see this coming. And on a cold November evening when an elf appeared on the nation’s TV screens dancing to ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ in a Hawaiian shirt, we think we did the job.
LBB> The elves are a very familiar kind of puppet. Why did you land on that type?
Rob & Mark> That came from our brilliant creative team, Matt and Tom. They loved the idea that the elves themselves should have limited movement and largely be inanimate. We tried to apply some rules and logic to this decision, but in the end we just couldn’t. If it’s funnier for them to be inanimate objects when a volleyball is hurtling towards them, then so be it. If it’s funnier to see them hang up on Father Christmas and do a dance, then so be it. We just wanted this film to be a bag full of fun and that’s ultimately what led the decision on what kind of puppet we made.
The elves themselves were designed by Arch Models, the people behind some of the most beautifully crafted models we’ve ever seen on screen. It was amazing to work with the team who designed all the characters for Wes Anderson’s ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’.
LBB> What were some of the most important decisions in the process of crafting the story of elves on their holidays?
Rob & Mark> We wanted to show what a TUI holiday feels like, not just what it looks like. The campaign is an expression of the joy a holiday can bring – it starts from the very moment Father Christmas leaves on his sleigh and it escalates throughout the film. Every decision we made was in service of that feeling of joy.
LBB> Alex, what were your thoughts when you first saw the script?
Alex> First thought: this is funny! Second thought: wait, should the elves be moving or not? Third thought: I finally get to shoot in a holiday resort...
LBB> What did Alex Boutell bring to the story as a director?
Rob & Mark> From the moment we met the director Alex Boutell, we knew he had the same feeling in his head as we did. He helped us craft a story that goes from a warm and fuzzy plinky-plonky Christmas scene to unbridled joy in a matter of seconds. He managed to weave together a narrative that held together all of our silly gags that we’d written at script stage and couldn’t let go of. He was the only director who pitched that didn’t cull any of the scenarios – in fact he added more.
LBB> How did you do the actual animation / puppetry? What were the key things to get right?
Alex> We got to work with Arch Model Studios on the Elves, who work with Wes Anderson and really know their stuff with all things modelled and puppetted. First off, we had to make sure the Elves came off as cute and avoided the trap of looking creepy. Then we had to figure out together the levels of movement they should be capable of – should they bounce around like a marionette? Or hardly move at all? To be honest there didn’t end up being any hard and fast rules, we just want with what felt right to bring the comedy out of each scene.
LBB> It's obviously a fun film. What was your favourite visual gag?
Alex> It has to be the little guy dive bombing into the massive pool. Apparently what pretty much sealed the deal for me to direct this was that I wrote in my treatment the sound for this moment as a ‘Plip!’. The Plip was key!
LBB> It looks like a fun film to shoot. Were there any particularly fun on-set moments?
Rob & Mark> The elves were actually very expensive, so the model makers (quite rightly in hindsight) wouldn’t let us mess around with the elves: it was like seeing the coolest toy you’ve ever seen but not being allowed to play with it.
We shot it at a hotel full of holidaymakers, so the funniest thing was watching them all trying to figure out what the hell we were doing. Obviously it was all top secret back then so we had to be careful what we said. I told quite a few people that Alex was an incredibly rich and loving father who was creating elaborate elf on the shelf content for his children to enjoy this Christmas. One sunburnt guy remarked, “Christ, he’s a better dad than me.”
Alex> I definitely had one of those out of body "What the fuck is my job" moments when we were doing the massage scene. The little fingers going up and down the little Elf whilst the masseuse and the crew were all stood round taking things very, very seriously (as they should!) was pretty hilarious when you take a step back from it all!
