‘Big Bang Theory’ Star Jim Parsons To Voice Buddy The Elf In Christmas Special

The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons is about to do something that Sheldon Cooper has never done before — he’s going to be cheerful and smiley for an extended period of time.

Parsons has signed on to reprise Will Ferrell’s role as Buddy the elf, Santa’s lovable, not-so-little helper from the 2003 movie Elf. However, Jim Parsons’ version of Buddy is going to be a stop-motion figurine.

NBC’s one-hour special Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas is obviously trying to recreate the magic of the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials that have captivated audiences for decades. Kids and adults are still delighted by Hermey the elf, the unhappy toy shop worker who just wants to be dentist in Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, so it makes sense to base a Christmas special on another popular elf.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the NBC special will also be inspired by the Elf Broadway musical. Instead of embarking on a new adventure, Jim Parsons’ Buddy will relive the same story featured in the movie and musical by heading to NYC in search of his biological father. Ed Asner will narrate Buddy’s merry adventures as the joyful elf “shows everyone he meets that the best way to bring Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”

Jim Parsons will be belting out tunes from the Broadway version of Elf, which include “Nobody Cares About Santa Claus” and “Happy All the Time.” The voice cast includes other big names like Matt Lauer, Gilbert Gottfried, Fred Armisen, Jay Leno, and Mark Hamill. There’s no word on why Will Ferrell didn’t return to voice Buddy, but it could be because he didn’t feel like he had the vocal chops for a musical special.

Entertainment Weekly shared a photo of the version of Buddy being voiced by Jim Parsons, and the stop-motion character doesn’t look anything like Parsons or Ferrell with his weirdly long neck and giant nose.

You can check out Jim Parsons’ take on Buddy when Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas will air December 16 on NBC.

Elf isn’t the only movie-inspired animated special that will air during the holidays. According to The Wrap, Tim Allen and Tom Hanks are reprising their roles as Woody the cowboy and Buzz Lightyear the astronaut in a special titled Toy Story That Time Forgot. In the special, Bonnie’s toys meet a group of new playthings after Christmas. Woody and his friends think that these new toys are pretty awesome, but it turns out that they’re just as batty as Buzz was when he thought that he was a real spaceman. Trixie the Triceratops has to save the day after the new toys, which appear to be dinosaurs, terrorize her friends. Toy Story That Time Forgot will air December 2 on ABC.

Speaking of toys, Jim Parsons’ character Sheldon is going to play with some pretty cool toys this week on The Big Bang Theory. As The Inquisitr previously reported, the show has something very special in store for fans when it moves back to Thursday. Billy Bob Thornton will guest-star as a urologist to the stars who has used his celebrity connections to amass a large collection of geeky movie memorabilia. He impresses Sheldon by showing him one of the alien puppets from Mars Attacks!, Magneto’s helmet from the X-Men movie and Gort’s costume from The Day The Earth Stood Still.

Do you think Jim Parsons will do a good job voicing Buddy or does his Big Bang Theory character have you worried that he won’t sound enthusiastic enough as the elf?

[Images via CBS, New Line Cinema]