Dee Bradley Baker
X (voice)
Overview
A young elf mistakes a tiny alien for a Christmas gift, not knowing her new plaything has plans to destroy Earth's gravity — and steal all the presents.
Cast
12 people
Barbara Goodson
Z (voice)
Kirk Thornton
Reindeer / Klepts / Audience (voice)
Tony Oliver
Reindeer / Klepts / Audience (voice)
Keythe Farley
Santa (voice)
Reviews
5 min readThe Tiny Invader Who Stole Christmas (And Maybe Our Hearts)
I’ll admit it: I wasn’t expecting much from Alien Xmas. A 45-minute stop-motion holiday special about a tiny extraterrestrial trying to disable Earth’s gravity so his species can steal all the presents? It sounds like the kind of premise a studio greenlights after one too many eggnogs at the office party.
But here’s the thing about stop-motion animation—when it’s done right, it has a way of sneaking past your cynicism and lodging itself in some soft, sentimental part of your brain. And Alien Xmas, for all its modest ambitions, does exactly that.
The story is simple, almost aggressively so. A young elf named Holly finds a small, furry alien named X in a snowbank and mistakes him for a Christmas gift. What she doesn’t know is that X is part of an intergalactic heist crew, sent to Earth to disable gravity so his people can swoop in and steal every present under every tree.
It’s a premise that could’ve easily devolved into slapstick chaos, but director Stephen Chiodo—one-third of the legendary Chiodo Brothers, whose stop-motion work has been delighting and unsettling audiences for decades—keeps the tone just light enough to avoid tipping into outright farce. There’s a gentleness to the way the story unfolds, a quiet insistence that even the most absurd conflicts can be resolved with a little empathy.
That empathy is the film’s secret weapon. X isn’t a villain, not really. He’s just a small, lonely creature following orders from a species that sees Earth as nothing more than a giant warehouse of free loot.
His arc isn’t about evil being vanquished but about a stranger learning the value of connection. It’s a theme that could’ve felt heavy-handed in the wrong hands, but Chiodo’s direction keeps it grounded in the physicality of the stop-motion world. The puppets have a tactile, almost fragile quality—you can practically feel the effort it took to move each limb, to adjust each expression frame by frame.
There’s something inherently human about that kind of labor, and it seeps into the story, making even the most outlandish moments feel intimate.
The animation itself is a throwback to the kind of holiday specials that used to dominate network TV in the ‘60s and ‘70s—think Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, but with a sci-fi twist. The character designs are charmingly retro, with X looking like a cross between a Muppet and a rejected Gremlins extra. The sets are equally nostalgic, evoking a cozy, snow-covered village that feels plucked from a vintage Christmas card.
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsBehind the Scenes of Alien Xmas: A Stop-Motion Holiday Oddity
Alien Xmas (2020) is a quirky holiday special that blends stop-motion animation with sci-fi absurdity, but its journey from page to screen is almost as unusual as its premise. latestnetflix.com's take is that Directed by Stephen Chiodo—a name synonymous with cult horror-comedy Killer Klowns from Outer Space—the film is a rare modern entry in the stop-motion Christmas genre, and its production carries the fingerprints of its offbeat creators.
From Book to Netflix: A 14-Year Gestation
The project began as a 2006 children’s book co-written by Chiodo and Jim Strain, but it languished in development limbo until Netflix revived it in 2020 
. The delay wasn’t for lack of passion—Chiodo’s team, The Chiodo Brothers, are stop-motion veterans who’ve worked on everything from Pee-wee’s Playhouse to The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror segments . Their signature blend of retro charm and macabre humor is evident in Alien Xmas, which reimagines Christmas as a battleground between gift-giving elves and gravity-stealing aliens.
The Netflix release was a quiet affair, dropping without much fanfare in November 2020 . But for fans of the medium, the special’s existence was a minor miracle—a holiday stop-motion project in an era dominated by CGI.
The Chiodo Touch: Stop-Motion Meets Sci-Fi Whimsy
Chiodo’s direction leans into the tactile, slightly eerie aesthetic of classic Rankin/Bass specials, but with a modern twist. The aliens, led by a tiny, mischievous creature named X (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker), are designed to evoke both wonder and unease—a hallmark of Chiodo’s work 
. The film’s premise—extraterrestrials attempting to drain Earth’s gravity to steal Christmas—is pure Chiodo: equal parts silly and sinister.
The voice cast is a mix of industry veterans and relative newcomers. Keythe Farley, known for Metalocalypse and The Batman, voices Santa, while Kaliayh Rhambo (The Loud House) plays Holly, a young elf who befriends X . The ensemble is rounded out by Dee Bradley Baker (American Dad!, Star Wars: The Clone Wars), whose vocal range brings the alien characters to life .
A Cult Classic in the Making?
Alien Xmas didn’t make waves upon release, but it’s the kind of project that thrives in niche fandoms. Its 42-minute runtime and offbeat humor align it more with Robot Chicken holiday specials than traditional Christmas fare . The film’s French title, Un Noël Extra, even earned a modest 6.1/10 rating on SensCritique, suggesting it found an audience overseas .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5FA2C-dZao
Rumors of behind-the-scenes challenges are scarce, but given the labor-intensive nature of stop-motion, it’s safe to assume the production was a marathon. Chiodo’s interview with the Chiodo Bros. (available on YouTube) hints at the painstaking process, though specifics are light . What’s clear is that Alien Xmas is a passion project—one that might have struggled to find a home outside of streaming.
Legacy: A Holiday Curio for the Weird and Wonderful
For now, Alien Xmas remains a footnote in the Chiodo Brothers’ filmography, overshadowed by Killer Klowns. But its existence is a testament to the enduring appeal of stop-motion animation, even in an era of digital dominance. If you’re looking for a Christmas special that’s equal parts heartwarming and bizarre, this might be the one.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.