It’s no secret that children are the ones who keep the magic of Christmas alive and well, filling the world around us with their infectious festive spirit each and every December.
This year, however, the children of Ireland have truly gone above and beyond — helping to create something magical for the entire nation to enjoy.
381 brilliant young minds, from far and wide across the island of Ireland, have teamed up to give us all an extra special gift this year by helping Lidl create The Most Magical Christmas Movie Ever!
These creative children — all between the ages of 4 and 12 years old — each sent Lidl their own unique, mischievous, silly, soppy and heart-warming ideas about how to make the movie extra special, and really capture the spirit of Christmas.
Their magical movie is now finally being unveiled to the world, and you can watch it right here to see for yourself how the hard work of all the little helpers involved has paid off!
The festive flick has been made by Lidl in conjunction with Irish production company Foe — though none of it would have been possible without the help of all the talented children nationwide.
“I was lucky enough to get to read through all the children's entries while working on this project, and the whole experience has really been an eye-opener in terms of how impressive the kids of Ireland’s imaginations are! We had hundreds of entries to work with, from kids of all ages, and no single idea was better than another. They were all incredibly interesting and so imaginative,” shares Shane Brennan, Foe's Creative Director.
“While each entry was unique, there were some fascinating themes that emerged. There were an awful lot of elves included in the ideas, and, of course, Santa.
"There were even a few robot ideas, which wouldn’t be your typical Christmas character! But I think it was very apt, and the robot made its way into our final story in a special way.
“One of the most common themes in a lot of the kids’ stories was that the action took place in their local Lidl store after hours, there seemed to be a lot of magic there. I’d imagine the kids had been inspired by the Lidl TV ads from recent years, where the store shuts down for the night and then the Lidl elves come to life and sort of take over!
"The children all seemed to really love that Toy Story concept of seeing magical things happen in an area that you normally can't be in or have access to, so it was important that something would happen in a Lidl at nighttime specifically. A lot of the ideas were also set on Christmas Eve: kids really feel that night is the most magical one of the year.”
With all these most popular elements of the children’s ideas whittled down and included in the final script, Shane is confident that the finished movie is one that truly reflects the collective creative vision of Irish children.
“We’ve really tried to stay true to all the fantastic story ideas that the kids sent in to us, and we’ve covered off as many elements as humanly possible — to an extent that I would say everyone who entered their idea should potentially get to see at least one element of their entry included in the movie, particularly if they gave a very detailed entry.
“We were also lucky enough to have a table read with the children to make sure they were fully on board with our movie script.
"We sent an invite to everyone who entered an idea and almost 100 of them took part in a Zoom call with us where we got to read them through the script. It was great to get their feedback and to see what they thought or whether they had any additional ideas.
"We wanted to make it a truly collaborative process, so every child who entered could have a say and put their stamp on the movie.”
This sentiment is echoed by the generous team at Lidl, who see this movie as a gift that belongs totally to the children of Ireland, as Senior Media Manager Orlaith McIvor explains.
“When we decided to make this movie, we really just wanted to give children across Ireland a magical Christmas memory that they’ll never forget,” she shares.
“Anyone who watches our film will be able to tell just how involved the children were. There are brilliant moments throughout it that I think only children could write! Every child wrote such magical stuff, it was just so brilliant to see the ideas they had.
"Some of them were so funny, we were laughing and crying at the same time and others were just so emotional, so I think they did a really good job at making sure they had plenty of festive spirit in there.
"I really hope that all the children involved will love this movie and look back on it when they grow up. We hope one day they can say ‘remember when Lidl made that Christmas movie that we wrote, and we got to do a proper table read and all? That was really cool!’”
Giving the children of Ireland such positive memories to take away from Christmas 2023 was especially important to Lidl during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
“We understand that so many families are feeling the pinch this year, especially when it comes to grocery inflation. We’ve made it our mission to help out by keeping our prices across Lidl stores as low as possible, and we have done so successfully — we’re Ireland’s cheapest retailer at the moment.
"However, for many families there’s just such a big focus on money worries, especially at Christmas time, that we wanted to give back in a special way this year with the Most Magical Christmas Movie Ever.
"We wanted to help people forget about all their worries for a moment by making something fun and magical for them, something that kids across Ireland will remember for years to come. We truly want to make sure people enjoy their Christmas this year, despite the tough times.”
While there’s no denying that times are indeed tough, the bleak circumstances show no sign of dimming the brilliance of Ireland’s youngsters. As Shane attests, the future is in very safe hands.
“It's a very exciting time for film in Ireland at the minute, but based on the imagination and creativity that was put forward by kids across the country for this movie, I would say the film industry is only getting started! Each child who took part gave us so much to work with and helped us pull together something truly magical — they should be super proud of themselves.”
To make the talented children who helped create the film feel extra special, Lidl will be hosting limited screenings of The Most Magical Christmas Movie Ever in select theatres nationwide, which a few lucky winners of last month's competition will be receiving special invites to via the North Pole Express!
Fear not, though, as the movie is also available for families across Ireland to view from the comfort of their own homes this Christmas. The movie is premiering on Lidl's social media accounts from today!
Head to Lidl's YouTube, Instagram, X or Facebook pages to watch the movie in full, or to go behind the scenes and see how the film was made.
- Lidl Presents — The Most Magical Christmas Movie Ever is available to watch on Lidl’s social media channels and in cinemas across the country from Saturday December 16th.
