When an 8-year-old discovers Santa’s lost list, he teams up with three misfit elves and a cynical billionaire to deliver overdue gifts before New Year’s erases them from memory forever.

SYNOPSIS:

Tommy, an imaginative 8-year-old who keeps Christmas alive year-round in his modest apartment, discovers an ancient scroll hidden in his building's basement: Santa's "Forgotten List" containing dozens of names dating back decades—children who never received their Christmas gifts. The magical document reveals that unless these deliveries are completed by New Year's Eve, the names will fade forever and these people can never be "found" by Christmas magic again.

Three guilt-ridden elves emerge from hiding—Jingleberry, Tinker, and Holly—explaining they were the young workshop team whose overconfidence and shortcuts caused these names to be lost in the first place. They've spent decades searching for redemption, and this is their last chance to prove they deserve to be Christmas elves again.

Their first delivery reaches Marcus Sterling, a 46-year-old billionaire whose name tops the list from 1985. Instead of dismissing the magical gift, Sterling's curiosity about his childhood abandonment leads him to join their cross-country mission, providing resources and logistics while unconsciously sketching foundation plans for community support.

Over the next five months, each delivery becomes a lesson in human nature. Some recipients, like Tommy's teacher Jessica, rediscover joy through a simple talking doll. Others, like nurse Maria, find deeper meaning by sharing their gifts with those they serve. But not every delivery succeeds—veteran Richard angrily rejects his toy soldier, and construction worker Frank throws his basketball back at them, both wounded by years of learning not to hope.

As their mission gains media attention, backlash grows. Critics call it a publicity stunt exploiting children's innocence. Corporate pressure threatens Sterling's empire. Tommy's mother forbids him from continuing after protesters disrupt their deliveries. With only days left before the New Year's deadline and eight names still uncompleted, the team dissolves in failure and doubt.

In the final act, Sterling realizes the mission was never about the gifts themselves—it was about refusing to let people be forgotten. He rallies the recipients they've already helped, who return to support Tommy in completing the list. The climax transforms from individual deliveries into a New Year's Eve community gathering where the final eight recipients discover something better than overdue toys: a network of people who understand what it means to be overlooked and found again.

Sterling establishes "The Forgotten List Foundation" for ongoing community support, Tommy learns that real magic happens when people choose to care for each other, and the elves earn their redemption by discovering that Christmas magic isn't about perfect delivery—it's about perfect intention.

The story concludes six months later with Tommy and Sterling working together in the foundation office, surrounded by letters from people worldwide who've started their own "forgotten list" projects, proving that the magic of remembering and caring for others can spread far beyond any single Christmas wish.

THE FORGOTTEN LIST