The one with the cotton-headed ninny-muggins …
Son of a nutcracker! If you’re anything like me, you can’t go a single holiday season without rewatching Elf. For kids who grew up watching Will Ferrell on SNL, this movie perfectly transformed his goofy golden retriever energy into one of the most beloved Christmas movie characters of all time.
It’s been over 20 years, but the love for Elf has only grown since its 2003 debut. This modern holiday classic has a killer cast, zany humor, heartfelt moments, and stop-motion sequences that deliver an extra hit of nostalgia.
But did you know …
1. Alrighty then!
The original script for Elf was developed in 1993. Back then, screenwriter David Berenbaum had developed the story with Jim Carrey in mind for the leading role. This was back in his Ace Ventura days, so imagine how different the role of Buddy the Elf could’ve been!
2. Keep it PG, please.
When director Jon Favreau first saw the original script for Elf, the character of Buddy was a bit darker and the story was geared more toward being a PG-13 comedy. But Favreau saw the potential for the movie to become a timeless classic, so he reworked it to play up Buddy’s innocence.
He also transformed the movie’s North Pole setting into an homage to the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer stop-motion Rankin/Bass TV special from the ‘60s. Favreau even voiced the narwhal that uttered this fan-favorite line: “Bye, Buddy. Hope you find your dad!”
3. Who’s that elf?
Did one of Santa’s elves look a little familiar to you? That’s probably because the star of a classic holiday movie has a brief appearance at the North Pole. Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie in A Christmas Story, has an uncredited cameo as an elf named Ming Ming.
4. Double the fun
Ever wondered how they managed to make Will Ferrell look so huge in comparison to his elf co-stars? The team behind Elf decided to go old-school by using a technique called forced perspective. For those scenes, they built two sets: the set for Buddy would be smaller but filmed closer to the camera, while the other set with the elves was further in the background.
As director Favreau noted in an interview with Rolling Stone, “If you look closely, you can see the two sets meet because we didn’t use CG to paint over that or blur it. I wanted it to have the same flaws that it would have had, to make the movie feel more timeless.”
5. Mall Santa
Will Ferrell was able to call upon real-life experience when acting as Buddy in the scenes at Gimbel’s. He had actually played Santa Claus at an outdoor mall in Pasadena in his pre-SNL days. And guess who played one of his elves? None other than Chris Kattan, who was in The Groundlings with him at the time and would go on to become one of Ferrell’s SNL co-stars.
Remembering their holiday temp job in an interview with SPLICEDwire, Ferrel said: “It was hilarious because little kids could care less about the elf. They just come right to Santa Claus. So by the second weekend, Kattan had dropped the whole affectation he was doing and was like (Ferrell makes a face of bitter boredom), ‘Santa’s over there, kid.’”
6. Singing in the shower
The iconic “Baby It’s Cold Outside” duet with Jovie and Buddy wasn’t originally in the script. When Jon Favreau found out she had a Doris Day-like singing voice, he decided to add it into the movie. It also tied in nicely with the film’s theme: “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!”
7. Buddy’s burp
One of the funniest moments in the film is an impressive belch that erupts after Buddy chugs a 2-liter of soda. To make the sound as realistic as possible, the production team decided to outsource the task to Maurice LaMarche, an experienced voice actor known for his roles as The Brain on Animaniacs, Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, and Big Bob on Hey Arnold! (to name a few). Here’s a video about how the sound design team made it happen.
8. Sounds crazy to me
The big finale at Central Park wasn’t filmed on location. In fact, the actual scene was shot at a place that might seem a little insane: the grounds of a mental hospital in Vancouver. One of the surrounding buildings had patients in it, and Favreau noted, “How weird it must have been for them to look out their window and see Santa Claus and a guy in an elf suit running around with reindeer. It may have been counterproductive to their treatment.”
9. Fender benders
Apparently, the scenes of Buddy in the Lincoln Tunnel were filmed on a normal day with regular traffic — and it caused a few minor accidents! As Favreau explained, “Whenever he was out there in his suit, we’d hear screeches and fender-benders and lights smashing.” I mean, if I saw a 6-foot-3 elf on the side of the road, I’d probably get distracted too!
10. Santa? I know him!
Will Ferrell’s improv comedy roots came in handy while filming some of the street scenes in NYC. Instead of placing extras on site, the crew followed him around Manhattan and caught spontaneous scenes with Ferrell in character as Buddy.
One of the most serendipitous examples occurred when Ferrell crossed paths with a New Yorker who happened to sport a white beard and a red jogging suit. Coming across a Santa lookalike made for a hilarious moment of movie magic.
Buddy’s sugary spaghetti is one of the movie meals that will go down in cinematic history. Forward this to someone with a serious sweet tooth.
Editorial: Ashley
Illustration: Nick