The 2003 holiday classic Elf has touched the hearts of many. The movie may be 16 years old, but it’s turned into a holiday tradition to watch the film. As the story goes, Will Ferrell’s character, Buddy, mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag on Christmas Eve. Instead of taking Buddy out of the North Pole, he keeps him and turns him into one of his elves. Buddy has a hard time being an elf (especially being 6'2") and eventually finds out he’s human by mistake.
Throughout the movie, we see Buddy on a quest to find his biological father throughout New York City. And while many of us watch this feel-good film every holiday season, let’s take a look at ten goofs, secrets, and things we didn’t know about the film.
DIRECTOR JON FAVREAU DREW BUDDY’S CARD
Most fans don’t realize that the doctor in Elf is also the director. Jon Favreau made it big with the 2003 film and even voiced three of the different animated characters. He’s the one who said, “Bye Buddy, I hope you find you dad!”
According to the movie’s IMDb page, Jon didn’t just make small appearances throughout the film; he also showed off his artistic ability in Buddy’s card. For Christmas, Budy gave his dad that lingerie nightgown with a hand-drawn card, made by Jon Favreau.
PRODUCTION WAS HAZARDOUS
Since Buddy hails from the North Pole and is exploring New York City for the first time, it’s obvious that production must have been busy. You can’t shut a city like New York City down.
When Will is walking through the Lincoln Tunnel in character, there were a few accidents after people saw the one and only Will Ferrell walking through New York in an elf costume. People were so surprised that a few fender benders may have occurred.
DOES BUDDY’S COSTUME LOOK FAMILIAR?
Something that new viewers may not realize about Elf is that the costumes worn by Santa’s helpers were actually exact replicas of the elves in Santa’s workshop in the 1964 film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
When Buddy is sadly leaving the North Pole after realizing he’s, in fact, not an elf, he runs into winter animals that are also mirrored with the 1964 movie. It’s a nice nod to one of the original holiday hits, not to mention a great addition to the movie itself.
RALPHIE, IS THAT YOU!?
In 1983, A Christmas Story was released and instantly became a movie everyone wanted to watch on Christmas Day. It’s one of those movies that is consistently on once December strikes. In the movie, the main character Ralphie struck a chord with fans and became the face of Christmas.
Funny enough, if you’re watching Elf, the actor who played Ralphie, Peter Billingsley, also plays Ming Ming — the head elf at Santa’s workshop! Fans of the 1983 film may not have realized that Ming Ming and Ralphie were the same people, but it’s bound it kick in one of these Christmas’s!
A SMALL (YET ELEVATED) SLIP
At the beginning of Elf, we’re taken through the daily life of Buddy the Elf. As a human living in the North Pole surrounded by elves, Buddy was obviously out of place. He was too big to play sports, too big for the choir, and was the tallest one in class.
However, if you look closely, you can see the small platform Buddy’s desk is on. The platform makes Buddy (Will) taller and bigger than he already was. Granted, the platform does match the ground, so it is pretty noticeable.
WILL FERRELL ATE A LOT OF SWEETS
It’s no secret that Buddy the Elf loves his sugar. From cotton candy to syrup to gum drops to soda — Buddy doesn’t discriminate.
Earlier in the film when Walter takes Buddy to the doctor’s office, we see him eating cotton balls, but don’t worry; those were actually small things of cotton candy. However, the pile of spaghetti, candy, and syrup Buddy ate was real… So real that Will Ferrell actually threw up after eating it! There were even times when Will suffered headaches throughout filming due to all the sugar!
WHAT’S WITH EVERYONE’S CHRISTMAS TREE BEING TOO LARGE FOR THEIR HOUSE?
When Buddy and Michael bring home a Christmas tree, it’s far too big for their New York apartment. Both Michael and Buddy do their best to fit it in the corner of their apartment and spend the night decorating it.
Diehard Christmas fans may have noticed that the massive Christmas tree was a subtle nod to 1989’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. In that film, the Griswolds head out to the forest to find the perfect Christmas tree, and just like Buddy’s, it was far too big for their home and ended up damaging a lot of it.
TAKE A HARD LOOK AT MILES FINCH’S BLACK BOOK OF IDEAS
In the movie, Buddy’s biological father, Walter, is the head guy at a publishing firm in New York City. He’s good at what he does and spends more time at the office than at home. When he runs into a problem at work, he arranges a meeting with Miles Finch who bounces ideas around for Walter’s next book.
Miles brings along his little black book of ideas, which he accidentally leaves behind. When the camera pans to Miles, we can see his book right next to him, which is about the size of his hand. But when the camera pans out, we see a much larger black book in front of Eugene.
SPLIT SEAMS
When Buddy waits outside of Michael’s school to walk home with him, they cut through Central Park where they’re attacked by snowballs. Buddy—a snowball extraordinaire—hides behind a snow bunker where he and Michael begin making snowballs.
One eagle-eyed viewer noticed, however, that in one scene, Buddy’s tights are slightly ripped on the inner thigh, but in another shot, the rip disappears. It’s clear Will’s pants ripped while getting down and dirty and they needed to change pants mid-scene!
BUDDY SURE DOES LOVE HIS SODA
When it’s confirmed that Buddy is Walter’s biological son, he invites him over for dinner so he can meet the rest of the family. At dinner, Buddy is eating pasta when he begins to chug an entire bottle of cola. He then proceeds to have a hilarious 12-second burp that everyone can hear while reading this entry.
However, when we first see the bottle, it’s on the far side of Michael — not in reach of Buddy. But then suddenly, the bottle is right next to Buddy without him asking Michael to pass it.
