Will Ferrell's Christmas movie Spirited calls out Elf in the most cotton-headed ninny muggins way
This article contains spoilers for Spirited.
Will Ferrell is already the Christmas movie king after starring in one of the most iconic holiday films of all time, 2003's Elf. But since he knows the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear, he's back at it again with his new movie musical Spirited.
The modern take on A Christmas Carol stars Ferrell as the Ghost of Christmas Present who picks the wrong Scrooge (Ryan Reynolds) to try and redeem. Fittingly, there's a hilarious and brutally honest reference to Elf. While Reynolds plays the abrasive, selfish, Scrooge-like Clint Briggs, it's Ferrell who calls out Elf in a cotton-headed ninny muggins way. (Mild spoilers ahead.)
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After Clint turns the tables on the Ghost of Christmas Present, making him reexamine his own past, present, and future, the ghost decides to take his "retirement package" and returns to mortal life. He wakes up in the real world and attends Clint's holiday party. After realizing he needs to get used to other people seeing and hearing him again — as well as not running into inanimate objects since he's a real person and no longer a spirit — he encounters a partygoer wearing a very familiar elf costume. In fact, it's an exact replica of his Buddy costume in Elf.
When the elf helps him back up after he runs into a pillar, Ferrell's character gets a good look at his costume and tells the partygoer, "You look stupid." Briggs intervenes before the two men get into a fight, and as he leads the Ghost of Christmas Present away, he just repeats, "He looks stupid."
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Spirited also stars Octavia Spencer, Sunita Mani, Patrick Page, Joe Tippett, Marlow Barkley, and Jen Tullock, with a soundtrack featuring new songs from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the composing team behind La La Land. The movie is now playing in theaters, and will be available to stream on Apple TV+ beginning Nov. 18.
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