15 Fun Facts About the Christmas Movie 'Elf'
All the New York scenes—Rockefeller Center, Central Park and Central Park West—were shot on location in the Big Apple.
Since its release in 2003, Elf—in which Will Ferrell played Buddy, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole—has become a ho-ho-holiday TV-movie staple. Here are some fun facts about the evergreen Christmas comedy Elf, which also starred James Caan, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner (as Santa!), Mary Steenburgen and Zooey Deschanel.
1. Ferrell suffered from sugar-induced headaches throughout the filming due to Buddy the Elf’s preferred diet of candy, candy canes, candy corn and syrup.
2. Peter Billingsley—who famously starred as a child in another Christmas-classic movie, A Christmas Story—appears briefly in the beginning of the movie as an elf named Ming Ming.
Related: Everything You Need To Know About the A Christmas Story Reboot in 2022
3. When Buddy munches on big wads of cotton in the doctor’s office, they’re actually undyed tufts of cotton candy.
4. Director Jon Favreau appears as a doctor administering a paternity test to determine the true identity of Buddy’s father (James Caan).
5. Leon Redbone provides the voice of Leon the Snowman and sings “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with Zooey Deschanel over the closing credits.
6. Buddy’s 12-second belch was supplied by voice actor Maurice LaMarche, best known for his cartoon character the Brain from the Emmy-winning 1990s series Pinky and the Brain.
7. Much of the snow in the movie was created in post-production, including Buddy's iconic snowball fight scene.
8. While much of Elf was shot on sound stages in Vancouver, all the New York scenes—Rockefeller Center, Central Park and Central Park West—were shot on location in the Big Apple.
9. A scene with a Christmas tree too big for the living room is a nod to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), in which Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) brings home an enormous tree that will barely fit into his house.
Related: The 100 Best National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Quotes
10. Matt Walsh, who’d later be nominated for two Emmys for his role as Mike McLintock on HBO’s Veep, has a brief cameo as a New Yorker who says he’s seen Santa’s sleigh.
11. Elf was turned into a Broadway musical that ran during the 2010–11 and 2012–13 Christmas seasons.
12. Filming a scene of Ferrell in his elf costume walking through traffic in Manhattan’s Lincoln Tunnel distracted drivers and caused several fender benders.
13. When the screenplay for Elf first emerged in the early 1990s, another funnyman, Jim Carrey, was originally slated to star. But by the time the film was a go, Carrey was occupied with other projects.
14. Before his big break on Saturday Night Live, Will Ferrell worked as a Santa for five week at an outdoor mall in Pasadena. His SNL pal Chris Kattan was his elf.
15. Buddy's elf costume may look familiar. The design was heavily inspired by the ones the elves wear in the classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Related: 35 Best Elf Quotes
