Elf (film)
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| Elf | |
|---|---|
 Elf film poster |
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| Directed by | Jon Favreau |
| Produced by | Jon Berg Todd Komarnicki Shauna Robertson |
| Written by | David Berenbaum |
| Starring | Will Ferrell James Caan Zooey Deschanel Mary Steenburgen with Edward Asner and Bob Newhart |
| Music by | John Debney |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | November 7, 2003 (USA) |
| Running time | 93 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $33,000,000 US (est.) |
| IMDb profile | |
Elf is a 2003 Christmas-themed comedy film directed by Jon Favreau and released in the US on November 7, 2003.
It stars Will Ferrell as the film's central character "Buddy". As an infant in a New York orphanage, Buddy had crawled into Santa's bag on Christmas Eve, and Saint Nick unwittingly brought him back to the North Pole. Not knowing whom the child belonged to, it was decided that he would be raised by the elves, and it would never be disclosed to him that he was really a human. However, when Buddy overhears the other elves talking about him being human, he goes to his adopted father for advice.
Buddy's adopted father acknowledges that Buddy is a human, and tells him the entire story of how he got to be raised by elves. Most importantly, he tells Buddy about his human father, Walter Hobbs, who lives in New York City. Buddy soon decides to go off on a quest to find his father, which leads to all kinds of humorous trouble.
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[edit] Storyline
Elf begins with narration by "Papa Elf" (played by Bob Newhart), explaining the only three jobs available to an elf, which are making shoes for the shoe cobbler, baking cookies inside of trees (which is dangerous in the dry season) and working in Santa's workshop. An infant in an orphanage crawls into Santa's sack of toys one Christmas eve and is accidentally taken to the North Pole. Santa (played by a decidedly unjolly Edward Asner) decides to allow the child, called "Buddy" after a label on his diaper, to be raised by Papa Elf who has no children of his own. As Buddy grows (played as an adult by Will Ferrell), he is raised as an elf; his immense stature and poor toymaking skills pose awkward questions that his adopted father continually waves away. After a string of accidents in which his non-elfness becomes obvious, Papa Elf finally breaks the news to Buddy that he was adopted. Buddy is overwhelmed by the news, and with encouragement from a snowman (voiced by jazz/blues singer Leon Redbone) he sets off to New York City to find his biological father Walter Hobbes (portrayed by James Caan), who is a cold-hearted children's book publishing executive.
Much of the film's comedy arises from Buddy's lack of knowledge about "normal" human behavior and the conflicts between his naïve, merry attitude and the hostile attitude of many New Yorkers. This dynamic is reminiscent of the fish-out-of-water themes of Crocodile Dundee and the classic, black-and-white Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
Many of the jaded people he meets no longer believe in Santa (which Buddy finds jolting, as he normally sees Santa on an almost daily basis) and believe Buddy is simply a colorful eccentric wearing yellow tights and singing carols. Although initially skeptical of Buddy's irrepressible nature, a young woman named Jovie (played by Zooey Deschanel) begins to fall in love with him.
The movie climaxes when Buddy meets Santa again in Central Park and helps fix his sleigh, which is powered by the Christmas spirit. Buddy and Jovie also are married and have a baby.
[edit] Trivia
- On the outside, the department store across the street from the Empire State Building shown in the movie is the current home of the CUNY Graduate Center, which was the former site of a B. Altman and Company department store, but was called Gimbel's. Both companies have gone bankrupt.
- The "amateur footage" of Buddy walking through Central Park is a spoof of the Patterson-Gimlin film, the most well-known alleged footage of Bigfoot.
- Director Jon Favreau appears as a doctor who performs a blood test to verify that Buddy is Walter's son. He also voices the narwhal.
- Screenwriter David Berenbaum makes a cameo appearance as a worker in Walter's office.
- In one scene, a children's book entitled "Pigmalion" is visible, a send-up to the George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion.
- NY1, the TV news station on which the story of the Santa sighting spread, is a real 24-hour news station based in New York City.
- When this screenplay first emerged in 1993, Jim Carrey was slated to play Buddy.
- Leon the Snowman is based on Sam the Snowman from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Additionally, Buddy's elf costume resembles that of the head elf in "Rudolph".
- The Code of the Elves:
- Treat Every Day Like Christmas.
- There's Room For Everyone on the Nice List.
- The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer is Singing Loud for All to Hear.
- When Buddy tested the jack-in-the-boxes, a crazy laugh can be heard. This is the same laugh done by Ripper Roo of the Crash Bandicoot series. It was originally the sound of the hyenas from The Lion King. Additionally, in the opening credits, while the walrus is bouncing up and down on the snow is the same sound as when Crash Bandicoot jumps on boxes in the same series.
- Running gag: Nobody ever gets to finish Miles' pitch starting at the cover. The first time, Buddy runs in, high off of Jovie's kiss and the second time Michael comes in and tells Walter that Buddy is missing.
- The larger of the two security guards who remove Buddy from the building twice is played by Pat Ferrell, Will's brother.
[edit] Selected cast and crew
- Will Ferrell - Buddy
- Edward Asner - Santa Claus
- Bob Newhart - Papa Elf
- James Caan - Walter
- Mary Steenburgen - Emily
- Zooey Deschanel - Jovie
- Daniel Tay - Michael
- Faizon Love - Krumpet (Gimbel's Manager)
- Peter Dinklage - Miles Finch
- Amy Sedaris - Deb
- Michael Lerner - Fulton
- Andy Richter - Morris
- Kyle Gass - Eugene
- Artie Lange - Gimbel's Santa
- Claire Lautier - NY 1 Reporter
- Richard Side - Elf Teacher
Directed by Jon Favreau; written by David Berenbaum; distributed by New Line Cinema.
