Synopsis
Buddy, a human, is raised amongst elves at the North Pole. When he discovers that he is not an elf, he travels to New York to search for his biological father.
Cast
Will Ferrell…Buddy
James Caan…Walter
Bob Newhart…Papa Elf
Zooey Deschanel…Jovie
Edward Asner…Santa
Mary Steenburgen…Emily
Daniel Tay…Michael
Best Character
It’s rare for me to not have a favourite character, and when it comes to Elf I really don’t. I would like to say Jovie because I love Zooey Deschanel, but I don’t like her character very much.
Best Supporting/Obscure Character
Mr Narwhal is by far my favourite obscure character. He has my favourite line and I love the animation/character design of the arctic characters. He’s literally in the film for five seconds, but I love him.
Favourite Scenes
This isn’t technically a scene as it’s only ten seconds, but I love when Buddy picks up the phone in his dad’s office.
Every time I watch the scene where Buddy is trying to step on the escalator I almost cry with laughter. I know someone that is terrified of both stepping on and off them so it reminds me of them. Pure comedy,
The most iconic scene in the whole of Elf has to be when Buddy decorates Gimbels for Santa’s visit. I love any type of montage in a film and when it’s this festive it really takes the cake.
I feel like I can’t talk about Elf and not mention when Buddy fights Santa at Gimbels. Well, “fights” is a bit of an over-exaggeration, but it’s definitely one of the funniest scenes.
Best Quotes/Lines
MR. NARWHAL: Bye Buddy, hope you find your dad.
This is my favourite line to imitate. Possibly the best moment in the whole film and it happens in the first 10 minutes.
BUDDY: You did it! Congratulations! “World’s Best Cup of Coffee.” Great job, everybody. It’s great to meet you.
I wish I had such a sunny outlook on life.
EMILY: So, Buddy, how’d you sleep?
BUDDY: Great! I got a full 40 minutes!
Relatable. Probably the only relatable thing Buddy says in the whole film.
BUDDY: [phone rings, Buddy picks it up] Buddy the Elf, what’s your favourite colour?
GIMBEL’S MANAGER: [Sees Buddy smiling] Why are you smiling like that?
BUDDY: I just like to smile, smiling’s my favourite.
I really cannot relate to Buddy here, smiling is not my favourite.
BUDDY: You sit on a throne of lies.
This is an absolute classic line. I like to use this often.
BUDDY: [out of breath from chasing Michael] Wow, you’re fast. I’m glad I caught up to you. I waited 5 hours for you. Why is your coat so big? So, good news – I saw a dog today. Have you seen a dog? You probably have. How was school? Was it fun? Did you get a lot of homework? Huh? Do you have any friends? Do you have a best friend? Does he have a big coat, too?…
This is exactly how I speak to my boyfriend when he gets home from work and yes I am as annoying as Buddy.
Final Thoughts and Fun Facts
This may offend a lot of people, but Elf is not my favourite Christmas film. It’s pretty good, but I personally think it’s quite overrated. Please don’t hate me.
The scene where Buddy and the fake Santa fight was filmed in front of a green screen and all of the kids were put into the scene during editing. They were filmed separately from the fight scene. This was because it had to be filmed in one take and it was too dangerous to have all of the kids in the scene.
Elf is one of those classics from my childhood that I still like to watch most years, but as I said before, it’s not my fave. There are a few moments that are now very dated i.e ‘the angry elf’ scene. This one makes me cringe now and it really shows the age of the film.
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