11 Fascinating Facts About Elf

Ask anyone about their favourite Christmas activities and it’s pretty likely that Elf will be mentioned somewhere. For many, the holiday season simply isn’t complete without a viewing (or several viewings) of the beloved 2003 comedy starring Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel. This year, the heartwarming story of Buddy the Elf’s quest to find out his true identity hits the stage as a spectacular live musical production. To get you in the mood for this ultimate festive treat, here’s 11 fascinating facts about Elf. 

1. The twin boys who were cast to play Buddy as a baby were fired by director Jon Favreau. Whilst the twins looked very cute with their blonde curly hair, it transpired that they were a little too young for show-business and cried uncontrollably instead of crawling and smiling. Eventually, Favreau was forced to bring in triplet girls who were more comfortable in front of the cameras.
   
   
2. Part of the film was shot at a location called Riverview Hospital, an abandoned mental health facility. Productions from the Final Destination and See No Evil franchises, along with Jennifer’s Bodyand episodes of The X Files, Smallville and Prison Break have been filmed there, meaning Elf‘s Christmas-themed toy department set was quite a contrast.  
   
   
3. Many of the scenes of Buddy walking through New York City were shot on the fly, with Ferrell and the crew jumping out of a vehicle in opportune locations and using random passers-by as extras. Ferrell supposedly caused a number of minor traffic incidents when he walked through the Lincoln Tunnel wearing his full elf regalia.
   
   
   
    
4. In one scene, Buddy gives a card to his dad. The crayon drawing inside – which was supposed to represent a self-portrait from Buddy – was drawn by the director himself.  
5. Favreau also got involved on the other side of the camera when he made a cameo as Buddy’s doctor. He also provided the voice for Buddy’s North Pole pal, Mr Narwhal.
   
   
   
   
6. Harking back to another comedy classic, the exterior shot of the apartment owned by Buddy’s father is the same as that of the home of Dana Barrett – Sigourney Weaver’s character in Ghostbusters. 
   
   
   
7. Buddy’s love for candy and other Yuletide treats meant that Will Ferrell had to endure headaches throughout filming as a result of having to eat the sugary food on camera… 
8. …in fact, a scene in which Buddy horrifies onlookers by enthusiastically eating sweets and spaghetti at the time had to be shot twice because the long-suffering Ferrell was sick the first time around.
   
   
   
   
   
9. As if being forced to eat repulsive combinations of food wasn’t enough, Favreau put Ferrell through an anxious experience when filming with jack-in-the-boxes. In a memorable scene showing Buddy working as a jack-in-the-box tester, Ferrell’s facial expressions of tension and surprise are entirely real. Favreau operated the props with a remote control, meaning Ferrell genuinely had no idea when they would pop open.
   
   
   
10. If you look carefully at Santa’s “nice list” towards the end of the film, you can see that it contains real names and gift requests. The names all belong to crew members who worked on the movie. Executive producer Jimmy Miller wants a Hot Wheels track with six cars; co-production coordinator Nathan Tichenor wishes for an Apple ibook and property master Andy Nieman desires golf clubs. More obscurely, unit production manager Penny Gibbs asks Santa for an Old MacDonald farm kit, complete with battery-operated tractor and a remote-controlled cow-tipper.
    
11. Finally, at one point in his New York adventure Buddy belches for an impressive 12 seconds. This was provided by voice actor Maurice LaMarche, known to cartoon fans as The Brain from Pinky and the Brain.  
    
    

Elf – The Musical plays The Lowry, Salford, from Friday 24th November 2017 to Sunday 14th January 2018. It is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole. Unaware that he is actually human, Buddy’s enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth. With Santa’s permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, discover his true identity, and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas.

The spectacular production is the perfect family treat for Christmas –
tickets and more information are available here.