Elf

Elf (2003)

Timing: 1:37 (97 min)

6.667/10
4501

6.327/10
19743

7.1/10
346000

All about film

Video 14

Photo 138

Actors and characters

Release date

2003-11-07

Country

United States

Production

New Line Cinema, Guy Walks into a Bar Productions

Genre

Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Budget

$32 000 000

Revenue

$228 500 000

Website

Director

Jon Favreau

Actors

Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, Mary Steenburgen, Zooey Deschanel, Daniel Tay, Faizon Love, Peter Dinklage, Amy Sedaris
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

David Berenbaum

Producer

Shauna Robertson, Todd Komarnicki, Jon Berg, Cale Boyter, Toby Emmerich, Jimmy Miller, Kent Alterman, Julie Darmody

Operator

Greg Gardiner

Composer

John Debney

Artist

Barbara Wilson

Audition

Editing

Dan Lebental
All team (99)

• While Will Ferrell (playing Buddy) was walking through the Lincoln Tunnel (connecting Manhattan and New Jersey) in an elf costume, several traffic accidents occurred, as drivers instinctively stared at him and were distracted from the road.
• Director Jon Favreau used remote control to show the reaction of the toys to the sight of Will Ferrell.
• On the last day of filming in New York, director Jon Favreau, Will Ferrell, and cinematographer Greg Gardiner drove around the city, choosing locations. They got out of the car and asked passersby if they would agree to appear in a small cameo role on screen, and sometimes Ferrell himself would go out in Buddy's costume. Many of Buddy's first appearance scenes in New York were filmed then (such as the scene where his shoes are being shined, or the scene where he runs across the street, maneuvering between cars).
• During filming, Will Ferrell suffered from headaches and insomnia because he had to eat a lot of sweets on camera.
• Many of the sets had to be built in two sizes – larger (for the actors playing elves) and smaller (for actors of normal height). In the scene where Edward Asner, playing Santa, addresses the elves, he stands on a platform among the reduced sets. The elves stand on another platform located behind him.
• The management of “New Line Cinema” insisted that Katie Holmes be cast as Jovie, but she turned down the offer. As a result, Zooey Deschanel was chosen because she can sing. According to John Favreau, music was added to the film precisely after he learned about the actress’s singing ability.
• Zooey Deschanel dyed her hair blonde for a project that never materialized, and around that time auditioned for the role of an elf. Studio executives told her not to re-dye it, because she was cast in the role thanks to auditions where she was already blonde.
• A significant portion of the scenes with Will Ferrell, Bob Newhart, and Edward Asner were filmed using forced perspective (a technique that uses optical illusion to make an object appear farther, closer, larger, or smaller than it actually is) to recreate the special spirit and atmosphere of classic Christmas films. (The same technique was used in the work on Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.) In the scene where Ferrell and Newhart ride a bicycle, Ferrell rode in the foreground, while Newhart stood on a platform some distance away to appear smaller than he actually is. His hands on Ferrell’s shoulders were actually the hands of a young actor standing behind Ferrell off-camera. The scene where Ferrell’s character sits on the lap of Newhart’s character was filmed in a similar manner.
• The script was written in 1993, and for about a year it was considered by an independent company called “Motion Picture Corporation of America.” They planned to cast Chris Farley as Buddy. According to screenwriter David Berenbaum, with Farley in the lead role it would have been “a completely different film.” Over time, however, another film studio showed interest in the project. The script landed on the desk of Jon Berg, a producer and one of the executives at “New Line Cinema,” who convinced the company to take on the project. Later, producer Todd Komarnicki suggested Will Ferrell for the role of Buddy. Neither Berenbaum, Berg, nor Komarnicki had produced films before, and “New Line Cinema” was initially skeptical of the project, but the film’s budget was eventually approved for $30 million.
• Filming took place over three weeks in New York. Sets for some locations were built on the grounds of an abandoned mental hospital in Canadian Vancouver, the very same one where the horror film "Freddy vs. Jason" (Ronny Yu, 2003) was once filmed. Some members of the film crew later admitted they had never worked in such a nightmarish building before.
• Will Ferrell and John Favreau often argued about the overall tone of the film. Ferrell and Adam McKay (both of whom helped with the script, though their names are not listed among the other writers in the credits) insisted on making a PG-13 comedy (children under 13 are not advised to watch, as the film lacks scenes of violence and nudity, but may contain episodes involving drugs and sexual references). Favreau insisted on something lighter and more suitable for family viewing. The film gained great popularity, but the much-talked-about sequel never materialized due to Ferrell's conviction that he and Favreau didn't work well together.
• Filming with forced perspective (which was necessary) took so much time that the film began to fall behind schedule. To end this delay and stay within budget, Joe Bauer, in charge of special effects, and his team worked nights building sets for the next day’s shoot. The North Pole sets were so huge that they had to be built on the hockey rink of a stadium in Vancouver, as they wouldn't fit in a regular pavilion.
• Will Ferrell frequently annoyed James Caan by prolonging shoots and insisting on another take, and Caan’s irritation became increasingly visible and pronounced.
• John Favreau included filming at numerous locations in New York (such as the Empire State Building or the Lincoln Tunnel) in the script, even without being sure he would have time to shoot there. His subordinates, however, secured all the permits, and all outdoor filming took place in New York, which Favreau was immensely proud of. Filming was often conducted in such a way that bystanders remained completely unaware, so Will Ferrell had to maneuver between cars on the street and be close to trucks speeding through the tunnel without any safety precautions.
• The most memorable scene, in which Buddy calls Santa a fraud at Macy's, was nearly cut from the script even before filming began. Macy's management did not like the idea of their company being associated with a "fraudulent" Santa, so if the filmmakers were going to shoot in the flagship store on Manhattan, the scene had to be removed from the script. In the end, they filmed the scene in a cafeteria in an abandoned mental hospital in Vancouver.
• The scene where the store Santa chases Buddy had to be filmed in one take because recreating the set would have been very problematic.
• The fight scene between Buddy and the store Santa was filmed against a green screen, and the children were filmed separately and added to the scene using computer technology.
• The filmmakers planned to pay tribute to the main character from the 1964 Rankin/Bass Productions animated film "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and even began including references to it, believing that all copyright nuances had been successfully settled. However, it soon became clear that permission from the copyright holders had not been obtained. Then, lawyers from "New Line Cinema" suggested making Buddy’s costume, as worn by Will Ferrell, blue instead of green, but this would have required reshoots of already filmed material or recoloring the costumes using digital technology. Subsequently, it turned out that the copyright for the 1964 animated film had been registered in violation of current legislation, so all references to it were lawful.
• A significant portion of the scenes with Will Ferrell, Bob Newhart, and Edward Asner were filmed using forced perspective (a technique that uses optical illusion to make an object appear farther, closer, larger, or smaller than it actually is) to recreate the special spirit and atmosphere of classic Christmas films. (This technique was also used in the work on Peter Jackson’s "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.) In the scene where Ferrell and Newhart are riding a bicycle, Ferrell was riding in the foreground, while Newhart stood on a platform some distance away to appear smaller than he actually is. His hands on Ferrell’s shoulders were actually the hands of a young actor standing behind Ferrell off-camera. A similar technique was used to film the scene in which Ferrell’s character is sitting on Newhart’s character’s lap.
• Jon Favreau included in the script filming at numerous locations in New York (for example, the Empire State Building or the Lincoln Tunnel), even without being sure he would have time to film there. However, his subordinates obtained all the necessary permits, and all outdoor filming took place in New York, which Favreau was immensely proud of. Filming was often conducted in such a way that bystanders remained completely unaware, so Will Ferrell had to maneuver between cars on the street and be close to trucks speeding through the tunnel without any safety precautions.