Get ready to unwrap some surprising facts about everyone's favorite Christmas comedy! Join us as we reveal the hidden secrets behind the making of this holiday classic. From casting choices to behind-the-scenes tricks, you'll never watch Elf the same way again!
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00:00You like sugar, huh?
00:02Is there sugar in syrup?
00:03Yes.
00:04Then yes!
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo,
00:07and today we're counting down our picks for the lesser-known fun facts about the Christmas classic Elf.
00:12I like beef and cheese. You don't smell like Santa.
00:15Number 10. Buddy's sugary diet made Will Ferrell sick.
00:19Sugar, sugar, and more sugar.
00:21That is the diet of Buddy, the human raised as an elf.
00:25We elves try to stick to the four main food groups.
00:27Candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.
00:31Whether it's pouring loads of what he thinks is syrup in his coffee or making a spaghetti sundae,
00:36actor Will Ferrell felt the effects of his character's unhealthy eating habits.
00:40In an interview, he explained that the sugary diet caused him many headaches and sleepless nights.
00:45It's no wonder.
00:47Even those cotton balls he eats during a doctor's office scene were actually cotton candy balls.
00:51Buddy don't eat those.
00:58Oh!
01:00But as the comedy star suggested,
01:02if a sugary diet was what it took to play the character, then so be it.
01:06Lucky for us, because the funny scenes involving Buddy's oh-so-sweet diet make him and the movie that much sweeter.
01:18Number 9. Ferrell's reactions during the Jack in the Box scene were genuine.
01:22How can you help an actor best display a seemingly genuine surprise reaction?
01:28That question must have been going through director Jon Favreau's head while imagining the Jack in the Box scene in Elf.
01:35The answer ended up being quite logical.
01:38Make the reactions legitimately genuine.
01:47As Ferrell cranks the Jack in the Boxes, Favreau would be offstage controlling them by remote control.
01:53Thanks to this great idea, when you watch Buddy get jumpy and react to the gestures popping out at random moments,
01:59or react to them not popping out, the reactions come off so authentically.
02:03Just watch! One even pops out seconds after Buddy has stopped cranking.
02:12Number 8. The Santa imposter fight scene was shot in one take.
02:16After hearing an announcement that Santa Claus is coming to town, Buddy the Elf is stoked.
02:24Santa's coming to town!
02:26Santa! Oh my God!
02:28Santa here? I know him! I know him!
02:33Santa is supposedly coming to Gimble's department store to be exact.
02:37In a later scene, the day that Buddy and many kids had been looking forward to has arrived.
02:42Now, will the real Santa please stand up? Because that ain't him.
02:46Buddy the Elf knows that.
02:48Who the heck are you?
02:49What are you talking about? I'm Santa Claus.
02:51No, you're not.
02:52Of course he does. He was raised in the North Pole where the real Santa resides.
02:57They go way back, so what other choice does Buddy have than to give this phony an earful?
03:01It's cool, Xippy.
03:03You sit on a throne of lies.
03:05This awesome, hilarious scene culminates in an epic, destructive scuffle lasting over 30 seconds.
03:11The fight was all shot in one take because it had to be.
03:14Everything would be smashed, so they couldn't exactly start over.
03:23He's not Santa Claus!
03:26He's not Santa!
03:31Perhaps you've noticed that the director of Elf appears in the film as Dr. Leonardo,
03:35who is tasked with determining whether or not Buddy is Walter's son.
03:39Why am I sitting on paper?
03:40Because it's sanitary for the other patients. Now sit still so I can do the finger prick.
03:43Finger prick!
03:45Buddy is far from the most cooperative patient he's ever had.
03:48Ow!
03:51John Favreau gave himself the chance to shine in the movie he directed, and that he did.
03:56But even if you knew that Favreau directed the movie, and that he played the role of the family doctor,
04:01you likely didn't know that he also played a few other parts in the film.
04:05He voices a few animals, Baby Walrus, Arctic Puffin, and Mr. Narwhal.
04:10Bye, Buddy. Hope you find your dad.
04:13Thanks, Mr. Narwhal.
04:15Number 6. A hockey scene was cut from the film.
04:18I'm getting walloped.
04:19Buddy, get in there and do your thing.
04:21We could have gotten an extra look at what the elves do during their free time with an elf hockey scene,
04:26but it didn't make the final cut of the movie.
04:28We do, however, have access to the deleted scene.
04:31Buddy is a physical specimen compared to the much smaller elves.
04:35With hockey, given its physical nature, he could demonstrate that,
04:39and further demonstrate how he fundamentally differs from his elf companions.
04:43In the deleted scene, Buddy lays out multiple elves,
04:46and hilariously hits one so hard that the elf ends up crashing into the stands.
04:56He also sends a laser of a shot to a spot where no one wants to be hit.
05:01We'll let you decide for yourself.
05:03Should this scene have been left in?
05:05Good game, Buddy.
05:07Thanks, Pom Pom. Sorry about the shoulder.
05:10Number 5. More traditional effects were often used instead of CGI.
05:14An integral element to the film Elf is forced perspective.
05:17This technique is what enables the apparent size differences between Buddy and the other elves.
05:22Hey, Ming Ming.
05:24Um...
05:26I'm gonna be a little bit short on today's quota.
05:30It's alright, Buddy.
05:31In other words, the use of forced perspective makes Buddy look so relatively big,
05:36while the other elves look so relatively small.
05:38Director Jon Favreau favored more traditional effects in general,
05:42which is why, according to him, the film's only use of CGI comes in the form of the snow.
05:47Hey, Buddy, wanna fix some snowberries?
05:49Not now, Arctic Puppet!
05:51He opted for stop-motion instead, which was a timeless favorite of his.
05:55We think it's fair to say that it not only worked out, but it worked out really well.
05:59All I'm saying is, this might be the golden opportunity to find out who you really are.
06:05That memorable burp didn't come from Will Ferrell.
06:08With Buddy now in town with the Hobbes family, it's time for them to get to know him.
06:12And he's not your typical human being.
06:14How long do you think you'll be with us?
06:16I hadn't really planned it out, but I was thinking, like, forever.
06:21For instance, he chugs a two-liter bottle of Coke
06:24and asks for maple syrup to put on his spaghetti to the bewilderment of others.
06:28But perhaps the most memorable moment of the scene
06:31occurs after Walter and Emily excuse themselves from the dinner table,
06:34leaving Buddy and Michael alone together.
06:37Buddy lets out a gargantuan prolonged burp.
06:53This comically unorthodox sound didn't actually come from Will Ferrell, though.
06:57Rather, it was voice actor Maurice Lamarche.
07:00Ferrell can do a lot as an actor,
07:02but a belch like that required an expert burper.
07:05Did you hear that?
07:07You are so weird.
07:13If you like Easter eggs in your movies, then Elf has a special gift for you.
07:17Ethan, that puts you 915 off the pace.
07:25Perhaps not realized by a lot of viewers of the Christmas classic
07:28is the appearance of a man known for his work in another Christmas classic.
07:32Peter Billingsley, who stars as Ralphie in the 1983 film A Christmas Story,
07:36appears in Elf, which was released about 20 years later.
07:40He plays the role of head elf Ming Ming, who oversees toy-making operations.
07:44See, Buddy, you're not a cotton-headed mini-muggins.
07:47You're just... special.
07:50With a much more matured face, some facial hair, and an elf costume,
07:53it may have gone over your head that this elf is little boy Ralphie now as an adult.
08:04The film was heavily influenced by Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
08:08The original script for Elf was darker and more PG-13 than PG,
08:13according to director Jon Favreau.
08:15Why don't you just say it? I'm the worst toy-maker in the world.
08:18I'm a cotton-headed mini-muggins.
08:22He later reimagined the Christmas film as a more light-hearted world
08:25with a more innocent main character,
08:27drawing inspiration from Rankin & Bass Productions' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
08:31This connection can be seen in the costumes as well as some of the stop-motion scenes.
08:35Hello, Buddy.
08:36Oh, hi, Leon.
08:38In fact, it's been reported that lawyers came to the set of Elf with concerns brewing
08:43about the film perhaps being too similar to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
08:46Favreau explained in a Q&A that they had to change a few things for this reason.
08:50We had to change it to other animals for legal reasons
08:54because it was too much like Rudolph.
08:56And so I said, just give me a, let's look it up.
08:58What's really in the North Pole?
09:00Let's, penguins? No, there's no penguins. There's arctic puffins.
09:02I said, okay, good.
09:04They said, what, like an arctic puffin, a walrus, a polar bear, and a narwhal?
09:08I was like, perfect!
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09:25Number 1. Jim Carrey almost played Buddy.
09:28The Grinch who stole Christmas also could have stolen the spotlight as the main character in Elf.
09:36That's right. Jim Carrey had the chance to play Buddy before Will Ferrell got the job.
09:40What's this?
09:41This is the North Pole.
09:43No, it's not.
09:44Yes, it is.
09:45No, it's not.
09:46Yes, it is.
09:47No, it isn't.
09:48Yes, it is.
09:49No, it's not. Where's the snow?
09:51The timeline is what seemingly caused things to work out as they did.
09:54The original script for Elf came out in 1993, about 10 years prior to the film's 2003 release.
10:01Over this time period, Carrey moved on to other film ventures.
10:05Obviously, casting Ferrell as Buddy did wonders.
10:08And now, both he and Carrey are associated with their own respective holiday classics.
10:13I get it. I'm the Grinch that stole Christmas.
10:18And I'm sorry.
10:21Does Elf make your list of top 3 Christmas movies?
10:24Let us know in the comments.
10:29Do you agree with our picks?
10:30Check out this other recent clip from MsMojo.
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