‘Elf’ Still Delivers The Holiday Cheer After 20 Years (12 Movies of Christmas)
- Matt Palmer
- Dec 1, 2023
- 2 min read
For the last twenty years, the holiday favorite ‘Elf’ has been a classic Christmas movie that lots of families watch every year. That’s right, Elf turned 20 this year! So, for the 12 Movies of Christmas festival that the theater will be having, I decided to give this always entertaining festive favorite another look!
Buddy was accidentally transported to the North Pole as a toddler and raised to adulthood among Santa’s elves. Unable to shake the feeling that he doesn’t fit in, the adult Buddy travels to New York, in full elf uniform, in search of his real father.
As it happens, this is Walter Hobbs, a cynical businessman.
After a DNA test proves this, Walter reluctantly attempts to start a relationship with the childlike Buddy with increasingly chaotic results.
‘Elf’ is one of those holiday movies that will always get anyone in the holiday spirit and is always full of Yuletide cheer no matter how many times you have watched it over the years.
The 2003 modern holiday classic still delivers the laughs, especially when Buddy the Elf gets to New York City. The montage of his early NYC moments are always one of the funniest segments of the movie, which the filmmakers actually put together towards the final days of filming the movie.
‘Elf’ is one of the many holiday movies that has become a Christmas tradition for many and I watch it every holiday season (this and ‘Christmas Vacation’). The modern holiday classic can also be truly heart-warming at times, especially when we see Buddy getting closer to Walter and his family.
And. Will Ferrell is the perfect choice for Buddy the Elf and always will be. His performance can be rather hysterical and heart-warming. After seeing this numerous times over the years, I can’t really see anyone else portraying Buddy.
‘Elf’ is one of the 12 films that will be showing during the upcoming 12 Movies of Christmas festival starting at the Dietrich December 1. So, there’s plenty of holiday movies to get you in the holiday spirit!
The cast: Will Ferrell as Buddy; the recently departed James Caan as Walter; Bob Newhart as Papa Elf; Edward Asner as Santa; Mary Steenburgen as Emily; Zooey Deschanel as Jovie; Daniel Tay as Michael and Peter Dinklage as Miles Finch.
‘Elf’ is written by David Berenbaum (Strange Magic; The Spiderwick Chronicles) and directed by Jon Favreau (The Jungle Book and creator of The Mandalorian).
The script for ‘Elf’ was initially written all the way back to 1993, with Chris Farley and Jim Carrey being early candidates to play Buddy. Most of the montage in the movie was improvised and completed on the final days of filming. Will Ferrell also turned down numerous offers for a potential sequel.
‘Elf’ is rated PG for some mild rude humor and language and has a running time of 97 minutes.
The show dates and times for ‘Elf’ during the 12 Movies of Christmas festival are as follows: Friday Dec. 1 at 1:00 pm; Sunday Dec. 3 at 4:00 pm; Friday Dec. 8 at 7:00 pm and Thurs. Dec. 14 at 7:00 pm.
Make sure to grab a brochure at the theater or check the theater website to see what else will be showing during the upcoming festival and other showtimes as well!
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