There were no extras, hired actors, or street closures during the limited filming that happened in New York, so they simply had Ferrell wander through the city streets and interact with real people. These scenes were filmed in early December 2002, so New York was already looking festive.
“Elf” (2003) The Christmas classic “Elf” gave Will Ferrell ample opportunity to explore his character, inside and out. In the scene where Buddy explores New York City, the bulk of his onscreen antics were improvised.
– The outdoor scenes shot in New York City feature real people so many of the reactions you see are genuine! – In fact, several minor traffic accidents occurred when Will Ferrell walked through the Lincoln Tunnel in his costume, because people were so surprised and distracted to see a grown man wearing an elf outfit.
While Jon Favreau emphasized the use of stop-motion in particular in the movie, there is one sequence that was all but impossible to film without some serious CGI work.
As Favreau revealed to ABC News, the Elf team asked Macy's if they could use the store for the movie, but Macy's declined. He told the publication: "Because we're using a Santa, of course, everybody thinks Macy's. "But Macy's didn't like the idea that there was a fake Santa working there.
How They Made Elf | The Holiday Movies That Made Us
Why did Macy's refuse to be in Elf?
Macy's, however, didn't like the idea of being associated with an “imposter” Santa Claus, according to Favreau. So if “Elf” wanted to film at the Santaland in Macy's, or even mention Macy's in the movie, the scene had to go. “We had to think long and hard about it,” Favreau told Rolling Stone in 2013.
The original script for the movie in the early 1990s had comedian Jim Carrey chosen to star in the role of Buddy the Elf. Turns out, Carrey ended up playing a very different Christmas character in the 2000 film How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
James Caan was a true delight. My favorite memory of him was shooting part of a montage for the end of Elf and he started playing piano — he played beautifully — I sang and he played and I was just astonished by his talent!
There were no extras, hired actors, or street closures during the limited filming that happened in New York, so they simply had Ferrell wander through the city streets and interact with real people.
The original script for Elf was written with Jim Carrey in mind for the lead role, but it sat in production limbo for a decade before eventually being picked up by Ferrell.
However, it's worth noting that 2003, when the film was made, there wasn't a coffee shop at 20 East Hastings Street. Instead, the location was home to a long-standing seafood restaurant, The Only Sea Food.
Elf was Will Ferrell's second box office hit. He reportedly received a whopping salary of $17 million for that film alone, more on par with what his talents would dictate in the mid-2000s. He was allegedly offered $29 million to act in an Elf sequel, but couldn't get his heart into it, so he turned it down.
Was the sidewalk gum pre-cleaned for you? WF: No, we didn't have a big enough budget, so I actually had to eat old New York City gum. But it wasn't as bad as you would think, still relatively favorable. Good to know if you ever have to eat any gum off the streets.
Does Zooey Deschanel really sing in the movie Elf?
While the finished film's Jovie still might fall for Buddy pretty easily, the character has a droll detachment that, along with her singing voice, Deschanel brought to the part. She also has the good sense to be weirded out by Buddy in a scene written specifically for her.
Garry Shandling was offered the role of Walter Hobbs but declined. Wanda Sykes was originally cast as the Gimbels manager Wanda but later dropped out; the manager's name tag in the film still bears the name "Wanda". Terry Zwigoff was offered to direct the film, but he turned it down in favor of Bad Santa (2003).
1. Jim Carrey as Buddy the Elf in Elf. The script for Elf was first written in 1993, and at the time, Carrey was attached to star in it. However, the movie did not immediately go into production, and by the time it did in 2003, Carrey was no longer interested in the role.
The interaction between Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf and Artie Lange, as the department store Santa who “smells like beef and cheese,” was mostly improvised over several takes, Favreau said. But he said the actual fight between the characters had to be done in one take.
Fun fact: Producers wanted to feature the famous Macy's 34th street location, the largest store in the world, but Macy's refused to have their name used. So they settled on Gimbels, a now defunct NY department store–the exterior was shot at 5th Avenue and E 30th St and decorated with CGI.
James Caan plays Walter Hobbs, Buddy's biological father. That's quite the get for the film. He wasn't the first choice, though. Garry Shandling, best known for his seminal sitcom “The Larry Sanders Show,” was offered the role but turned it down.
Celebrity Net Worth noted that court documents showed Caan earning $1 million in royalties in 2015, with $140,000 annually from the Christmas classic “Elf.”
This actually makes Buddy a fair amount younger than Will Ferrell himself, who was 35 years old at the time of Elf's filming, and 36 when the movie was released to theaters.
“I had to dye my hair blonde for a screen test for a movie that never happened before I did Elf,” Deschanel told Stylecaster in a March 2019 interview. “I went in for the meeting for Elf, and then I asked them, 'Could I dye my hair back to my natural color?
According to the "Elf" episode of Netflix's "The Holiday Movies That Made Us," producer Jon Berg said that they originally wanted Wanda Sykes to play the role, but she dropped out at the last minute. It was Love's decision to wear the "Wanda" name tag — which they preemptively made for Sykes — in the film.
Who was supposed to be Elf instead of Will Ferrell?
But had the screenwriter had his choice, Ferrell wouldn't have been the comedian selected for the lead role. Berenbaum finished the first draft of Elf in 1993 with In Living Color alum, Jim Carrey in mind for the lead role, with a much darker undertone of the film — but Carey wasn't meant to be in the role.
