It's on the steps of 41 West 68th Street, directly opposite, that he patiently waits. Buddy immediately goes on to redeem himself in Michael's eyes with his awesome snowballing skills, seeing off the “bad news” kids at the elegant cast-iron Pine Bank Arch Bridge in Central Park at West 62nd Street.
In honor of the 20 year anniversary of the movie Elf. This is the bridge in the scene where Buddy tries to redeem himself in Micheals eyes with his snowballing skills, seeing off the “bad news” kids. The Pine Bank Arch Bridge in Central Park is located at West 62nd Street.
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.
Interestingly, while the movie is set in New York City and the North Pole, many interior shots were filmed in an abandoned mental hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Riverview Hospital, located in Coquitlam, east of Vancouver, served as the backdrop for these scenes.
In real life, the Textile Building is stripped of the Gimbels logo and holiday decor. Manhattan's Textile Building was used as the exterior shot for Gimbels in the movie, according to the IMDb page for "Elf." CGI was used to transform the building's facade into a Christmas wonderland for the film, its IMDb page says.
How They Made Elf | The Holiday Movies That Made Us
Does Gimbels in New York still exist?
A major selling point for Gimbels were the underground passageways that took 34th Street subway and PATH riders right to the store's entrances. Gimbels is long gone, but the building, extensively revamped, is still there—it's now the Manhattan Mall with a JC Penney as its flagship store.
Deciding that Gimbels was a marginal performer with little potential for increased profitability, BATUS in 1986 decided to close its Gimbels division and sell its store properties.
Buddy then discovers a coffeeshop that serves the “World's Best Cup of Coffee.” However, it's a bit far from midtown Manhattan, located at 20 E Hastings Street in Vancouver, Canada.
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 put him in those situations and he had to improvise and stay in character while dealing with people who, for the most part, didn't even know they were in a movie."
– 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.
The cotton balls Buddy can't stop eating in the doctor's office were actually pieces of cotton candy that had yet to be dyed. 9. Buddy's all-sugar diet also became Ferrell's daily food intake while filming as he actually scarfed down all of that maple syrup-coated spaghetti and candy during scenes.
It's a long journey from the North Pole to New York City. To make the trek, one must venture through "seven levels of the candy cane forest" and the "sea of swirly-twirly gum drops" and endure a walk through the Lincoln Tunnel … at least according to Buddy the Elf.
Principal photography began on December 9, 2002, and wrapped on March 7, 2003. Filming took place in New York City, as well as in Vancouver and at Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, British Columbia. The film makes heavy use of forced perspective to exaggerate the size of Buddy compared to all the other elves.
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 prop was purchased by Elf fan Mark Bozek, an entrepreneur on New York's Long Island, who snagged the sleigh at an online auction 20 years ago for $12,000 following a bidding war. It was quite a jump up from his original bid of $500.
Buddy proudly shows Jovie a large Christmas tree that he recently discovered at 1221 Sixth Avenue. As they stare at the tree in the W 49th Street lobby, Jovie tells Buddy that she knows of a bigger tree she'd like to show him.
Papa Elf reveals that Buddy was born to Walter Hobbs (James Caan) and Susan Wells and given up for adoption and that Walter never knew of his existence. He explains how Susan later died and that Walter now works at a children's book company in New York City.
Warner Bros. When the security guards at Walter's office throw Buddy out, they suggest he go back to Santaland at Gimbels. The highly festive store is heavily featured throughout the rest of "Elf," but viewers may not have realized that Gimbels was a real department store in New York City that closed in 1986.
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.
The mall replaced the former flagship store of the Gimbels department store chain, which operated from 1910 to 1986. It opened in 1989 as a shopping center called A&S Plaza and was rebranded Manhattan Mall in 1995. Stern's department store occupied the anchor store space from 1995–2001.
It was featured in the 1947 film classic Miracle on 34th Street. At one point in the film, the Macy's store Santa Claus advises a customer that they can find the pair of roller skates they were looking for at Gimbels.
