By: debbie lynn elias
Come on. Admit it. When you were a small (or maybe not so small) child, didn’t you sometimes lie in wait on Christmas Eve, just hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus, and as you were laying there, didn’t you just wonder, even if only fo the blink of an eye, what it would be like to hide yourself in Santa’s toy bag and sneak off to live at the most magical place in the universe? (And no, it’s not Disneyland!) Betcha did. Wouldn’t it wonderful to be one of Santa’s elves and live at the North Pole? Thankfully, director Jon Favreau and writer David Berenbaum (who clearly has his pulse on family entertainment – just check out the upcoming “The Haunted Mansion”) must have had some of those very thoughts because they have given moviegoers an early Christmas present in the form of “Elf.”
One Christmas Eve, oh so many years ago, an orphaned infant did that very thing. He crawled into Santa’s magical bag and traveled back to live with Santa at the North Pole. Raised by Papa Elf, the infant was named Buddy. And while he was raised with all the love and year-round Christmas magic possible, he never really quite fit in with the other elves, growing to be at least three times their size. As with any child or elf, all can be cruel when one sticks out like a sore thumb, and although Buddy had his fair share of taunting and teasing because of his size, Papa always told him it was due to hormones. That is until the day it was decided Buddy should know the truth. He wasn’t an elf. He was a boy. Armed with the knowledge that he came from New York City, Buddy sets out to find his real family.
Of course, even for New York, a 6’5″ in man in a bright green suit is a bit odd and Buddy sticks out like a sore thumb, finding himself in one mess after another as tries to learn the ways of the big city and win over his family all at the same time. Sadly, everyone he meets seems to have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas, giving Buddy added incentive to not only win over his family, but to remind the world (well, at least NYC) what Christmas is all about. And along the way he even finds a little romantic interest and kindred spirit in Jovie, a department store elf, as in the finest Christmas tradition, he spreads Christmas cheer to all who come near, including his disconnected, crotchety father who has been on Santa’s “naughty” list his entire life.
Will Ferrell stars as Buddy and after seeing his work, I can’t think of anyone better to convey the childlike innocence and wonderment that Buddy embodies. He is perpetually guileless and full of good cheer. As Ferrell himself said, “Buddy is a good example of how ignorance is bliss. He’s a person who finds joy and interest in the smallest of things.” On top of that, his physical comedic skills (not to mention silly streak) work well as Buddy goes from one antic and mishap to another. James Caan as Buddy’s father is a perfect counterpart to Ferrell’s exuberance. More subdued, yet embittered, one can see how this man made the naughty-not nice list! Adding her own brand of innocence and joy is Mary Steenburgen as Buddy’s mom. A delightful turn! Relative newcomer Zooey Deschanel is endearing as Jovie, but it’s the old timers, classics themselves, that really add that last bit of Christmas magic to “Elf.” Bob Newhart as Papa Elf and Ed Asner as Santa Claus, are the casting coups of the year. Newhart’s drollness never fails and Asner as Santa – who would thunk it?! Move over Edmund Gwenn and Richard Attenborough! There’s nothing quite as funny as Santa with his bowl-full-of-jelly trying to get his rocket-and-reindeer-powered sleigh to work on Christmas Eve. And for a little good luck charm, how about Peter Billingsley. All grown up now, he once won us over as Ralphie Parker in another Christmas classic, “A Christmas Story.”
“Elf” would not be what is without the vision of director Jon Favreau. Obviously a man who loves Christmas and who still has some childlike qualities in his heart, with “Elf”, Favreau wanted to blend the best qualities of holiday classics from the past and the present. As a refresher, he watched countless hours of all our favorites, and it shows. If there is one flaw with “Elf”, it’s that Favreau tried to cram in almost too much nostalgia.
Once considered dead, Favreau resurrects the stop-motion animation technique we all came to love in those Rankin-Bass specials of years gone by, and never moreso than in the immortal “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” (Hey, Favreau even gave Buddy a best friend that looks just like the Burl Ives snowman in “Rudolph). Harkening back to his background in cartooning, Favreau was able to incorporate his own ideas with candy cane forests, Santa’s workshop and the technicolor cacophony of a department store Christmas display. Mixing new technology with the old, Favreau used the miniature photographic techniques devised by Peter Jackson in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy in shooting the workshop.
An added challenge to “Elf” was creating proper perspective between oversized Buddy and the smaller world of the elves. Rather than use CGI (computer generated imagery), Favreau called upon the ingenuity of Production Designer Rusty Smith to create outsize, “forced perspective” sets. Icing on the cake came from Art Director Kevin Humenny.
From art direction to production design to costuming to animation and even the stylized and sometimes dated film techniques, the finished product pays homage to the magic of Christmas and those classic Christmas films we all know and love. Simplicity. Goodness. Sugar-coated. Nostalgic. Maybe a little hokey at times. Endearing. Enchanting. Go celebrate Christmas a little early with “Elf” – a new Christmas classic for the 21st century.
Buddy: Will Ferrell Walter: James Caan Santa Claus: Edward Asner Papa Elf: Bob Newhart Emily: Mary Steenburgen Jovie: Zooey Deschanel
New Line Cinema presents a film directed by Jon Favreau. Written by David Berenbaum. Running time: 95 minutes. Rated PG (for some mild rude humor and language).
