National Today December 18 2023 * Answer The Telephone Like Buddy The Elf Day *

Answer The Telephone Like Buddy The Elf Day
Repeat after us: “Buddy the Elf, what’s your favorite color?”










On December 18, wear something green, pick up the phone, and celebrate Answer The Telephone Like Buddy The Elf Day! There have been dozens of excellent Christmas movies released through the years, but perhaps none as lovable as Will Ferrell’s Elf. So, this December 18th repeat after us: “Buddy the Elf, what’s your favorite color?” 

HISTORY OF ANSWER THE TELEPHONE LIKE BUDDY THE ELF DAY

We’re not exaggerating when we say that Elf is the best Christmas movie of the 21st century. In fact, it was recognized as such by Fandango users in 2017. But did you know that Elf as we know it could have been a completely different movie? Will Ferrell wasn’t even the original choice to play Buddy! Gasp! 
Screenwriter David Berenbaum had initially wrote the script for Elf in 1993 with Jim Carrey in mind to star as Buddy. The screenplay went through years of rewrites and edits with his later writing team consisting of Adam McKay and (second gasp) Will Ferrell. The script at this stage was very dark, and Jon Favreau initially didn’t have much interest in it, despite wanting to be apart of Ferrell’s first post Saturday Night Live film project. So instead of declining the opportunity, Favreau rewrote the script and turned Buddy’s world into an homage to the Rankin Bass Christmas specials.
Changing the movie from a raunchy dark comedy to a genuine Christmas movie allowed them to rate it as PG instead of the PG-13 rating the original script would have had. Will Ferrell took a huge risk and played Buddy in what he described as a role that could either make or break his future career. Terry Zwigoff was approached to direct the film, but declined due to a prior commitment to another Christmas comedy, Bad Santa. After searching for multiple directors, Jon Favreau eventually decided to direct it himself. With Favreau’s willingness to give Ferrell the flexibility to make Buddy his own (many of our favorite classic lines were improvised by Ferrell, including “You sit on a throne of lies”) Buddy was allowed to become the funny, charming, and charismatic character we all fell in love with in 2003!

ANSWER THE TELEPHONE LIKE BUDDY THE ELF DAY STATISTICS

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$173.40 million at the Box Office
Elf is the fifth highest grossing Christmas movie of all time. The 2003 film’s opening weekend earned over $31 million, and was only beat out to be number one that weekend by The Matrix Revolutions. The film did so well that it remains Will Ferrell’s second highest grossing movie. Considering that the film had the potential to end Ferrell’s barely starting film career, it’s pretty crazy that it ended up being one of his most influential projects to date! 

$33 million budget
Which it almost paid off entirely in its opening weekend. Considering the average budget for a film ranges anywhere from $70 to $90 million, Elf did very well with its lower budget consisting of $33 million. Every single penny was obviously well spent as you can bet the movie is in most people’s lexicon of favorite Christmas films. 

$1 million in the first week on Broadway
People just can’t get enough of Buddy the Elf! It’s first week performed on Broadway, Elf: The Musical grossed over $1 million! Though the overall story remains pretty much the same, there are a few differences from the film to keep the audience on their toes. First of all, the story is narrated by Santa instead of Papa Elf. Also, Santa uses an iPhone to keep his list of names instead of a giant book. Instead of finding Miles Finch’s notes, Walter’s staff comes across a copy of an unpublished manuscript for a Christmas story, wiping out the character of Miles Finch all together. 





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ANSWER THE TELEPHONE LIKE BUDDY THE ELF DAY ACTIVITIES

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It's all in the name

Remember the name of this special day? Answer The Telephone Like Buddy The Elf (day). Well...you know what to do!

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Watch the movie

What better way to relive this magical movie moment than to rewatch the film? Just make sure you're all stocked up on candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup!

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Dress the part

Did you know while filming the montage of Buddy running around New York, Will Ferrell was actually running around New York? And all those extras in the background? They were genuinely confused New York pedestrians who had no idea what was going on, but in New York fashion, decided to ignore the insanity of it all. If Will can do it, so can you! Run around your neighborhood in your best Elf costume and see the reactions you get! Unless you live in New York, they're used to it already.

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WHY WE LOVE ANSWER THE TELEPHONE LIKE BUDDY THE ELF DAY

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His enthusiasm is infectious

Just listen to him! It's hard to hear him for more than five seconds without a smile cracking on your face. There's something intangible about Buddy that makes you want to laugh — and not at him, but with him!

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He tells it like it is

Remember when Buddy's going to meet Santa at the mall? It didn't take long for him to sniff-out the imposter — telling him that he smells "like beef and cheese," and that the throne he sits on is made of lies. But Buddy's as nice as they come, and there wasn't an ounce of malice in his words. He's just telling it like it is!

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He's authentic

Remember the awesome scene where Buddy's playing with the jack-in-the-boxes? All of Will Ferrell's reactions were for real — the release mechanism was controlled off-stage, and was only triggered when Ferrell had been waiting for a while.

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