{"id":1080799,"date":"2026-01-23T10:57:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T10:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=502900"},"modified":"2026-01-23T10:57:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T10:57:06","slug":"heres-what-buddy-the-elf-looks-like-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/heres-what-buddy-the-elf-looks-like-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s what Buddy the Elf looks like today"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure> <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A photo of 2024 era Will Ferrell in his Elf costume at a hockey game, drinking a beer\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/heres-what-buddy-the-elf-looks-like-today.jpg\" \/><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\"><em>Elf<\/em> is one of the few modern Christmas movies to stand the test of time. Star Will Ferrell was just 37 when Jon Favreau\u2019s comedy hit theaters in 2003. The film\u2019s success, combined with a breakout role in <em>Old School<\/em>, minted the <em>Saturday Night Live<\/em> vet as a movie star (and <em>Anchorman<\/em> was just a year away). <\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Ferrell has gone on to do a tremendous amount of work in the last 21 years since <em>Elf<\/em>, both as an onscreen buffoon and an influential producer (his recent credits include <em>Succession<\/em>, <em>The Menu<\/em>, and <em>May December<\/em>). As showcased in his recent Netflix documentary <em>Will &amp; Harper<\/em>, which documents his road trip with longtime friend Harper Steele shortly after Harper came out as transgender, he also seems like a genuinely nice guy. <\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">So it\u2019s heartwarming to see him pay respects to <em>Elf<\/em>, a movie that made him, years and years later in the most Will Ferrell way imaginable. At Sunday night\u2019s Los Angeles Kings game, Ferrell rolled in with his family dressed as Buddy. He was very aware that the cameras would inevitably point his direction. <\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">I choose to believe this is what the real Buddy the Elf looks like today.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/heres-what-buddy-the-elf-looks-like-today-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Perhaps adding to <em>Elf<\/em>\u2019s everlasting glow as a holiday-timed favorite is the fact that Ferrell never cranked out a sequel. <em>Elf<\/em> eventually got the Broadway musical treatment and Warner Bros. Animation premiered a stop-motion animated Buddy adventure on NBC in 2014, but there was never real momentum on an <em>Elf 2<\/em>, despite suggestions by those involved that a screenplay was written. The late actor James Caan, who portrayed Buddy\u2019s dad in the movie, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/james-caan-elf-2-will-ferrell-jon-favreau\/\">has suggested<\/a> that Ferrell and Favreau did not see eye to eye on the set of the original and the friction killed any hope of a sequel. But in an interview earlier this year, Ferrell says he just wasn\u2019t happy with the script, which felt like a rehash.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">\u201cI would have had to promote the movie from&nbsp;an honest place,\u201d he told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/feature\/will-ferrell-shrink-next-door-christmas-carol-spirited-1235037010\/\">The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>, \u201cwhich would\u2019ve been, like, \u2018Oh&nbsp;<em>no<\/em>, it\u2019s not good. I just couldn\u2019t turn down that much money.\u2019 And I thought, \u2018Can I actually say those words? I don\u2019t think I can, so I guess I can\u2019t do the movie.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">So instead we have Ferrell occasionally turning up at live events in his Buddy costume, chugging beer and letting a cigarette dangle out of his mouth. Honestly, it might just be the best pitch for <em>Elf 2<\/em> that anyone\u2019s actually come up with.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/movies\/502900\/will-ferrell-elf-2-hockey-costume\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elf is one of the few modern Christmas movies to stand the test of time. Star Will Ferrell was just 37 when Jon Favreau\u2019s comedy hit theaters in 2003. The film\u2019s success, combined with a breakout role in Old School, minted the Saturday Night Live vet as a movie star (and Anchorman was just a year away). Ferrell has gone on to do a tremendous amount of work in the last 21 years since Elf, both as an onscreen buffoon and an influential producer (his recent credits include Succession, The Menu, and May December). As showcased in his recent Netflix documentary Will &amp; Harper, which documents his road trip with longtime friend Harper Steele shortly after Harper came out as transgender, he also seems like&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/heres-what-buddy-the-elf-looks-like-today\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1080800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1080799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Here\u2019s what Buddy the Elf looks like today | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Elf is one of the few modern Christmas movies to stand the test of time. 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