1 00:00:06,007 --> 00:00:09,052 [retro music playing] 2 00:00:11,679 --> 00:00:12,764 [man] Buffer! 3 00:00:12,847 --> 00:00:16,768 [rhythmic stomping and clapping] 4 00:00:16,851 --> 00:00:20,021 [narrator] In 2003,  a large, relatively unknown man 5 00:00:20,104 --> 00:00:21,898 danced joyously on a table in… 6 00:00:22,565 --> 00:00:24,525 an abandoned mental institution. 7 00:00:24,609 --> 00:00:27,945 It is one of the creepiest places I've ever been in my life. 8 00:00:28,029 --> 00:00:29,197 Certifiably insane. 9 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:30,406 -[gasps] -[screaming] 10 00:00:30,490 --> 00:00:32,366 -Well, crazy or not… -Insane! 11 00:00:32,450 --> 00:00:34,077 …for nearly 20 years, 12 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:36,287 this timeless, beloved movie 13 00:00:36,370 --> 00:00:38,372 has filled the world with Christmas cheer by… 14 00:00:38,456 --> 00:00:39,916 Singing loud for all to hear. 15 00:00:39,999 --> 00:00:42,210 -…with a cast and crew of… -Complete nobodies. 16 00:00:42,293 --> 00:00:43,503 And some somebodies. 17 00:00:43,586 --> 00:00:44,921 [Kristin] Jimmy the Dream. 18 00:00:45,004 --> 00:00:45,880 [grunts] 19 00:00:45,963 --> 00:00:47,340 He was dreamy to me, yeah. 20 00:00:47,423 --> 00:00:51,385 [narrator] But this inspiring Christmas  romp didn't just emerge out of nowhere. 21 00:00:51,469 --> 00:00:54,597 -"I wanna do stop-motion animation." -It had its own inspiration. 22 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:56,182 Exactly like Rankin/Bass. 23 00:00:56,265 --> 00:00:57,433 Ready, Santa? 24 00:00:57,517 --> 00:01:00,144 Followed quickly by its own legal troubles. 25 00:01:00,228 --> 00:01:01,145 -What? -What? 26 00:01:01,229 --> 00:01:03,898 Is it Movies That Made Us or Movies That Made Us Get Sued? 27 00:01:04,482 --> 00:01:06,400 This unquestionably, hilarious… 28 00:01:06,484 --> 00:01:07,985 -You stink. -[laughing] 29 00:01:08,069 --> 00:01:10,613 -…Christmas comedy… -The studio didn't like it. 30 00:01:10,696 --> 00:01:12,198 …was constantly questioned. 31 00:01:12,281 --> 00:01:14,659 "You are completely insane 32 00:01:14,742 --> 00:01:18,079 to think that Will Ferrell should be the lead… 33 00:01:18,162 --> 00:01:19,080 No! 34 00:01:19,163 --> 00:01:20,623 …of anything." 35 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,167 -[narrator] And like Buddy himself… -Ah! 36 00:01:23,251 --> 00:01:25,044 …the making of this Christmas classic 37 00:01:25,128 --> 00:01:28,005 is a tale of humble, innocent beginnings… 38 00:01:28,089 --> 00:01:29,298 Okay. Now what do I do? 39 00:01:29,382 --> 00:01:31,050 …that, through perseverance, 40 00:01:31,134 --> 00:01:32,468 -grew up… -[groans] 41 00:01:32,552 --> 00:01:36,347 …into one of the most surprising Christmas classics of all time. 42 00:01:37,181 --> 00:01:38,015 [hisses] 43 00:01:38,432 --> 00:01:39,392 [music climaxes] 44 00:01:39,475 --> 00:01:41,936 Stick around. He's gonna take his pants down. 45 00:01:42,019 --> 00:01:43,646 Why would it be any other way? 46 00:01:43,729 --> 00:01:45,064 [laughing] 47 00:01:45,773 --> 00:01:48,151 [lively opening music playing] 48 00:02:07,086 --> 00:02:11,007 [narrator] These are The Holiday Movies That Made Us. 49 00:02:12,216 --> 00:02:15,803 Time to start preparations for next Christmas. 50 00:02:15,887 --> 00:02:17,889 [narrator] Elf, the larger-than-life story 51 00:02:17,972 --> 00:02:21,601 about a tall, awkward man who thinks he's an elf. 52 00:02:21,684 --> 00:02:23,811 -That's ridiculous! -Quite ridiculous. 53 00:02:23,895 --> 00:02:25,354 He's on a journey to find his… 54 00:02:25,438 --> 00:02:26,856 -Dad! -Who has anger issues. 55 00:02:26,939 --> 00:02:29,108 -You want money? -He pushes everyone's buttons… 56 00:02:29,192 --> 00:02:30,484 -Hey! -Get out! 57 00:02:30,568 --> 00:02:31,986 Call me "elf" one more time! 58 00:02:32,069 --> 00:02:33,779 …and pulls one person's beard. 59 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:35,698 -[gasps] -[screaming] 60 00:02:35,781 --> 00:02:38,117 -[singing] -All whilst falling in love… 61 00:02:38,201 --> 00:02:40,995 I'm in love, and I don't care who knows! 62 00:02:41,078 --> 00:02:44,665 …and warming the cockles of his father's angry, cold heart. 63 00:02:44,749 --> 00:02:46,667 And, in the end, saves Christmas. 64 00:02:46,751 --> 00:02:49,754 But as for the start of this story, well… 65 00:02:50,796 --> 00:02:52,965 it begins a long way from the North Pole. 66 00:02:53,049 --> 00:02:57,428 In fact, it begins here in 1970s Philadelphia, 67 00:02:57,511 --> 00:02:59,388 specifically, with a young Jewish kid 68 00:02:59,472 --> 00:03:02,183 who had a somewhat unorthodox view of Christmas. 69 00:03:02,266 --> 00:03:03,434 Hanukkah was fantastic, 70 00:03:03,517 --> 00:03:05,645 but there's something 71 00:03:05,728 --> 00:03:07,563 special about Christmas. 72 00:03:07,647 --> 00:03:09,690 There's plenty special about Christmas. 73 00:03:09,774 --> 00:03:11,901 You're running downstairs. Presents are there. 74 00:03:11,984 --> 00:03:15,446 -Don't forget that it's… -[David] Cold outside. It's warm inside. 75 00:03:15,529 --> 00:03:17,573 But what David loved more than anything… 76 00:03:17,657 --> 00:03:18,866 I really, 77 00:03:18,950 --> 00:03:21,744 really, really love Christmas movies. 78 00:03:21,827 --> 00:03:23,537 David watched Christmas movies… 79 00:03:23,621 --> 00:03:24,580 Around the clock. 80 00:03:24,664 --> 00:03:29,335 Until the clock struck 1993, when he left Philadelphia and traveled… 81 00:03:29,418 --> 00:03:32,880 Past the sea of swirly-twirly gumdrops. 82 00:03:32,964 --> 00:03:34,924 …on his way to Hollywood 83 00:03:35,007 --> 00:03:37,677 in pursuit of a Christmas-movie  scriptwriting career. 84 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,639 -But instead he worked at a… -A lingerie factory. Yeah. 85 00:03:41,722 --> 00:03:43,516 It's a wonderful life indeed. 86 00:03:43,599 --> 00:03:46,519 If you want to know about spaghetti straps, I'm your guy. 87 00:03:46,602 --> 00:03:50,439 But living the ultimate life of a young man wasn't enough for David. 88 00:03:50,523 --> 00:03:51,899 LA threw me for a loop. 89 00:03:51,983 --> 00:03:55,111 During Christmastime, it was just hot and weird, 90 00:03:55,194 --> 00:03:57,738 so to make myself feel more like I was at home, 91 00:03:57,822 --> 00:04:00,116 I would rent all these Christmas movies. 92 00:04:00,199 --> 00:04:04,829 But when he reconnected with one particular favorite from his childhood, 93 00:04:04,912 --> 00:04:06,622 an idea sparked for David, 94 00:04:06,706 --> 00:04:08,291 like a light bulb. 95 00:04:08,374 --> 00:04:10,001 [Donner] We'll call him… 96 00:04:10,084 --> 00:04:11,002 Rudolph. 97 00:04:11,085 --> 00:04:14,588 -[narrator] Who, just like David in LA… -Rudolph is a misfit. 98 00:04:14,672 --> 00:04:16,173 He doesn't fit in. 99 00:04:16,257 --> 00:04:18,718 He goes out to find out where he belongs. 100 00:04:18,801 --> 00:04:19,635 Ready, Santa. 101 00:04:19,719 --> 00:04:22,972 [narrator] By relating to the plight of this poor, deformed reindeer, 102 00:04:23,055 --> 00:04:25,808 -David Berenbaum had an idea… -I got an idea. 103 00:04:25,891 --> 00:04:28,269 …that would change Christmas forever. 104 00:04:28,352 --> 00:04:31,856 I'd simply turn Rudolph into a giant elf. 105 00:04:31,939 --> 00:04:33,232 And that idea was called… 106 00:04:33,816 --> 00:04:34,692 Elf. 107 00:04:34,775 --> 00:04:36,235 [narrator] Oh, uh, right. 108 00:04:36,319 --> 00:04:39,572 So, with a heart bursting with the Christmassy innocence 109 00:04:39,655 --> 00:04:41,157 of Rankin and Bass, 110 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,784 David began hammering out a Christmas story 111 00:04:43,868 --> 00:04:46,412 about an elf named Buddy in New York City. 112 00:04:46,495 --> 00:04:48,331 I don't belong anywhere. 113 00:04:48,414 --> 00:04:49,332 Elf is funny. 114 00:04:49,415 --> 00:04:52,209 -That's a good start. -[David] It was silly, absurd. 115 00:04:52,293 --> 00:04:53,711 But then again… 116 00:04:53,794 --> 00:04:58,841 One of the hallmarks of a Christmas movie is that it has to have a big, big heart. 117 00:04:58,924 --> 00:05:01,677 -[narrator] So, for Elf… -The emotional journey of Elf 118 00:05:01,761 --> 00:05:04,722 was always a father-and-son story… 119 00:05:04,805 --> 00:05:08,601 [narrator] Which, to David, was, well, very close to heart. 120 00:05:08,684 --> 00:05:11,312 My father passed away when I was younger, 121 00:05:11,395 --> 00:05:16,108 so the emotional drive of the film is searching for the father. 122 00:05:16,192 --> 00:05:17,985 And I knew telling the story… 123 00:05:18,069 --> 00:05:20,196 Dad, I love you. 124 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:23,115 [David] …that I could connect to it on that level. 125 00:05:23,199 --> 00:05:26,786 And I knew that's the journey that I wanted Buddy to go on. 126 00:05:26,869 --> 00:05:28,746 Well, now with a fully formed script, 127 00:05:28,829 --> 00:05:30,998 it was time to go Christmas shopping. 128 00:05:31,082 --> 00:05:33,793 I showed the script to my agent. She said it was great. 129 00:05:33,876 --> 00:05:36,045 And next thing he knew, he had a studio. 130 00:05:36,128 --> 00:05:38,047 MPCA optioned it for a year. 131 00:05:38,130 --> 00:05:39,715 [narrator] And just like that, 132 00:05:39,799 --> 00:05:41,467 Elf had… legs. 133 00:05:41,550 --> 00:05:44,261 So, they got straight down to the business of casting, 134 00:05:44,345 --> 00:05:47,014 and no surprise, they obviously wanted to go 135 00:05:47,098 --> 00:05:49,600 with a powerhouse Saturday Night Live comic legend, 136 00:05:49,683 --> 00:05:51,602 but not the one you're thinking. 137 00:05:51,685 --> 00:05:54,355 They wanted to make this a Chris Farley movie. 138 00:05:54,438 --> 00:05:58,234 Hey, look at me, I'm covered in elf dust! 139 00:05:58,317 --> 00:06:01,529 -Which would have been a different movie. -A movie that David… 140 00:06:01,612 --> 00:06:03,823 -Very different movie. -…didn't wanna make. 141 00:06:03,906 --> 00:06:04,740 Yee-hoo! 142 00:06:04,824 --> 00:06:06,158 And so, because he cared 143 00:06:06,242 --> 00:06:07,827 so much about his script, 144 00:06:07,910 --> 00:06:11,414 David decided to run the clock out on the one-year option… 145 00:06:11,497 --> 00:06:13,124 [clock ticking] 146 00:06:13,207 --> 00:06:15,042 …so he could opt out of the contract 147 00:06:15,126 --> 00:06:16,252 and meet someone at… 148 00:06:16,335 --> 00:06:19,755 this cafe. Someone who truly understood him. 149 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:22,299 Someone like producer Jon Berg. 150 00:06:22,383 --> 00:06:25,928 First thing as I sit down with a writer I've never met after reading a script. 151 00:06:26,011 --> 00:06:27,888 He is a complete nobody… 152 00:06:27,972 --> 00:06:29,348 I was a total nobody. 153 00:06:29,432 --> 00:06:31,725 …who has no track record, but he's talented. 154 00:06:31,809 --> 00:06:32,810 That's one word. 155 00:06:32,893 --> 00:06:36,939 And he wants a manager, and I say to him, "I'll be your manager." 156 00:06:37,022 --> 00:06:39,900 Ah! Just what he needed, someone with a track record. 157 00:06:39,984 --> 00:06:43,904 I'm a complete nobody who has pretty much no track record. 158 00:06:43,988 --> 00:06:46,782 Oh, but he did have a partner, Todd Komarnicki. 159 00:06:46,866 --> 00:06:48,617 When Jon and David met for coffee… 160 00:06:48,701 --> 00:06:52,121 -We could only afford a coffee. -…Jon gave something to chew on. 161 00:06:52,204 --> 00:06:54,623 I can't pay for this guy's, you know, lunch. 162 00:06:54,707 --> 00:06:57,626 [narrator] Then what on earth could Jon bring to the table? 163 00:06:57,710 --> 00:06:59,211 Will Ferrell as Buddy. 164 00:06:59,295 --> 00:07:01,088 -Sorry I'm late, gang… -[cheering] 165 00:07:01,172 --> 00:07:04,925 Jon and I knew that this script was custom made for him. 166 00:07:05,009 --> 00:07:06,760 What's your favorite planet? 167 00:07:06,844 --> 00:07:09,513 [Todd] There was something Will nailed on Saturday Night Live. 168 00:07:09,597 --> 00:07:12,975 -What? -A perpetual innocence. 169 00:07:13,058 --> 00:07:15,686 Role up a fatty full of fellowship and funk. 170 00:07:15,769 --> 00:07:18,022 [Todd] Something bright shone out of that person. 171 00:07:18,105 --> 00:07:19,064 So check me out! 172 00:07:19,148 --> 00:07:21,108 [narrator] The way Jon and Todd saw it… 173 00:07:21,192 --> 00:07:24,361 -That's central to Buddy the Elf. -I like to smile. My favorite. 174 00:07:24,445 --> 00:07:27,406 -[Todd] That's why Will felt perfect. -This is gonna be cool. 175 00:07:27,490 --> 00:07:28,741 [laughing] 176 00:07:28,824 --> 00:07:31,410 [narrator] But given David's high standards, 177 00:07:31,494 --> 00:07:33,204 would they be able to convince him-- 178 00:07:33,287 --> 00:07:35,331 Great! Fantastic! Let's go for it. 179 00:07:35,414 --> 00:07:37,541 Despite your effort, you answered correctly. 180 00:07:37,625 --> 00:07:39,251 [narrator] So, the question was, 181 00:07:39,335 --> 00:07:41,420 can Jon Berg deliver Will Ferrell? 182 00:07:41,504 --> 00:07:42,630 Of course I can. 183 00:07:42,713 --> 00:07:43,881 [laughing] 184 00:07:43,964 --> 00:07:47,468 [narrator] As nervous laughter emanated from this rookie producer… 185 00:07:47,551 --> 00:07:49,929 Funny enough, sometimes being a good producer 186 00:07:50,012 --> 00:07:54,600 is playing basketball on Saturday morning at an agent's house on his tennis court. 187 00:07:54,683 --> 00:07:57,144 Jon laced up his shoes and got ready to shoot hoops. 188 00:07:57,228 --> 00:07:58,896 Or jump through them. 189 00:07:58,979 --> 00:08:02,066 [Berg] I played with Jason Heyman, represented Will Ferrell. 190 00:08:02,149 --> 00:08:04,193 Pitch him the movie. He reads it, likes it. 191 00:08:04,276 --> 00:08:08,489 He sends it on to Julie Darmody, Will's junior manager at the time. 192 00:08:08,572 --> 00:08:11,242 She likes it. She kicks it up the ladder 193 00:08:11,325 --> 00:08:14,203 to the big kahuna in Will's life, Jimmy Miller. 194 00:08:14,286 --> 00:08:16,872 He reads the script, likes it, and sends it to Will. 195 00:08:17,456 --> 00:08:21,418 And Will finally read it, and his people said,"He's attached", 196 00:08:21,502 --> 00:08:23,003 and that begins the journey. 197 00:08:23,087 --> 00:08:24,797 [narrator] So, our three nobodies… 198 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:26,924 -[all] Yeah. - …had this somebody say… 199 00:08:27,007 --> 00:08:27,841 Yeah. 200 00:08:27,925 --> 00:08:31,011 Now, their biggest challenge would be getting a studio to say… 201 00:08:31,095 --> 00:08:33,681 -Yes. -[Berg] I'm calling people at the studios. 202 00:08:33,764 --> 00:08:35,307 I had a good elevator pitch. 203 00:08:35,391 --> 00:08:37,309 I tell them I have this amazing script… 204 00:08:37,393 --> 00:08:39,478 -Yes? -…and Will Ferrell's attached. 205 00:08:39,562 --> 00:08:40,729 Yes! 206 00:08:40,813 --> 00:08:43,023 -I'm trying to get them gassed up. -Yes! 207 00:08:43,107 --> 00:08:44,233 [chuckling] 208 00:08:44,316 --> 00:08:47,736 -[narrator] However… -Everyone passed. Everyone passed. 209 00:08:47,820 --> 00:08:49,822 I can't do anything right. 210 00:08:49,905 --> 00:08:53,492 One of the easiest things to do in Hollywood, for anybody, is to say… 211 00:08:53,576 --> 00:08:55,369 -No. -Mostly, what you hear is… 212 00:08:55,452 --> 00:08:56,829 -No. -No? 213 00:08:56,912 --> 00:08:57,830 -No. -Oh! 214 00:08:57,913 --> 00:09:01,125 But there was something else  they heard that was truly shocking. 215 00:09:01,208 --> 00:09:03,711 [Berg] They said,  "You are completely insane 216 00:09:03,794 --> 00:09:06,964 to think that Will Ferrell should be the lead… 217 00:09:07,047 --> 00:09:09,133 No! 218 00:09:09,216 --> 00:09:10,259 …of anything." 219 00:09:10,342 --> 00:09:13,137 -[narrator] Well, he wasn't quite… -A complete nobody. 220 00:09:13,220 --> 00:09:15,764 -It was true Will had… -Pretty much no track record. 221 00:09:15,848 --> 00:09:17,891 -…when it came to movies. -That's right. 222 00:09:17,975 --> 00:09:19,059 Shut up. 223 00:09:19,143 --> 00:09:20,644 [Todd] Difficult to think, 224 00:09:20,728 --> 00:09:24,607 "Oh, there was a moment before Will Ferrell was a huge star." 225 00:09:24,690 --> 00:09:26,900 I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! 226 00:09:26,984 --> 00:09:29,653 At the time, Will really only had, in the marketplace, 227 00:09:29,737 --> 00:09:31,155 A Night at the Roxbury. 228 00:09:31,238 --> 00:09:34,575 [narrator] Which wasn't exactly a box office… smash. 229 00:09:34,658 --> 00:09:36,994 [Todd] That had not performed up to expectations. 230 00:09:37,077 --> 00:09:40,039 No one had built a movie around Will. We wanted to do that. 231 00:09:40,122 --> 00:09:42,249 However, turns out they weren't alone. 232 00:09:42,333 --> 00:09:46,295 So I get a call out of nowhere from a guy named Cale Boyter. 233 00:09:46,378 --> 00:09:47,880 He's a bear of a man. 234 00:09:47,963 --> 00:09:49,256 Okay. All right. Bye. 235 00:09:49,340 --> 00:09:51,216 Like meeting a thunderstorm. 236 00:09:51,300 --> 00:09:53,761 -[thunder crashes] -[laughing] 237 00:09:54,511 --> 00:09:55,346 Ha! 238 00:09:55,429 --> 00:09:56,430 Who are you? 239 00:09:56,513 --> 00:09:57,848 That's a great question. 240 00:09:57,931 --> 00:10:00,934 Cale Boyter was a junior executive, emphasis on junior, 241 00:10:01,018 --> 00:10:02,353 at New Line Cinema. 242 00:10:02,436 --> 00:10:05,314 [Todd] Which, at that time, was primarily known for… 243 00:10:05,397 --> 00:10:07,816 [movie trailer voice] Nightmare on Elm Street. 244 00:10:07,900 --> 00:10:10,736 And other very edgy horror or edgy comedy movies, 245 00:10:10,819 --> 00:10:12,112 [spraying] 246 00:10:12,196 --> 00:10:13,572 and not done a family film. 247 00:10:13,656 --> 00:10:14,907 Isn't that weird? 248 00:10:14,990 --> 00:10:17,618 [narrator] Or in Cale's case, any film at all. 249 00:10:17,701 --> 00:10:21,455 I had never put a movie together. I didn't know what the hell was going on. 250 00:10:21,538 --> 00:10:23,582 But driven by a simple desire… 251 00:10:23,666 --> 00:10:26,877 Frickin' love Will Ferrell. I wish I could see more Will Ferrell. 252 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:28,087 …the junior executive… 253 00:10:28,170 --> 00:10:31,173 Went and grabbed the script, read it, and said, "This is… 254 00:10:31,256 --> 00:10:32,716 frickin' unbelievable." 255 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:34,468 "This is perfect for him." 256 00:10:34,551 --> 00:10:37,888 And they called me and they said, "We wanna option the thing." 257 00:10:37,971 --> 00:10:41,475 It's nice to meet another human who shares my affinity for elf culture. 258 00:10:41,558 --> 00:10:45,979 Here we are, back to Producing 101. Finally, you got the actor. 259 00:10:46,063 --> 00:10:48,023 -Yes! -You've got a studio interested. 260 00:10:48,107 --> 00:10:49,024 Yes. 261 00:10:49,108 --> 00:10:51,276 -But it's not a green-lit movie. -No! 262 00:10:52,194 --> 00:10:57,074 Now, you're just one of a million scripts that people are sending to directors. 263 00:10:57,157 --> 00:10:59,410 While their script was one in a million, 264 00:10:59,493 --> 00:11:01,829 chances of getting the directors they went to… 265 00:11:01,912 --> 00:11:05,040 -[Berg] Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg. - …were one in a million. 266 00:11:05,124 --> 00:11:07,584 You're not getting the A-list guys. 267 00:11:07,668 --> 00:11:09,044 And as for the B-list guys… 268 00:11:09,128 --> 00:11:13,674 We had meetings with people that wanted to turn Jovie into a streetwalker. 269 00:11:13,757 --> 00:11:15,926 I'm just trying to get through the holidays. 270 00:11:16,009 --> 00:11:19,430 They were pushing against the heart that was inherent in the script. 271 00:11:19,513 --> 00:11:21,932 [narrator] But to seduce the right director, 272 00:11:22,015 --> 00:11:23,684 they went seriously old-school. 273 00:11:23,767 --> 00:11:27,438 We were taking meetings down wherever they were shooting Old School. 274 00:11:27,521 --> 00:11:28,981 No, seriously, Old School. 275 00:11:30,482 --> 00:11:31,316 Ow! 276 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:34,987 That movie starring Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson, and Vince Vaughn. 277 00:11:35,070 --> 00:11:36,447 It's the best day ever. 278 00:11:36,530 --> 00:11:40,325 Vince was hanging out with us as we were talking about directors, 279 00:11:40,409 --> 00:11:42,578 and he pitched the idea of Favreau. 280 00:11:42,661 --> 00:11:45,122 [narrator] What? As in Jon Favreau the actor? 281 00:11:45,205 --> 00:11:47,374 [Cale] He'd been an actor in things. 282 00:11:47,458 --> 00:11:50,461 You're Jon Favreau. Rocky Marciano, Deep Impact, Swingers. 283 00:11:50,544 --> 00:11:54,506 No one really knew what he was capable of as a director at that point. 284 00:11:54,590 --> 00:11:55,966 Vince Vaughn knew very well. 285 00:11:56,049 --> 00:11:58,218 You are so money. You don't even know it. 286 00:11:58,302 --> 00:11:59,678 [Berg] Favreau had made one movie. 287 00:11:59,762 --> 00:12:02,765 He, at that point, had made Made. 288 00:12:02,848 --> 00:12:03,724 [bell dings] 289 00:12:03,807 --> 00:12:06,143 And his one movie starred Vince Vaughn, 290 00:12:06,226 --> 00:12:08,270 but he wasn't a heavyweight director. 291 00:12:08,854 --> 00:12:10,898 They brought him in for a meeting nonetheless. 292 00:12:10,981 --> 00:12:12,983 [Berg] We are in  a tiny conference room. 293 00:12:13,066 --> 00:12:14,067 This better be good. 294 00:12:14,151 --> 00:12:17,696 He comes in, and he really keys on three things. 295 00:12:17,780 --> 00:12:18,697 Number one… 296 00:12:19,740 --> 00:12:22,367 The first is that he puts down on the table, 297 00:12:22,451 --> 00:12:23,827 a book about… 298 00:12:23,911 --> 00:12:26,872 -A peach that lives on a farm. -Nope. It was a book about… 299 00:12:26,955 --> 00:12:27,790 Rankin/Bass. 300 00:12:27,873 --> 00:12:28,832 Wait a minute! 301 00:12:28,916 --> 00:12:30,667 -[narrator] As in the… -Rankin/Bass. 302 00:12:30,751 --> 00:12:33,045 -The production company that made… -Rudolph. 303 00:12:33,128 --> 00:12:34,922 David's favorite Christmas movie. 304 00:12:35,005 --> 00:12:37,216 -Loved it. -Well, that's a good start. 305 00:12:37,299 --> 00:12:41,595 [David] And he really said, "This should  inform the aesthetic of the costuming." 306 00:12:41,678 --> 00:12:43,847 I think he even referenced Hermey the Elf. 307 00:12:43,931 --> 00:12:45,474 [Head Elf] Hermey! 308 00:12:45,557 --> 00:12:47,768 Aren't you finished painting that yet? 309 00:12:47,851 --> 00:12:51,647 [narrator] Favreau not only saw the clear inspiration in David's script, 310 00:12:51,730 --> 00:12:52,898 but he even said… 311 00:12:52,981 --> 00:12:54,691 "I wanna do stop-motion animation." 312 00:12:54,775 --> 00:12:58,278 "This is how I envision the North Pole. Exactly like Rankin/Bass." 313 00:12:58,362 --> 00:13:01,365 And we went, "That sounds pretty damn cool." 314 00:13:01,448 --> 00:13:06,078 [narrator] It also sounds serendipitous, but his other thing, even more so. 315 00:13:06,161 --> 00:13:09,164 [Berg] The second thing was that Christmas, for him, 316 00:13:09,832 --> 00:13:12,751 was an incredibly special time. 317 00:13:12,835 --> 00:13:17,089 His mom had passed when he was young and passed around Christmas. 318 00:13:17,172 --> 00:13:21,009 Him and his dad would watch Christmas movies and heal together. 319 00:13:21,093 --> 00:13:23,053 So, it certainly wasn't lost on Jon… 320 00:13:23,136 --> 00:13:25,264 It hit me on the way, like a ton of bricks. 321 00:13:25,347 --> 00:13:27,391 …himself a recent father, that… 322 00:13:27,474 --> 00:13:30,227 -It's a father-and-son movie. -It's a boy. 323 00:13:30,310 --> 00:13:33,105 He's like, "I wanna make something I can share with my kids." 324 00:13:33,188 --> 00:13:34,982 Despite his directing inexperience… 325 00:13:35,065 --> 00:13:37,693 As soon as I heard that, I thought, "This is the guy. 326 00:13:37,776 --> 00:13:39,570 This is the-- this is the guy." 327 00:13:39,653 --> 00:13:41,446 Wait. We haven't heard his third. 328 00:13:41,530 --> 00:13:42,406 Okay. 329 00:13:42,489 --> 00:13:45,868 The third thing he said, which I thought was really ambitious, was… 330 00:13:45,951 --> 00:13:47,286 [narrator] You know what? 331 00:13:47,369 --> 00:13:50,205 We'll tell you about the third thing closer to Christmas. 332 00:13:50,289 --> 00:13:52,207 But for now, all you need to know is… 333 00:13:52,291 --> 00:13:54,418 It was exactly what we wanted to hear. 334 00:13:54,501 --> 00:13:57,129 Great! So, with that, Jon Favreau was hired… 335 00:13:57,212 --> 00:13:58,171 That made me excited. 336 00:13:58,255 --> 00:14:01,842 …which, in turn, made head of New Line Cinema,. Bob Shaye say… 337 00:14:02,968 --> 00:14:04,344 How much that's gonna cost? 338 00:14:04,428 --> 00:14:06,763 I don't know that Elf was his cup of tea. 339 00:14:06,847 --> 00:14:09,016 Even so, New Line priced it out. 340 00:14:09,099 --> 00:14:11,768 And once everyone's feeling groovy about the creative… 341 00:14:11,852 --> 00:14:12,936 Yes…? 342 00:14:13,020 --> 00:14:13,979 You know? 343 00:14:14,479 --> 00:14:15,439 Yay? 344 00:14:15,522 --> 00:14:18,483 We have a green light, and we're gonna make the movie. 345 00:14:18,567 --> 00:14:19,902 -Yay! -Yeah. 346 00:14:19,985 --> 00:14:21,320 Against all odds, 347 00:14:21,403 --> 00:14:22,529 -these nobodies… -Yeah. 348 00:14:22,613 --> 00:14:24,740 …were given  about $30 million by New Line. 349 00:14:24,823 --> 00:14:26,742 They left us alone to make this movie. 350 00:14:27,492 --> 00:14:30,037 [narrator] A movie about the love of a father. 351 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,664 A movie about the magic of Christmas. 352 00:14:32,748 --> 00:14:35,334 -A movie… -Directed by a guy that had made one film, 353 00:14:35,417 --> 00:14:38,045 produced by a couple of people who had made nothing. 354 00:14:38,128 --> 00:14:39,671 And I don't know anything. 355 00:14:39,755 --> 00:14:41,882 Well, they'd just have to learn on the job. 356 00:14:41,965 --> 00:14:44,927 As first-time producer, I didn't know rhythms and process. 357 00:14:45,010 --> 00:14:47,763 We didn't understand all the different maneuvers. 358 00:14:47,846 --> 00:14:51,058 I knew we should hire smart people who knew what they were doing. 359 00:14:51,141 --> 00:14:52,601 [laughing] 360 00:14:52,726 --> 00:14:55,187 So that's exactly what they did. 361 00:14:55,270 --> 00:14:58,440 You know, funny. Jon called me. I was in this very room. 362 00:14:58,523 --> 00:14:59,983 I guess you're home. 363 00:15:00,484 --> 00:15:03,236 He started downloading some of his ideas. 364 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,447 -I thought, "This is great." -Great! 365 00:15:05,530 --> 00:15:07,282 [Quinones] I get this call 366 00:15:07,366 --> 00:15:09,409 about a Christmas movie in New York. 367 00:15:10,369 --> 00:15:13,080 He asked me if I had stop-motion experience, 368 00:15:13,163 --> 00:15:14,623 -which I did. -Wow! 369 00:15:14,706 --> 00:15:17,376 I was a huge fan of Will Ferrell. 370 00:15:17,459 --> 00:15:19,753 And when it came to the production designer… 371 00:15:19,836 --> 00:15:21,254 I thought he was brilliant. 372 00:15:21,338 --> 00:15:23,006 We should just hang out. 373 00:15:23,090 --> 00:15:26,635 I met with him, and he wanted this film to feel like Rankin/Bass… 374 00:15:27,219 --> 00:15:30,013 [narrator] But not rip off Rankin/Bass, right? 375 00:15:30,097 --> 00:15:32,975 We never thought it was derivative. We thought it was inspired. 376 00:15:33,058 --> 00:15:34,810 [narrator] Very obviously inspired. 377 00:15:34,893 --> 00:15:35,727 -What? -What? 378 00:15:35,811 --> 00:15:38,146 So, they got to work, working that out. 379 00:15:38,230 --> 00:15:41,900 I was pretty confident they'd be able to make a deal with Rankin and Bass. 380 00:15:41,984 --> 00:15:43,610 Are you sure? 381 00:15:43,694 --> 00:15:47,239 It wasn't like it was Lucasfilm. It wasn't Star Wars. I mean… 382 00:15:47,322 --> 00:15:49,908 [narrator] Exactly. Shouldn't be a problem. 383 00:15:49,992 --> 00:15:54,371 Anyway, speaking of stars, the last thing they needed were some. 384 00:15:54,454 --> 00:15:56,665 [Berg] One of the first big decisions was, 385 00:15:56,748 --> 00:15:57,916 who plays Walter? 386 00:15:58,417 --> 00:15:59,668 Welcome Garry Shandling! 387 00:15:59,751 --> 00:16:01,878 [Berg] Garry Shandling is a comedy genius. 388 00:16:02,629 --> 00:16:04,297 This isn't easy for me, but… 389 00:16:04,923 --> 00:16:06,091 He passed. 390 00:16:06,883 --> 00:16:11,263 But fortunately that led us to the next choice on the list, 391 00:16:11,346 --> 00:16:12,597 which was James Caan. 392 00:16:13,598 --> 00:16:15,475 Jimmy Caan was a dramatic actor. 393 00:16:15,559 --> 00:16:17,185 Dramatic's one word for it. 394 00:16:17,269 --> 00:16:18,812 -I'm very, very… -Dramatic. 395 00:16:18,895 --> 00:16:20,188 [grunting] 396 00:16:20,647 --> 00:16:23,191 He's been in all these incredible movies. 397 00:16:23,275 --> 00:16:25,902 He's a tough guy. He's one of the guy's guys. 398 00:16:25,986 --> 00:16:27,112 He's Sonny Corleone! 399 00:16:27,195 --> 00:16:29,781 You blow their brains all over your Ivy League suit. 400 00:16:29,865 --> 00:16:34,369 [narrator] If anyone could bring gravitas and strength to the role, it would be… 401 00:16:34,453 --> 00:16:35,287 James… 402 00:16:36,288 --> 00:16:37,789 -[nose beeps] -…Caan. 403 00:16:37,873 --> 00:16:39,750 Eager and excited, they reached out. 404 00:16:39,833 --> 00:16:40,667 Hello? 405 00:16:40,751 --> 00:16:43,462 [narrator] James Caan read the script and luckily said… 406 00:16:43,545 --> 00:16:44,546 Why not? 407 00:16:44,629 --> 00:16:46,590 But if James Caan was on board… 408 00:16:46,673 --> 00:16:49,342 All of us were a little scared of James Caan, I think. 409 00:16:50,218 --> 00:16:53,513 [narrator] …that means James Caan would be on set. 410 00:16:54,306 --> 00:16:57,768 Well, to provide some balance, producers began their search 411 00:16:57,851 --> 00:17:00,353 for Buddy the Elf's co-star, Jovie. 412 00:17:00,437 --> 00:17:05,067 The studio was really pushing us to put Katie Holmes as Jovie. 413 00:17:05,150 --> 00:17:06,109 It's your time. 414 00:17:06,193 --> 00:17:07,861 -[Berg] She was a big star. -I am. 415 00:17:07,944 --> 00:17:10,197 We didn't get her. She didn't want to do it. 416 00:17:10,781 --> 00:17:11,907 Long story. 417 00:17:11,990 --> 00:17:13,575 We auditioned a lot of people. 418 00:17:13,658 --> 00:17:14,743 What about me? 419 00:17:14,826 --> 00:17:16,536 [Berg] We auditioned Zooey Deschanel. 420 00:17:16,620 --> 00:17:18,830 Zooey at the time, was a young actress. 421 00:17:18,914 --> 00:17:20,749 You know, I've never had a real job. 422 00:17:20,832 --> 00:17:23,126 She has that sassy kinda edge to her, 423 00:17:23,210 --> 00:17:24,920 but is also just warmhearted. 424 00:17:25,003 --> 00:17:27,631 As an actor, it's easy to sing Zooey's praise. 425 00:17:27,714 --> 00:17:29,424 -But as well… -[Todd] She could sing. 426 00:17:29,508 --> 00:17:32,219 We wanted to do something that could bring it to light. 427 00:17:32,302 --> 00:17:34,638 -[narrator] So they told Zooey… -You'll be cool. 428 00:17:34,721 --> 00:17:37,599 -…and set out to cast her boss. -Six-inch ribbon curls. 429 00:17:37,682 --> 00:17:39,893 [Berg] We really wanted Wanda Sykes. 430 00:17:39,976 --> 00:17:42,729 -What do you want? -She dropped out at the last minute. 431 00:17:42,813 --> 00:17:43,730 [groaning] 432 00:17:43,814 --> 00:17:47,234 And Favreau knew Faizon Love and called him up, 433 00:17:47,317 --> 00:17:49,027 and he came in and did us a solid. 434 00:17:49,111 --> 00:17:51,321 But his name tag says Wanda. 435 00:17:51,404 --> 00:17:54,241 We were so convinced we had her that we did the name tag, 436 00:17:54,324 --> 00:17:56,618 so he wanted to wear the Wanda name tag. 437 00:17:57,452 --> 00:17:59,788 [narrator] Jon Favreau made a few more calls… 438 00:17:59,871 --> 00:18:02,332 -[phone ringing] -…to round out the cast of Elf. 439 00:18:02,415 --> 00:18:03,667 -[Todd] Favreau… -Hello? 440 00:18:03,750 --> 00:18:05,502 …wanted Bob Newhart as Papa Elf. 441 00:18:05,585 --> 00:18:06,837 -And as for… -Santa! 442 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:08,547 He wanted Ed Asner for Santa. 443 00:18:08,630 --> 00:18:11,299 That's the most disgusting idea I ever heard. 444 00:18:12,092 --> 00:18:13,802 These were genius choices. 445 00:18:13,885 --> 00:18:15,554 And with those choices chosen, 446 00:18:15,637 --> 00:18:17,389 it was off to Manhattan… 447 00:18:17,472 --> 00:18:21,351 …for 13 days, and get as much Christmas in as we possibly could. 448 00:18:21,434 --> 00:18:24,437 [narrator] Well, the 13 days of live-action Christmas filming 449 00:18:24,521 --> 00:18:28,316 began in New York City on the 2nd of December, 2002, 450 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,194 with a limited budget and very limited time. 451 00:18:31,278 --> 00:18:33,905 [Greg] I was figuring out how to shoot these streets. 452 00:18:33,989 --> 00:18:36,241 How do we get the energy of New York City? 453 00:18:36,324 --> 00:18:38,201 How do you not have it come out fake? 454 00:18:38,285 --> 00:18:39,161 And the answer? 455 00:18:39,244 --> 00:18:41,830 The best way not to have it fake is to have it real, 456 00:18:41,913 --> 00:18:45,125 that's why we just put him out there on the streets. [chuckles] 457 00:18:45,208 --> 00:18:48,628 They put together a small crew and prepared to shoot on the fly. 458 00:18:48,712 --> 00:18:51,423 We completely bought into this guerrilla style. 459 00:18:51,506 --> 00:18:54,301 So, the first thing we shot was the Lincoln Tunnel. 460 00:18:54,384 --> 00:18:56,052 [Rusty] I was terrified for Will. 461 00:18:56,136 --> 00:18:58,889 He actually went into the tunnel with the camera guy. 462 00:18:58,972 --> 00:19:01,266 -They're shoved up against the wall. -Crazy. 463 00:19:01,349 --> 00:19:03,143 And that was just the first shot. 464 00:19:03,226 --> 00:19:07,856 That day, we shot stuff like Will playing in the revolving doors. 465 00:19:08,356 --> 00:19:10,817 -Running into traffic. -He finds the gum that day. 466 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:13,695 We shot on Park Avenue. 467 00:19:13,778 --> 00:19:16,323 That long-lens shot, we called it the Tootsie shot. 468 00:19:16,406 --> 00:19:18,533 -As for the extras? -Those are real people. 469 00:19:18,617 --> 00:19:19,618 Those aren't actors. 470 00:19:19,701 --> 00:19:22,370 -The guy in the red jogging suit… -Santa! Sant-- 471 00:19:22,913 --> 00:19:24,664 That guy was just there. 472 00:19:24,748 --> 00:19:26,833 [Kristin] Going up to people and touching them… 473 00:19:26,917 --> 00:19:29,669 Anything could happen. That's what I was most worried about. 474 00:19:30,420 --> 00:19:32,797 The actor that everybody else was worried about… 475 00:19:32,881 --> 00:19:34,049 Sonny Corleone! 476 00:19:34,132 --> 00:19:36,092 [narrator] …was about to clock in. 477 00:19:36,176 --> 00:19:39,012 There were rumors that Caan wasn't so easy to work with. 478 00:19:39,095 --> 00:19:39,930 Son of a… 479 00:19:40,013 --> 00:19:43,183 I think all of us had heard stories about James Caan 480 00:19:43,266 --> 00:19:45,727 being kind of… a wild man. 481 00:19:45,810 --> 00:19:49,606 [narrator] With a reputation to uphold, the "wild man" made an announcement. 482 00:19:49,689 --> 00:19:52,275 -On his first day… -He went up and gave a speech. 483 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:56,238 [Berg] "My name is James Caan, but what I want you to know me as… 484 00:19:56,321 --> 00:19:57,697 is Jimmy the Dream." 485 00:19:57,781 --> 00:19:58,865 Jimmy the Dream. 486 00:19:58,949 --> 00:20:00,283 [laughing] 487 00:20:00,367 --> 00:20:03,495 [Berg] "When anyone says, 'What was James Caan like to work with?' 488 00:20:03,578 --> 00:20:05,580 I want immediately to come in your head, 489 00:20:05,664 --> 00:20:07,666 'Jimmy the Dream? He was a dream.'" 490 00:20:07,749 --> 00:20:08,708 I like it. 491 00:20:08,792 --> 00:20:11,044 [Berg] To the credit of our production department, 492 00:20:11,127 --> 00:20:12,545 the next day, we came to set, 493 00:20:12,629 --> 00:20:15,882 and they had changed the stitching on his chair, 494 00:20:15,966 --> 00:20:18,051 and it said, "Jimmy the Dream." [laughing] 495 00:20:18,134 --> 00:20:19,719 -And with that… -Good night. 496 00:20:19,803 --> 00:20:23,181 [narrator] …concerns about working  with James Caan were put to bed. 497 00:20:23,265 --> 00:20:24,933 -[Greg] Well… -Or were they? 498 00:20:25,016 --> 00:20:26,935 [chuckling] Um… 499 00:20:27,018 --> 00:20:28,979 Tell what he thought of your fancy ring light. 500 00:20:29,062 --> 00:20:32,232 "You're not gonna have that ******* thing on this camera, are you?" 501 00:20:32,315 --> 00:20:33,233 [laughing] 502 00:20:33,942 --> 00:20:34,818 That was weird. 503 00:20:34,901 --> 00:20:36,736 That was my introduction to James. 504 00:20:36,820 --> 00:20:39,614 Just as Greg and James were getting to know each other, 505 00:20:39,698 --> 00:20:42,033 it was nearly time to say goodbye to New York. 506 00:20:42,117 --> 00:20:42,951 Bye, guys. 507 00:20:43,034 --> 00:20:45,412 But not before they shot that heartwarming ending. 508 00:20:45,495 --> 00:20:47,706 The sleigh runs on Christmas spirit. 509 00:20:47,789 --> 00:20:49,708 Yep, that one. And they found a place… 510 00:20:49,791 --> 00:20:53,295 [Rusty] At the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Central Park South 511 00:20:53,378 --> 00:20:56,047 was about the only place that we could make it happen. 512 00:20:56,131 --> 00:20:57,882 ♪ So be good for goodness sake ♪ 513 00:20:57,966 --> 00:21:01,219 Everybody's singing and Christmas spirit is building in the world. 514 00:21:01,303 --> 00:21:04,014 Christmas spirit that gets the sleigh to go, 515 00:21:04,097 --> 00:21:05,849 and Walter singing in the end. 516 00:21:05,932 --> 00:21:08,018 [Kristin] The singing really got me. 517 00:21:08,101 --> 00:21:09,936 A feel-good moment, as they say. 518 00:21:10,020 --> 00:21:13,023 [narrator] With that, the New York filming was completed. 519 00:21:13,106 --> 00:21:17,152 But as junior executive Cale Boyter brought the dailies back to New Line, 520 00:21:17,235 --> 00:21:20,155 the feel-good feelings turned into hesitation. 521 00:21:20,238 --> 00:21:23,241 I do remember Bob calling me down into his office 522 00:21:23,325 --> 00:21:24,743 and hitting play. 523 00:21:24,826 --> 00:21:27,287 It was Will. Dad walks by, and he sees him. 524 00:21:27,370 --> 00:21:30,665 "Dad! Dad!" 525 00:21:30,749 --> 00:21:33,251 And basically saying, "You think that's funny?" 526 00:21:33,335 --> 00:21:35,045 It was clear what Bob thought. 527 00:21:35,128 --> 00:21:36,880 [Cale] And Bob wasn't having it. 528 00:21:37,505 --> 00:21:38,340 You stink! 529 00:21:38,423 --> 00:21:41,259 [narrator] Bravely looking into his boss' eyes, 530 00:21:41,343 --> 00:21:42,719 the junior executive said… 531 00:21:42,802 --> 00:21:44,596 "I do. I think it's really funny." 532 00:21:44,679 --> 00:21:46,598 You sit on a throne of lies. 533 00:21:46,681 --> 00:21:49,142 [Cale] You're taking everything so seriously. 534 00:21:49,225 --> 00:21:51,478 When you're watching those dailies out of context, 535 00:21:51,561 --> 00:21:52,979 you're not reaching for laughs. 536 00:21:53,063 --> 00:21:55,231 So, instead of putting Elf on the shelf 537 00:21:55,315 --> 00:21:57,192 and firing his junior executive… 538 00:21:57,275 --> 00:22:02,155 Maybe, he kind of quietly respected the fact that I wasn't gonna cower, 539 00:22:02,238 --> 00:22:03,656 'cause it was ******* funny. 540 00:22:03,740 --> 00:22:06,534 [narrator] Blissfully unaware of New Line's concern, 541 00:22:06,618 --> 00:22:09,287 the crew left New York in a cloud of Christmas spirit. 542 00:22:09,371 --> 00:22:12,999 We'd have shot it all in New York if we could afford to, but that was it. 543 00:22:13,083 --> 00:22:16,753 [narrator] So, like many movies, they ended up in Vancouver, Canada. 544 00:22:16,836 --> 00:22:19,589 It's much cheaper to shoot on stages in Canada. 545 00:22:19,672 --> 00:22:22,759 But the stages in Vancouver, none of them were wide enough. 546 00:22:22,842 --> 00:22:26,471 In order to create the North Pole, we needed a certain amount of distance, 547 00:22:26,554 --> 00:22:27,722 with nothing in the way. 548 00:22:27,806 --> 00:22:30,600 [narrator] So, their plans to shoot were put on ice… 549 00:22:31,184 --> 00:22:32,435 Canada style. 550 00:22:32,519 --> 00:22:35,397 We set up in a public-use hockey rink called the PNE. 551 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:37,565 [narrator] Giving them plenty of space. 552 00:22:37,649 --> 00:22:40,443 It had enough depth that we could sculpt the environment 553 00:22:40,527 --> 00:22:42,112 and put a backdrop we could light. 554 00:22:42,195 --> 00:22:45,240 And it was here that they constructed Santa's Village. 555 00:22:45,323 --> 00:22:47,534 We were looking at Rankin/Bass for reference. 556 00:22:47,617 --> 00:22:49,494 -Who wasn't? -All the sets were white. 557 00:22:49,577 --> 00:22:53,206 [Rusty] It allowed all  of the colorful characters to pop out, 558 00:22:53,289 --> 00:22:56,126 and we decided that was the language for our set. 559 00:22:56,209 --> 00:22:59,129 [narrator] But it was a language written in 1964, 560 00:22:59,212 --> 00:23:02,924 and Elf was being made in the digitally enhanced world of 2003. 561 00:23:03,007 --> 00:23:05,093 Technology was racing at the time. 562 00:23:05,176 --> 00:23:06,928 -[narrator] You bet it was. -No! 563 00:23:07,011 --> 00:23:10,348 -Even with this new wave of… -Extreme graphic chipset processors. 564 00:23:10,432 --> 00:23:12,058 -Jon Favreau… -You comin'? 565 00:23:12,142 --> 00:23:13,601 -Where? -…wasn't on board. 566 00:23:13,685 --> 00:23:16,020 I would think about climbing on board. 567 00:23:16,104 --> 00:23:18,690 Jon really wanted to stay away from digital effects. 568 00:23:18,773 --> 00:23:21,901 I think the concern was he didn't want it to feel dated. 569 00:23:21,985 --> 00:23:26,156 [narrator] So, when shooting  a full-sized Buddy in an elf-sized world… 570 00:23:26,239 --> 00:23:29,033 We used forced perspective as much as possible. 571 00:23:29,117 --> 00:23:31,744 Moving to the forced-perspective shot on the big set. 572 00:23:31,828 --> 00:23:35,206 Forced perspective is a simple cinematic trick, in theory. 573 00:23:35,290 --> 00:23:38,585 It's done by compression. They're supposed to be next to each other, 574 00:23:38,668 --> 00:23:42,297 but the actors are literally ten feet away. 575 00:23:42,380 --> 00:23:43,923 No one's where they seem. 576 00:23:44,007 --> 00:23:47,510 And none of this has been done for 50 or 60 years. 577 00:23:47,594 --> 00:23:49,095 It was reinventing the wheel. 578 00:23:49,179 --> 00:23:52,098 A misshapen, wobbly wheel that was slow to get rolling. 579 00:23:52,182 --> 00:23:54,309 Here we go. Let's try a rehearsal. Ready. 580 00:23:54,392 --> 00:23:55,643 [Joe] First day of trying, 581 00:23:55,727 --> 00:23:59,481 production lost a whole day setting up one shot and never captured it. 582 00:23:59,564 --> 00:24:01,608 While Greg was full of confidence… 583 00:24:01,691 --> 00:24:03,735 I knew what I was doing. 584 00:24:03,818 --> 00:24:05,069 …others weren't so sure. 585 00:24:05,153 --> 00:24:08,239 There was concern on the part of New Line. "Is this gonna work?" 586 00:24:08,323 --> 00:24:10,533 [Greg] By the time we shot the first morning, 587 00:24:10,617 --> 00:24:11,951 the producers were nervous 588 00:24:12,035 --> 00:24:15,788 they rushed the dailies straight to the lab and processed them, 589 00:24:15,872 --> 00:24:18,124 and we watched them at lunch the first day. 590 00:24:18,208 --> 00:24:21,294 [students] There's room for everyone on the Nice List. 591 00:24:21,377 --> 00:24:24,172 [Greg] And everybody's like, "It works!" [chuckling] 592 00:24:24,297 --> 00:24:27,800 And it was like, "Yeah, it works. I'd be fired if it didn't work." 593 00:24:27,884 --> 00:24:29,969 [narrator] A good perspective indeed. 594 00:24:30,053 --> 00:24:32,931 But even with Greg keeping a close eye on things, 595 00:24:33,014 --> 00:24:36,392 -they were working to a crushing schedule. -The clock was ticking. 596 00:24:36,476 --> 00:24:39,229 Jon was gonna have to forget about forced perspective. 597 00:24:39,312 --> 00:24:40,813 We were drifting behind. 598 00:24:40,897 --> 00:24:43,483 I'm going to be a little bit short on today's quota. 599 00:24:43,566 --> 00:24:46,653 [narrator] But that didn't sit well  with Joe Bauer, who said… 600 00:24:46,736 --> 00:24:48,363 [Joe] Let me figure this out. 601 00:24:48,446 --> 00:24:51,199 I hate to do this to you. Can you help me pick up the slack? 602 00:24:51,282 --> 00:24:54,994 So, we set up a second unit, and we would come in every night… 603 00:24:55,078 --> 00:24:56,371 Lazy bum. 604 00:24:56,454 --> 00:24:57,830 [Rusty] …and set up shots. 605 00:24:57,914 --> 00:25:01,960 [Joe] I didn't have a minute off for months, but truth is, it was so fun, 606 00:25:02,043 --> 00:25:04,295 there's nowhere else I rather would have been. 607 00:25:04,837 --> 00:25:06,923 [narrator] Um, here with us, maybe? 608 00:25:07,006 --> 00:25:07,840 [Joe] Okay. 609 00:25:08,675 --> 00:25:10,510 [narrator] So, as Joe took his seat, 610 00:25:10,593 --> 00:25:13,680 so did Buddy, on Papa Elf's tiny legs. 611 00:25:13,763 --> 00:25:16,933 How do we get Will sitting on Bob Newhart's lap? 612 00:25:17,016 --> 00:25:19,561 The legs that pop up were a kid. 613 00:25:19,644 --> 00:25:22,855 We came up with this rig. He's lying on a diving board. 614 00:25:22,939 --> 00:25:27,193 Bob Newhart is in another chair ten feet back. [chuckles] 615 00:25:27,277 --> 00:25:31,364 Now it seemed there were no limits to their forced-perspective trickery. 616 00:25:31,447 --> 00:25:34,617 -Not too fast, Buddy. -We had a real-size kid in the foreground. 617 00:25:34,701 --> 00:25:38,329 [Greg] Behind them is a little seat for a four-year-old boy, 618 00:25:38,413 --> 00:25:40,540 who's putting his hands over his shoulders, 619 00:25:40,623 --> 00:25:44,294 and Bob Newhart has to lean out and go, "Whoa! Be careful!" 620 00:25:44,377 --> 00:25:45,878 It's all for that one shot. 621 00:25:45,962 --> 00:25:50,174 [narrator] And one shot at a time, they captured all of Santa's Village. 622 00:25:50,258 --> 00:25:53,553 [Joe] I think we ended up with 47 forced-perspective setups, 623 00:25:53,636 --> 00:25:56,723 -which is a tremendous amount. -Maybe a little too tremendous. 624 00:25:56,806 --> 00:25:59,642 [Joe] And all of those didn't make it into the show. 625 00:25:59,726 --> 00:26:02,186 But given the film's blatant inspiration… 626 00:26:02,270 --> 00:26:03,104 Rudolph. 627 00:26:03,187 --> 00:26:05,898 There was one element that just had to be included. 628 00:26:05,982 --> 00:26:07,650 Jon knew he wanted to do stop-motion. 629 00:26:07,734 --> 00:26:10,069 Saving the day again, Joe Bauer knew-- 630 00:26:10,153 --> 00:26:13,239 -[Joe] I knew exactly who to call. -All right, get on with it. 631 00:26:13,323 --> 00:26:16,075 I'm Charlie Chiodo, and I have a brother, Stephen. 632 00:26:16,993 --> 00:26:20,580 Hi, my name is Stephen Chiodo, and I have a younger brother, Edward. 633 00:26:20,663 --> 00:26:23,625 The Chiodo Brothers is a family business. Three brothers. 634 00:26:23,708 --> 00:26:27,378 It's a group of siblings that create stop-motion effects in Los Angeles. 635 00:26:27,462 --> 00:26:31,132 We like to think that the Chiodo Brothers bring something special. 636 00:26:31,215 --> 00:26:33,092 [screaming] 637 00:26:33,176 --> 00:26:34,135 Holy-- 638 00:26:34,218 --> 00:26:36,137 [nose beeping] 639 00:26:36,220 --> 00:26:38,890 [narrator] With a relatively un-Christmassy résumé… 640 00:26:38,973 --> 00:26:42,185 -A pipe bomb, Jobriath. -…this was the chance of a lifetime. 641 00:26:42,268 --> 00:26:46,314 We've made movies since we were kids, and the Rankin/Bass special inspired us. 642 00:26:46,397 --> 00:26:47,315 [gun fires] 643 00:26:47,774 --> 00:26:48,983 [screaming] 644 00:26:50,735 --> 00:26:51,944 Yeah, makes sense. 645 00:26:52,028 --> 00:26:54,739 And appropriately, their first shot involved 646 00:26:54,822 --> 00:26:57,909 the long, dangerous tusk of Mr. Narwhal. 647 00:26:57,992 --> 00:27:01,621 The way Jon had described the scene where the Narwhal appears, 648 00:27:02,372 --> 00:27:05,083 he wanted the tusk to come up and rise out of the water 649 00:27:05,166 --> 00:27:06,709 like the Chrysler Building. 650 00:27:06,793 --> 00:27:08,961 And guess who did the voice for Mr. Narwhal. 651 00:27:09,045 --> 00:27:09,921 Bye, Buddy. 652 00:27:10,004 --> 00:27:11,339 "Hope you find your dad." 653 00:27:11,422 --> 00:27:12,715 Nope, it wasn't him. 654 00:27:12,799 --> 00:27:15,009 Jon Favreau did the voice of the Narwhal. 655 00:27:15,093 --> 00:27:17,762 -Hope you find your dad. -Thanks, Mr. Narwhal. 656 00:27:18,388 --> 00:27:20,306 With the Chiodo Brothers hard at work, 657 00:27:20,390 --> 00:27:22,183 Jon Favreau's Rankin/Bass homage 658 00:27:22,266 --> 00:27:23,976 was really starting to get its… 659 00:27:24,644 --> 00:27:26,521 -legs potentially crushed. -Sorry! 660 00:27:26,604 --> 00:27:28,940 Something abominable was about to happen. 661 00:27:29,023 --> 00:27:31,150 [monstrous growling] 662 00:27:31,234 --> 00:27:33,361 There was some piece of bad news. 663 00:27:33,444 --> 00:27:35,405 Uh… we got in trouble with clearance. 664 00:27:36,072 --> 00:27:39,200 The legal department at New Line started to get worried. 665 00:27:39,283 --> 00:27:41,953 They got nervous we had stolen too much 666 00:27:42,036 --> 00:27:43,538 from Rankin/Bass. 667 00:27:43,663 --> 00:27:44,497 -What? -What? 668 00:27:44,580 --> 00:27:48,334 There was a question about if they had the rights to duplicate the costumes. 669 00:27:48,418 --> 00:27:51,713 This must have been cleared by now. Who's producing this thing? 670 00:27:51,796 --> 00:27:54,924 Legally, we thought we had made a deal and everything was cool, 671 00:27:55,007 --> 00:27:56,718 so we went off and made the movie. 672 00:27:56,801 --> 00:28:00,179 But the legal department  at New Line, well, they had other ideas. 673 00:28:00,263 --> 00:28:04,350 And all of a sudden, we had lawyers in our midst. 674 00:28:04,434 --> 00:28:05,727 [growling] 675 00:28:05,810 --> 00:28:07,478 Lawyers with you on the set. 676 00:28:08,521 --> 00:28:12,108 Lawyers with you in the art department saying, "Where's your reference?" 677 00:28:12,191 --> 00:28:14,360 "Where did you get this idea from?" 678 00:28:14,444 --> 00:28:16,195 We're trapped! 679 00:28:16,279 --> 00:28:18,531 They were like, "How influenced are you?" 680 00:28:19,157 --> 00:28:19,991 [gasps] 681 00:28:20,992 --> 00:28:22,076 And we said to them, 682 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:23,911 "Really influenced." 683 00:28:23,995 --> 00:28:26,706 There was no hiding the movie's Rankin/Bass connection. 684 00:28:26,789 --> 00:28:28,374 -True. -Favreau came in 685 00:28:28,458 --> 00:28:32,128 and threw the book on the frigging table in his first meeting. 686 00:28:32,211 --> 00:28:35,256 [narrator] But this time, the book was being thrown at them. 687 00:28:35,965 --> 00:28:39,635 The producer came to me and said that the film might not be releasable. 688 00:28:39,719 --> 00:28:43,347 [Joe] And I remember Jon sitting on top of Elf's miniature sofa 689 00:28:43,431 --> 00:28:45,725 with his head in his hands like this. 690 00:28:45,808 --> 00:28:48,978 [narrator] Well, in order to weather this legal storm, 691 00:28:49,061 --> 00:28:51,439 -production leaped into action. -What do we do? 692 00:28:51,522 --> 00:28:54,442 [Joe] Suddenly,  the blue Buddy outfit shows up. 693 00:28:54,525 --> 00:28:56,152 We tried this for one whole day. 694 00:28:56,736 --> 00:28:58,488 We shot with the original costume, 695 00:28:58,571 --> 00:29:00,156 then Will would go change, 696 00:29:00,239 --> 00:29:02,992 and shoot the same thing again with the other costume. 697 00:29:03,075 --> 00:29:04,994 But there was a big problem with this. 698 00:29:05,077 --> 00:29:06,579 We were downfield on the thing. 699 00:29:06,662 --> 00:29:08,831 If they couldn't clear the green costume, 700 00:29:08,915 --> 00:29:10,708 they'd have to reshoot everything! 701 00:29:10,792 --> 00:29:11,876 Oh, my gosh! 702 00:29:11,959 --> 00:29:13,044 No one wanted that. 703 00:29:13,127 --> 00:29:15,880 Do you mind telling me what you do wanna do? 704 00:29:15,963 --> 00:29:17,882 One of the outs was, "Oh, let's just…" 705 00:29:17,965 --> 00:29:20,927 Digitally alter the coats or… I don't know. 706 00:29:21,010 --> 00:29:22,512 [laughing] 707 00:29:23,012 --> 00:29:24,180 [screaming] 708 00:29:24,263 --> 00:29:27,266 [narrator] However, in the end, threats to upend production 709 00:29:27,350 --> 00:29:29,519 were a little bit… toothless. 710 00:29:29,602 --> 00:29:31,938 Basically, some fast legal work had to be done. 711 00:29:32,021 --> 00:29:35,608 Ultimately, we proved ourselves to be free and clear. 712 00:29:35,691 --> 00:29:37,902 Thankfully, some smart people figured it out. 713 00:29:37,985 --> 00:29:40,154 [narrator] Well, with that monster tackled, 714 00:29:40,238 --> 00:29:42,532 it was time to shoot the New York interiors, 715 00:29:42,615 --> 00:29:44,575 which they shot in… well… 716 00:29:44,659 --> 00:29:46,994 It wasn't a Kmart, but it looked like a Kmart. 717 00:29:47,078 --> 00:29:49,497 It was a closed-down mental institution. 718 00:29:49,580 --> 00:29:51,332 That's it! A mental institution. 719 00:29:51,457 --> 00:29:54,460 -[thunder crashing] -[evil laughter] 720 00:29:55,545 --> 00:29:57,672 I was like, "This is perfect for New Line." 721 00:29:57,755 --> 00:30:00,007 It was production designer Rusty Smith's job 722 00:30:00,091 --> 00:30:02,009 to make it perfect for Elf. 723 00:30:02,093 --> 00:30:06,514 [Rusty] We had to repurpose this draconian mental institution. 724 00:30:06,597 --> 00:30:08,307 It was great for the police station, 725 00:30:08,975 --> 00:30:12,603 but it is one of the creepiest places I've ever been in my life. 726 00:30:12,687 --> 00:30:14,272 Why would it be any other way? 727 00:30:14,355 --> 00:30:15,690 [laughing] 728 00:30:15,773 --> 00:30:18,025 [narrator] But when the storm clouds cleared, 729 00:30:18,109 --> 00:30:20,862 they actually found this building to be quite versatile. 730 00:30:20,945 --> 00:30:22,530 It was here that they shot… 731 00:30:22,613 --> 00:30:25,324 The orphanage. We shot Greenway Press. 732 00:30:25,408 --> 00:30:27,201 Francisco, that's fun to say. 733 00:30:27,285 --> 00:30:28,327 The Hobbs apartment. 734 00:30:28,411 --> 00:30:30,246 -What shall we put on first? -Lights. 735 00:30:30,329 --> 00:30:32,331 I love when he's decorating the tree… 736 00:30:32,415 --> 00:30:34,959 -How do we get the star on? -[Rusty] …to put the star on. 737 00:30:35,042 --> 00:30:36,043 I got it. 738 00:30:36,127 --> 00:30:38,004 It's what's called a "Texas switch." 739 00:30:38,087 --> 00:30:40,715 You see your principal actor, Will Ferrell. 740 00:30:40,798 --> 00:30:42,550 He goes back to take a look at it, 741 00:30:42,633 --> 00:30:45,720 and then the stuntman takes a running jump off the sofa, 742 00:30:46,888 --> 00:30:48,723 and it falls over. 743 00:30:48,806 --> 00:30:50,308 All done in one take. 744 00:30:50,391 --> 00:30:52,643 You know that that's not really me, right? 745 00:30:53,519 --> 00:30:55,771 While Will brought funny to the funny farm… 746 00:30:55,855 --> 00:30:57,148 [Cale laughing] 747 00:30:57,231 --> 00:30:59,317 …Zooey Deschanel brought the heart. 748 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:03,404 She's pissed to be stuck at Gimbels, working in this ridiculous outfit. 749 00:31:03,487 --> 00:31:04,697 Enjoying the view? 750 00:31:04,780 --> 00:31:07,116 But in that ever-shining light of Buddy the Elf… 751 00:31:07,199 --> 00:31:09,493 Someone needs to sing a Christmas carol. 752 00:31:09,577 --> 00:31:11,203 -Go away. -…she gets melted. 753 00:31:11,287 --> 00:31:12,496 But let's be honest. 754 00:31:12,580 --> 00:31:15,499 We all melt just a little bit  when we hear her sing. 755 00:31:15,583 --> 00:31:18,085 We knew she could sing, and Favreau wanted that duet 756 00:31:18,169 --> 00:31:19,587 between Jovie and Buddy. 757 00:31:19,670 --> 00:31:23,341 ♪ So really I'd better scurry ♪ 758 00:31:23,424 --> 00:31:25,635 When someone opens their mouth and they can sing, 759 00:31:25,718 --> 00:31:27,094 there's always that delight 760 00:31:27,678 --> 00:31:28,971 and surprise. 761 00:31:29,055 --> 00:31:31,098 Get out! Don't look at me! 762 00:31:31,182 --> 00:31:32,934 And the surprises didn't end here… 763 00:31:33,726 --> 00:31:37,188 -It tickles! -…as Will harnessed his SNL improv skills. 764 00:31:37,271 --> 00:31:39,565 Again, Will. See if we get a tighter seal. 765 00:31:39,649 --> 00:31:43,778 Shoot it the way it's written once and shoot it again with alternatives. 766 00:31:43,861 --> 00:31:45,071 We're tight. 767 00:31:45,154 --> 00:31:48,240 -Don't know if I'd say "tight." -[Favreau] Make it more Buddy. 768 00:31:48,824 --> 00:31:51,285 Will's antics were cracking the crew up. 769 00:31:51,369 --> 00:31:52,328 [director] Cut! 770 00:31:52,411 --> 00:31:54,538 But had a different effect on his co-star. 771 00:31:55,122 --> 00:31:56,165 Dad? 772 00:31:58,042 --> 00:31:58,918 What? 773 00:31:59,001 --> 00:32:01,045 Despite his best efforts to be… 774 00:32:01,128 --> 00:32:03,255 -"Jimmy the Dream." -…Will had other ideas. 775 00:32:03,339 --> 00:32:06,884 Will is constantly doing things that deliberately aggravate James Caan. 776 00:32:06,968 --> 00:32:09,220 [narrator] And James Caan wasn't tickled. 777 00:32:09,303 --> 00:32:11,180 When we shot the tickle-fight scene… 778 00:32:11,263 --> 00:32:14,558 -Tickle fight. -[Berg] Jimmy Caan getting manhandled. 779 00:32:14,642 --> 00:32:17,937 After take two, I think he was like, "We got this?" 780 00:32:19,063 --> 00:32:19,981 Dad? 781 00:32:20,564 --> 00:32:23,526 -What? -James tries to end it, but Will wouldn't. 782 00:32:23,609 --> 00:32:24,860 -Dad… -[Greg] He wouldn't. 783 00:32:24,944 --> 00:32:26,904 -I love you. -Go to sleep now. 784 00:32:26,988 --> 00:32:27,863 Do you love me? 785 00:32:27,947 --> 00:32:29,782 Will's relentless performance… 786 00:32:29,865 --> 00:32:31,367 -Dad! -…had its advantages. 787 00:32:31,450 --> 00:32:35,371 It worked so damn good, just in terms of the tension between him and his son. 788 00:32:35,454 --> 00:32:37,415 -He's my dad. -But if he wasn't careful… 789 00:32:37,498 --> 00:32:40,376 -He bailed me out. -…this dream might become a nightmare. 790 00:32:40,459 --> 00:32:44,755 When he gets upset with Buddy, and he pushes him against the glass… 791 00:32:44,839 --> 00:32:46,340 What do you want? Some money? 792 00:32:46,424 --> 00:32:48,134 …everybody on crew goes, "Whoa!" 793 00:32:48,217 --> 00:32:51,012 There's an electricity here that is dangerous. 794 00:32:51,095 --> 00:32:55,433 [narrator] But there was only one person who could get James Caan fully charged. 795 00:32:55,516 --> 00:32:57,643 -It wasn't Will. -Get the hell outta here. 796 00:32:57,727 --> 00:33:00,521 On one of the final days of shooting, Jon Favreau… 797 00:33:00,604 --> 00:33:02,815 [Todd] …whispered something into Jimmy's ear… 798 00:33:02,898 --> 00:33:04,233 I like to whisper too. 799 00:33:04,316 --> 00:33:06,610 …and he gave the take that's in the movie. 800 00:33:06,694 --> 00:33:08,779 I don't care where you go or that you're an elf! 801 00:33:08,863 --> 00:33:11,741 I don't care that you're nuts! I don't care that you're my son! 802 00:33:12,408 --> 00:33:14,160 Get out of my life, now! 803 00:33:14,869 --> 00:33:18,289 -So, the question was… -[Todd] "What did you whisper in his ear?" 804 00:33:18,372 --> 00:33:20,291 And Fav said, "I reminded him 805 00:33:20,374 --> 00:33:22,668 that he was Sonny ******* Corleone." 806 00:33:22,752 --> 00:33:25,421 Come here. You're taking this very personally. 807 00:33:25,504 --> 00:33:26,630 That's great. Cut. 808 00:33:27,465 --> 00:33:30,509 [narrator] From New York to Vancouver, live action filming 809 00:33:30,593 --> 00:33:32,053 had finally ended. 810 00:33:32,136 --> 00:33:33,888 I'm like "Oh! It ended?" 811 00:33:33,971 --> 00:33:35,973 [cheering] 812 00:33:36,807 --> 00:33:38,893 We'll figure out what happens in the editing. 813 00:33:38,976 --> 00:33:41,103 That's when you decide what the movie will be. 814 00:33:41,187 --> 00:33:45,232 [narrator] So, as Jon Favreau and editor  Dan Lebental worked out just that… 815 00:33:45,316 --> 00:33:47,234 We like where he sings all high. 816 00:33:47,318 --> 00:33:49,320 ♪ I was adopted ♪ 817 00:33:49,403 --> 00:33:51,530 …the Chiodo Brothers had been hard at work. 818 00:33:51,614 --> 00:33:53,115 Or at least, hard-ish. 819 00:33:53,199 --> 00:33:55,910 Some of the stop-motion wasn't quite finished yet.* 820 00:33:55,993 --> 00:33:59,080 Instead, it was somebody walking around in a big foam head. 821 00:33:59,163 --> 00:34:02,583 -By the way, don't eat the yellow snow. -Oh, I know that. 822 00:34:02,666 --> 00:34:06,921 But then we get a call saying there's a preview screening coming up. 823 00:34:07,004 --> 00:34:08,798 They had a screening with New Line. 824 00:34:08,881 --> 00:34:12,593 Jon felt if they didn't have our stop-motion sequence at the screening, 825 00:34:12,676 --> 00:34:13,886 that it might be cut. 826 00:34:13,969 --> 00:34:18,015 [narrator] The stop-motion origin of Elf was in danger of being cast out. 827 00:34:18,099 --> 00:34:20,726 -You'll never fit in! -[narrator] But why? 828 00:34:20,810 --> 00:34:24,939 [Charlie] Jon was concerned that New Line was trying to save money. 829 00:34:25,022 --> 00:34:28,109 They didn't have as much faith in the movie as Jon did. 830 00:34:28,192 --> 00:34:30,027 But looking at the calendar… 831 00:34:30,111 --> 00:34:32,905 We had one day to shoot this to get Jon's deadline. 832 00:34:32,988 --> 00:34:34,156 Oh! Better get to work. 833 00:34:34,240 --> 00:34:37,660 Okay, so Teresa Drilling, an incredible animator, 834 00:34:37,743 --> 00:34:38,786 a real hard worker, 835 00:34:38,869 --> 00:34:43,082 she said, "Guys, just give me some coffee, and I'll shoot it in one day." 836 00:34:43,165 --> 00:34:46,293 She worked basically 27 hours straight. 837 00:34:46,377 --> 00:34:48,879 [Joe] And I think she drank 12 pots of coffee. 838 00:34:48,963 --> 00:34:51,924 -It really must have been… -World's best cup of coffee. 839 00:34:52,007 --> 00:34:53,551 -Because… -We made the deadline. 840 00:34:53,634 --> 00:34:54,927 Got it into the preview. 841 00:34:55,010 --> 00:34:58,430 [narrator] And with that, Jon Favreau's vision was ready to watch. 842 00:34:59,348 --> 00:35:02,226 New Line was just doing a very small, like… 843 00:35:02,309 --> 00:35:05,563 employee-friends-family screening, just to test it out. 844 00:35:05,646 --> 00:35:08,399 And we watch the movie, and it's got temp score in it. 845 00:35:08,482 --> 00:35:10,276 Well, not temp stop-motion though. 846 00:35:11,861 --> 00:35:15,614 And as they all began to watch Elf for the very first time… 847 00:35:15,698 --> 00:35:18,659 It exceeded my expectation of what the movie could be. 848 00:35:20,286 --> 00:35:22,079 My heart just, like, sang. 849 00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:24,832 This is it, a hundred percent. 850 00:35:24,915 --> 00:35:28,210 [narrator] And as they settled back, basking in the warm… 851 00:35:28,919 --> 00:35:31,088 projector glow of comedy glory, 852 00:35:31,589 --> 00:35:35,342 it was time to bring it home with that heartwarming ending. 853 00:35:35,426 --> 00:35:39,180 [Berg] And the engine fires  and they fly off… 854 00:35:40,514 --> 00:35:41,640 [distant single cough] 855 00:35:42,224 --> 00:35:44,935 And that's it. That's the movie. Roll credits. 856 00:35:45,644 --> 00:35:47,855 I was literally thinking they skipped a reel. 857 00:35:47,938 --> 00:35:51,650 -And I am shocked to say the least. -[narrator] What was missing? 858 00:35:51,734 --> 00:35:55,112 [Berg] There's no Christmas spirit that gets the sleigh to go, 859 00:35:55,196 --> 00:35:57,031 and Walter and everyone singing, 860 00:35:57,114 --> 00:36:00,034 and cutting to the people that Buddy has met along the way. 861 00:36:00,117 --> 00:36:02,703 -Hey! -All that is gone. It's out of the movie. 862 00:36:04,038 --> 00:36:06,457 [narrator] Without the magical Christmas ending, 863 00:36:06,540 --> 00:36:09,043 Elf was in danger of losing its heart. 864 00:36:09,627 --> 00:36:11,337 -What the **** happened? -[nose beeps] 865 00:36:11,420 --> 00:36:14,423 One thing happened between the time when we shot the movie 866 00:36:14,506 --> 00:36:15,633 and we tested it, 867 00:36:15,716 --> 00:36:16,926 and that was Old School. 868 00:36:17,009 --> 00:36:19,678 Old School? That happened, like, 25 minutes ago. 869 00:36:19,762 --> 00:36:20,763 Old School was shot. 870 00:36:21,764 --> 00:36:23,098 But hadn't come out yet. 871 00:36:23,182 --> 00:36:26,227 Well, when it did come out, just months before Elf… 872 00:36:26,310 --> 00:36:27,436 It rocked the house. 873 00:36:27,519 --> 00:36:29,521 Will Ferrell the star was on full display. 874 00:36:29,605 --> 00:36:32,233 We're going streaking! Yeah! 875 00:36:32,316 --> 00:36:35,402 And Will was awesome in that movie. He kinda just blew up. 876 00:36:35,486 --> 00:36:37,154 But how did that blow up Elf? 877 00:36:37,238 --> 00:36:39,740 Suddenly, we had a movie starring Frank "The Tank"… 878 00:36:39,823 --> 00:36:41,408 [cheering] 879 00:36:41,492 --> 00:36:42,618 [screaming] 880 00:36:42,701 --> 00:36:43,994 I'll ******* kill you! 881 00:36:44,078 --> 00:36:46,080 …wearing yellow tights. 882 00:36:46,163 --> 00:36:48,249 I like to smile. It's my favorite. 883 00:36:48,332 --> 00:36:50,626 -At least he was wearing something. -Hey! 884 00:36:50,709 --> 00:36:54,463 Here we were, this very saccharine, sweet, gentle, kind movie. 885 00:36:54,546 --> 00:36:58,092 I don't think New Line, the boss-bosses, knew exactly what to do. 886 00:36:58,175 --> 00:37:00,302 [Cale] People started to question whether or not 887 00:37:00,386 --> 00:37:02,805 Elf jokes would work for the Old School audience. 888 00:37:02,888 --> 00:37:05,015 [narrator] So, New Line made a switch. 889 00:37:05,516 --> 00:37:07,434 -Hello? -[Rusty] I got a call from Jon. 890 00:37:07,518 --> 00:37:08,477 I wanna talk to you. 891 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:10,145 He was in the editing process. 892 00:37:10,229 --> 00:37:12,898 We kinda like that ending, so we use that ending now. 893 00:37:13,023 --> 00:37:15,234 [Rusty] He basically delivered his cut, 894 00:37:15,317 --> 00:37:19,989 and he let me know that New Line took the movie away from him. 895 00:37:20,072 --> 00:37:22,783 [narrator] Ripped from the clutches  of Jon Favreau, 896 00:37:22,866 --> 00:37:24,952 Elf was in New Line's hands now. 897 00:37:25,035 --> 00:37:28,163 They tried to re-edit it into something else. 898 00:37:28,247 --> 00:37:29,873 Blue, you're my boy! 899 00:37:29,957 --> 00:37:32,710 There was a fight to make it more like a normal comedy. 900 00:37:32,793 --> 00:37:35,504 Which might have happened if it weren't for the crew. 901 00:37:35,587 --> 00:37:39,341 [Rusty] We had been so committed to Jon's vision 902 00:37:39,425 --> 00:37:41,552 and his way of executing that film, 903 00:37:41,635 --> 00:37:42,970 that they couldn't do it. 904 00:37:43,470 --> 00:37:46,515 They couldn't re-edit it and make it into something 905 00:37:46,598 --> 00:37:48,642 that the studio thought was better. 906 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:52,730 [narrator] Elf was Elf right down to its DNA. 907 00:37:52,813 --> 00:37:56,233 You couldn't abandon the movie's roots. You can never change that. 908 00:37:56,984 --> 00:38:00,362 The reason the movie still works is because it never lost its heart. 909 00:38:00,446 --> 00:38:03,407 Faith, light, love. The things that make the world go. 910 00:38:03,490 --> 00:38:05,617 So, New Line gave Buddy another chance, 911 00:38:05,701 --> 00:38:07,619 and tested Jon's original ending. 912 00:38:07,703 --> 00:38:10,122 [Cale] Filled the house with Old School audience, 913 00:38:10,205 --> 00:38:11,832 and… boom! 914 00:38:11,915 --> 00:38:14,293 [cheering] 915 00:38:14,376 --> 00:38:17,296 At that point, we knew we had something that was special. 916 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:19,340 And the rest is history. 917 00:38:19,423 --> 00:38:21,842 This is the fun part. Where it all pays off. 918 00:38:21,925 --> 00:38:23,302 Elf not only paid off… 919 00:38:23,385 --> 00:38:24,887 It set the house on fire. 920 00:38:24,970 --> 00:38:27,681 [narrator] …it exceeded everyone's expectations. 921 00:38:27,765 --> 00:38:32,144 Elf was a complete surprise to me, because I expected, frankly, to hate it. 922 00:38:32,227 --> 00:38:35,064 Seeing a movie that you wrote is like a dream. 923 00:38:35,147 --> 00:38:37,149 And maybe it was because of the dream. 924 00:38:37,232 --> 00:38:39,985 James Caan was nothing but a dream. 925 00:38:40,069 --> 00:38:41,070 I like hearing that. 926 00:38:41,153 --> 00:38:44,156 Or the appearance of a ghost from Christmas movies past. 927 00:38:44,239 --> 00:38:45,407 You'll shoot your eye out. 928 00:38:45,491 --> 00:38:48,660 [narrator] Or even this guy, in a "Wanda" name tag. 929 00:38:48,744 --> 00:38:52,289 -Whatever the reason… -Oh, my God, this is really working. 930 00:38:52,373 --> 00:38:54,458 Yeah. Working its way up the box office charts. 931 00:38:54,541 --> 00:38:56,543 In our second week of release, 932 00:38:57,127 --> 00:38:59,004 we were number one at the box office. 933 00:38:59,088 --> 00:39:01,548 Who knew it would just kinda keep making money? 934 00:39:01,632 --> 00:39:03,675 Actually, it's making more than money. 935 00:39:03,759 --> 00:39:05,886 Elf was also the springboard 936 00:39:05,969 --> 00:39:09,014 that launched this group of young, inexperienced filmmakers 937 00:39:09,098 --> 00:39:10,724 into the Hollywood stratosphere. 938 00:39:10,808 --> 00:39:13,060 And Jon Favreau has become one of the top-ten, 939 00:39:13,143 --> 00:39:16,605 top-grossing directors of all time, as well as producing the Iron Man… 940 00:39:16,688 --> 00:39:19,525 -Avengers! -[narrator] …and Avengers franchises. 941 00:39:19,608 --> 00:39:22,861 And even delivering Baby Yoda into the world with The Mandalorian. 942 00:39:22,945 --> 00:39:25,155 -Wait. Is there another Rankin/Bass-- -What? 943 00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:27,616 [narrator] Nah. But as for Elf's star, well, 944 00:39:27,699 --> 00:39:32,329 Will Ferrell has obviously become one of America's most beloved comedy actors. 945 00:39:32,413 --> 00:39:35,082 -And there's no question… -I'm Ron Burgundy. 946 00:39:35,165 --> 00:39:35,999 …about why. 947 00:39:36,083 --> 00:39:38,502 Will's performance is this movie. 948 00:39:38,585 --> 00:39:41,505 I mean, he is literally the engine 949 00:39:41,588 --> 00:39:43,924 and the heart and soul of the movie. 950 00:39:44,007 --> 00:39:47,136 -Without Will, there is no Elf. -I love you. 951 00:39:47,219 --> 00:39:52,141 What Will Ferrell did was so true to what I had envisioned 952 00:39:52,224 --> 00:39:54,393 from that first coffee with David Berenbaum. 953 00:39:54,476 --> 00:39:57,396 [narrator] That first coffee, that they had here… 954 00:39:57,479 --> 00:39:59,398 -[David] Here we are again. -[Berg] Here we are. 955 00:39:59,481 --> 00:40:02,901 …where two regular Joes had  some coffee and percolated a plan. 956 00:40:02,985 --> 00:40:05,195 You remember that that's where my office was. 957 00:40:05,279 --> 00:40:07,739 I didn't want to travel far for that first meeting. 958 00:40:07,823 --> 00:40:11,535 I understand. If it doesn't work out, you just hop… "I gotta go." 959 00:40:11,618 --> 00:40:13,454 -"There's a thing…" -Sure. Yeah. 960 00:40:14,621 --> 00:40:16,123 [David] Look at this place. 961 00:40:16,206 --> 00:40:17,332 Wow. 962 00:40:17,416 --> 00:40:18,917 -Look at this. -It has changed. 963 00:40:19,001 --> 00:40:21,211 This has changed. These windows weren't here. 964 00:40:21,295 --> 00:40:22,504 I don't think, right? 965 00:40:22,588 --> 00:40:24,923 Uh, no. I like what they've done to the place. 966 00:40:25,007 --> 00:40:30,012 You and I, again, I think, for two guys who'd done nothing, really, at that time… 967 00:40:30,095 --> 00:40:31,680 Neither of us had made a movie, 968 00:40:31,763 --> 00:40:34,391 and we sat down, 'cause of the script that you wrote, 969 00:40:34,475 --> 00:40:36,727 with a great concept that was hilarious. 970 00:40:36,810 --> 00:40:39,605 It happened to be the right idea, with the right producers, 971 00:40:39,688 --> 00:40:41,899 with the right star, with the right director. 972 00:40:41,982 --> 00:40:43,108 Jonny Favs! 973 00:40:43,192 --> 00:40:45,319 That first creative session, we got it. 974 00:40:45,402 --> 00:40:46,904 We were on the same page. 975 00:40:46,987 --> 00:40:49,364 From that very first meeting, it was clear 976 00:40:49,448 --> 00:40:52,534 -that Jon Favreau was meant to be. -Check the gate on that. 977 00:40:52,618 --> 00:40:56,497 [Favreau] Your job is to make sure  that everybody is sharing the same vision. 978 00:40:56,580 --> 00:40:59,374 [narrator] A vision that included three simple things. 979 00:40:59,458 --> 00:41:01,668 Oh, yeah. What was that third thing? 980 00:41:01,752 --> 00:41:03,253 [tape rewinding] 981 00:41:03,337 --> 00:41:07,049 And the third thing he said, which I thought was really ambitious, was… 982 00:41:07,132 --> 00:41:08,634 -Well, go on then. -Um… 983 00:41:08,717 --> 00:41:12,012 [Berg] He said he wanted it to be a timeless Christmas classic. 984 00:41:12,095 --> 00:41:15,015 That was his original pitch, and he accomplished it. 985 00:41:15,724 --> 00:41:17,392 And I'm lucky that he did. 986 00:41:17,476 --> 00:41:20,979 [narrator] So, Jon Favreau's wish to make a timeless Christmas classic… 987 00:41:21,063 --> 00:41:23,732 [Berg] You wrote a heck of a script, we made a great movie. 988 00:41:23,815 --> 00:41:25,484 …of course, came true. 989 00:41:25,567 --> 00:41:29,029 We definitely wanted to make a movie that stuck around for generations. 990 00:41:29,112 --> 00:41:30,948 And speaking of generations, 991 00:41:31,031 --> 00:41:33,909 when these guys set out to make a family Christmas movie, 992 00:41:33,992 --> 00:41:35,077 they really meant it. 993 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,788 This guy here, that's Will Ferrell's little brother. 994 00:41:37,871 --> 00:41:38,997 Go back to Gimbels! 995 00:41:39,081 --> 00:41:41,083 Gardiner's daughter made an appearance. 996 00:41:41,166 --> 00:41:42,042 [screaming] 997 00:41:42,125 --> 00:41:44,044 [narrator] And Buddy's long-lost mom? 998 00:41:44,127 --> 00:41:46,338 -She's somebody. -Somebody? 999 00:41:46,421 --> 00:41:49,049 -The love of my life! -Sorry, Todd. That's your wife. 1000 00:41:49,132 --> 00:41:52,636 And even baby Buddy himself is Jon Favreau's son. 1001 00:41:52,719 --> 00:41:55,180 Jon said, "I wanna make a movie  for my 1-year-old." 1002 00:41:55,764 --> 00:41:58,725 [Rusty] How he wanted it to be warm and heartfelt, 1003 00:41:58,809 --> 00:42:02,396 [voice cracking] and, you know, and be in every family's home… 1004 00:42:02,479 --> 00:42:03,689 [chuckles] 1005 00:42:03,772 --> 00:42:05,440 Um, I get choked up about it. 1006 00:42:06,191 --> 00:42:08,527 And much like Christmas spirit itself… 1007 00:42:08,610 --> 00:42:10,946 It starts, often, with one person. 1008 00:42:11,029 --> 00:42:14,575 ♪ You better watch out You better not cry ♪ 1009 00:42:15,158 --> 00:42:17,411 ♪ You better not pout I'm telling you why ♪ 1010 00:42:17,494 --> 00:42:19,955 [Berg] It started with one person, Dave Berenbaum, 1011 00:42:20,038 --> 00:42:23,875 sitting down and writing something and believing in it when there was nobody… 1012 00:42:23,959 --> 00:42:26,503 There was nobody waving him on. 1013 00:42:28,130 --> 00:42:32,634 You know, when I wrote the movie, I wrote it as a… 1014 00:42:32,718 --> 00:42:33,552 as a son. 1015 00:42:33,635 --> 00:42:35,012 [gentle piano music plays] 1016 00:42:35,095 --> 00:42:38,932 And now… now I'm a father, so… 1017 00:42:39,016 --> 00:42:40,976 the fact that I can… 1018 00:42:41,977 --> 00:42:44,730 show the movie, today, to my kids, 1019 00:42:45,897 --> 00:42:48,066 it means everything. 1020 00:42:48,692 --> 00:42:50,819 [narrator] When David Berenbaum wrote Elf, 1021 00:42:50,902 --> 00:42:53,655 he tapped into something more than a comedy, 1022 00:42:54,615 --> 00:42:56,325 more than a heartwarming movie. 1023 00:42:56,825 --> 00:42:59,494 I'll always… I'll always be here for you. 1024 00:42:59,578 --> 00:43:02,956 [narrator] Maybe even more important than Christmas itself. 1025 00:43:03,874 --> 00:43:06,335 [David] My father passed away  when I was younger. 1026 00:43:06,418 --> 00:43:09,296 This movie's about the search for the father. 1027 00:43:09,796 --> 00:43:15,677 That is what, writing the film, I really wanted Buddy to achieve. 1028 00:43:16,178 --> 00:43:17,429 Um… 1029 00:43:18,597 --> 00:43:20,474 So at the end of the movie, 1030 00:43:20,557 --> 00:43:24,186 uh, when… Walter hugs Buddy, 1031 00:43:24,728 --> 00:43:26,688 [voice cracking] that's the movie to me. 1032 00:43:29,524 --> 00:43:30,942 My son, I love you. 1033 00:43:35,238 --> 00:43:38,742 [narrator] And so, Elf's legacy is that a movie about family 1034 00:43:38,825 --> 00:43:41,703 has become the ultimate Christmas family movie. 1035 00:43:41,787 --> 00:43:44,331 So, we'd better give the Elf family some love too, 1036 00:43:45,082 --> 00:43:48,251 because thanks to these guys, this movie isn't just about love, 1037 00:43:49,002 --> 00:43:50,212 it really was made with… 1038 00:43:50,295 --> 00:43:51,880 -Love. -[David] Love. 1039 00:43:51,963 --> 00:43:53,715 -There was lot of love. -And light. 1040 00:43:53,799 --> 00:43:57,594 …that has really made a little dent in the darkness of the world. 1041 00:43:57,678 --> 00:43:59,680 It's magic. It's really magic. 1042 00:43:59,763 --> 00:44:01,890 That's really the true meaning of Christmas. 1043 00:44:01,973 --> 00:44:04,601 Merry Christmas! 1044 00:44:06,395 --> 00:44:08,605 -I feel like a ******, holding this thing. -[beeps] 1045 00:44:08,689 --> 00:44:13,276 [joyous holiday music plays]