Elf is a 2003 American christmas comedy film directed by Jon Favreau and written by David Berenbaum. It stars Will Ferrell as the title character, a human raised by Santa s elves, who learns about his origins and heads to New York City to meet his biological father. James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Edward Asner, and Bob Newhart appear in supporting roles.

Elf was released in the United States on November 7, 2003, and became a major critical and commercial success, grossing $220 million worldwide against a $33 million budget. Ferrell s performance as Buddy the Elf was praised by critics and audiences alike, with many calling it one of his best performances. The film inspired the 2010 Broadway musical Elf: The Musical and NBC s 2014 stop motion animated television special Elf: Buddy s Musical Christmas. It is often listed among the greatest Christmas films of all time.

Plot

On Christmas Eve, a baby at an orphanage crawls into Santa Claus sack and is unknowingly taken back to the North Pole. After the child is discovered at the workshop, the elves name him Buddy after his diaper s brand label and Papa Elf adopts him. Buddy is accepted by the elf community and grows up thinking that he is an elf, but soon learns he is really a human. Papa Elf explains that Buddy was born to Walter Hobbs and Susan Wells, and that Susan put him up for adoption prior to her death. Walter now works as a children s book publisher at the Empire State Building in New York City, unaware of Buddy s existence. Santa reveals that Walter is on the Naughty List due to his selfishness, but suggests Buddy could help redeem Walter.

Buddy travels to New York and finds Walter at work, but Walter mistakes him for a Christmas-gram messenger and has him ejected. Buddy heads to a local Gimbels department store and meets Jovie, an unenthusiastic employee with whom he is instantly smitten. Hearing that Santa will be at the store the following day, Buddy redecorates the store overnight. However, upon realizing that the Gimbels Santa is not the genuine article, Buddy unmasks him and causes a brawl in the store that the manager breaks up.

Walter reluctantly bails Buddy out of the police station and takes him for a DNA test, confirming that Buddy is his biological son. Dr. Leonardo convinces Walter to take Buddy home to meet his stepmother Emily and half-brother Michael. Walter and Michael are unnerved by Buddy s strange behavior, but Emily insists that they care for him until he recovers . Michael warms up to Buddy after they defeat a gang of bullies in a snowball fight and encourages Buddy to ask Jovie out on a date. During the date, the two fall in love.

Meanwhile, Walter s publishing company is failing after their latest book flops. Walter s boss, Fulton Greenway, expects Walter to have a new book ready by Christmas Eve. Walter and his team secure a meeting with best-selling children s author Miles Finch, but Buddy interrupts the meeting and mistakes Finch, who has dwarfism, for an elf. Buddy unintentionally insults Finch before the latter attacks him and leaves the meeting, upon which Walter loses his temper and harshly disowns Buddy. Heartbroken, Buddy writes an apology note on an Etch A Sketch and leaves Walter s apartment.

Upon finding Finch s notebook full of ideas, Walter and his team scramble to create a book to pitch. As Walter prepares to pitch the book to Greenway, Michael arrives and informs Walter of Buddy s departure. Realizing his mistake, Walter quits his job and walks out with Michael to find Buddy. Meanwhile, Buddy sees Santa s sleigh crash in Central Park, attracting a large crowd. Santa explains that the sleigh s engine is lost and cannot fly without it due to a shortage of Christmas spirit.

Buddy finds the engine and reunites with Walter and Michael. Walter apologizes to Buddy for how he treated him and accepts him as his son. After he takes them to meet Santa, Michael takes Santa s list and reads it in front of television news cameras gathered outside the park, proving that Santa is real. A group of Central Park Rangers, who are angry at Santa for placing them on the Naughty List, chase the sleigh as Buddy tries to reattach the engine. Jovie leads the crowd and those watching on television in singing Santa Claus Is Coming to Town , raising enough Christmas spirit to fully power the sleigh without the engine.

By the following Christmas, Buddy writes a book about his life, which becomes a bestseller and allows Walter to establish his own publishing company. Buddy also marries Jovie and brings their newborn daughter Susie to visit Papa Elf.

Cast

Live action

• Will Ferrell as Buddy Hobbs, aka Buddy the Elf , an eccentric human who was raised by Santa s elves.
• James Caan as Walter Hobbs, a children s book publisher and Buddy s biological father.
• Zooey Deschanel as Jovie, an unenthusiastic worker at Gimbels and Buddy s love interest.
• Mary Steenburgen as Emily Hobbs, Walter s wife, Michael s mother and Buddy s stepmother.
• Bob Newhart as Papa Elf, Buddy s adoptive father and the narrator.
• Edward Asner as Santa Claus, a holiday figure who finds Buddy in his sack and gives him to Papa Elf to raise.
• Daniel Tay as Michael Hobbs, Walter and Emily s son and Buddy s younger half-brother.
• Faizon Love as Wanda, the manager of Gimbels and Jovie s boss.
• Peter Dinklage as Miles Finch, a best-selling children s author who attacks Buddy for (mistakenly) calling him an elf.
• Amy Sedaris as Deb, Walter Hobbs secretary.
• Michael Lerner as Fulton Greenway, Walter Hobbs controlling and uncaring boss and the CEO of Greenway Press.
• Andy Richter as Morris, a co-worker of Walter Hobbs.
• Kyle Gass as Eugene Dupree, a co-worker of Walter Hobbs.
• Artie Lange as the Fake Santa, a Mall Santa with whom Buddy gets into an altercation because he is not the real Santa Claus.
• Jon Favreau as Dr. Ben Leonardo, the Hobbs family s pediatrician.
• Matt Walsh as Eye Witness.
• Peter Billingsley as Ming Ming (uncredited), the head elf in Santa s workshop.
• Mark Acheson as a mailroom worker.
• David Paul Grove as Pom Pom, an elf on whom Buddy faints when he discovers he s a human.

Voice cast

• Leon Redbone as Leon the Snowman, a snowman who lives at the North Pole.
• Ray Harryhausen as Polar Bear Cub
• Jon Favreau as the Baby Walrus (uncredited), Mr. Narwhal (uncredited) and the Arctic Puffin (uncredited)
• Maurice LaMarche as Buddy s Burp (uncredited)
• Dallas McKennon as the Jack-in-the-Box (uncredited, archive audio)

Production

Development

David Berenbaum initially wrote the script in 1993, with Chris Farley and Jim Carrey being early candidates to play Buddy. Berenbaum s screenplay underwent uncredited rewrites by Scot Armstrong, Chris Henchy, and the writing team of Adam McKay and Will Ferrell. Garry Shandling was offered the role of Walter Hobbs but declined. Wanda Sykes was originally cast as the Gimbels manager Wanda but later dropped out. Terry Zwigoff was offered to direct the film, but he turned it down in favor of Bad Santa (2003). According to Favreau, the script was initially much darker and did not interest him, although he was interested in working with Ferrell s first post-SNL movie. Asked to rewrite it, a turning point came when he realized he could make Buddy s world an homage to the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials. This allowed him to conceive of a movie that could be PG rated as opposed to the original script, which he guessed would have been rated PG-13.

Filming

Principal photography began on December 2, 2002, and wrapped on March 7, 2003. Filming took place in New York City, as well as in Vancouver and at Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

The film makes heavy use of forced perspective to exaggerate the size of Buddy compared to all the other elves. Stop motion animation was employed for certain sequences. CGI usage was kept to a minimum due to Favreau s own preference, something that he would later note he had to fight very hard for.

Zooey Deschanel singing was not in the original script, and Favreau added it when he learned she was a singer. When Buddy starts singing in the middle of Santaland at Gimbels, the lyrics were not scripted and Will Ferrell improvised the song on the spot.

Post-production

Apart from snow, most of the computer generated imagery (CGI) in the film was created by Rhythm & Hues Studios. Buddy s belch after drinking a two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola was dubbed by voice actor Maurice LaMarche.

Reception

Box office

Elf grossed $176.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $47.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $223.9 million, against a production budget of $33 million.

The film opened at number two at the box office in the U.S. with $31.1 million, finishing behind The Matrix Revolutions, also in its first week. It topped the box office on its second week of release, beating out Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Additionally, Elf went on to compete against another family-oriented film, Brother Bear. In the United Kingdom, it opened in second behind Love Actually. The 2018, 2019, and 2020 reissues earned $442,000, $786,000, and $2 million respectively.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, Elf holds an approval rating of 85% based on 194 reviews, and an average rating of 7.1/10. The website s critical consensus reads, A movie full of Yuletide cheer, Elf is a spirited, good-natured family comedy, and it benefits greatly from Will Ferrell s funny and charming performance as one of Santa s biggest helpers. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews . Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of A− on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars, calling it one of those rare Christmas comedies that has a heart, a brain and a wicked sense of humor, and it charms the socks right off the mantelpiece. Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers gave the film two out of four stars, saying: Ferrell makes the damn thing work. Even though he can t get naked or use naughty words, there s a devil of comedy in Ferrell, and he lets it out to play. Director Jon Favreau has the good sense to just stand out of his way. The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, saying: While the words instant holiday classic might be pushing it, Elf is at the very least a breezily entertaining, perfectly cast family treat. A. O. Scott of The New York Times also gave the film a positive review, saying: Elf is a charming, silly family Christmas movie more likely to spread real joy than migraine, indigestion and sugar shock. The movie succeeds because it at once restrains its sticky, gooey good cheer and wildly overdoes it. Anna Smith of Empire magazine gave the film a three out of five stars and said: Ferrell s man-child invites sympathy and sniggers, making this amusing despite some flimsy plotting. Sight gags and a Santa-centered story should keep the kids happy too. Plugged In gave the film a positive review, writing: The elf-reared Buddy has a heart as big as the arctic north. Does his movie match it?

Accolades

The film was nominated for nine awards and won two.

Won

• 2004 ASCAP award – Top Box Office Films (John Debney)
• 2004 Golden Trailer – Best Comedy

Nominated

• 2004 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award – Favorite Movie
• 2004 MTV Movie Award – Best Comedic Performance (Will Ferrell)
• 2004 PFCS Award – Best Live Action Family Film and Best Use of Previously Published or Recorded Music
• 2004 Teen Choice Award – Choice Movie Actor – Comedy (Will Ferrell) and Choice Movie – Comedy
• 2005 Golden Satellite Award – Best Youth DVD

Critics rankings

Elf is often ranked among the greatest Christmas films, and airs annually on television during the holiday season. In 2017, Fandango users rated Elf the best Christmas film of the 21st century.

• Digital Spy – #3
• Total Film – #3
• GamesRadar+ – #5
• Entertainment Weekly – #4
• San Francisco Chronicle – #4
• The Guardian – #4
• The Hollywood Reporter – #6
• Forbes – #7
• Newsday – #7
• about.com – #9
• Empire – #11
• Chicago Tribune – #17
• New York Daily News – #23

Home media

The film was released on DVD and VHS on November 16, 2004, and on Blu-ray on October 28, 2008. It is also available for the PlayStation Portable with Universal Media Disc. This is one of the only two DVDs to be PG rated under the Infinifilm label.

Musical

A Broadway musical based upon the film ran on Broadway during the 2010 Christmas season. It was directed by Casey Nicholaw, with music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and a book by Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan.

The musical officially opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on November 10, 2010, after previews from November 2, 2010. The cast included Sebastian Arcelus as Buddy, Amy Spanger as Jovie, Beth Leavel as Emily, Mark Jacoby as Walter, Matthew Gumley as Michael, Valerie Wright as Deb, Michael McCormick as Mr. Greenway, Michael Mandell as Store Manager, and George Wendt as Santa. It ran through to January 2, 2011.

Music

The soundtrack was released on New Line Records in November 2003 in the United States and in October 2005 in the United Kingdom, including its signature song Baby, It s Cold Outside by Deschanel and Leon Redbone, releasing it as a single. It was certified Gold by the RIAA in April 2011. Having sold 695,000 copies in the United States, it is the second-highest selling soundtrack album for a Christmas-themed film since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking music sales in 1991, behind only The Polar Express.

The score to the film, composed and conducted by John Debney and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony, was released by Varèse Sarabande.

Animated special

Elf: Buddy s Musical Christmas is an hour-long stop-motion animated musical television special based on the film and the musical of the same name. While Edward Asner was the only cast member from the film to reprise his role, the rest of the cast included Jim Parsons as Buddy, Mark Hamill as Walter Hobbs, Kate Micucci as Jovie, Rachael MacFarlane as Emily Hobbs, Max Charles as Michael Hobbs, and Gilbert Gottfried as Mr. Greenway. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and first aired on NBC on December 16, 2014. It features songs from the musical.

Video game

A video game based on the film was released on November 4, 2004 for the Game Boy Advance, developed by Human Soft and published by Crave Entertainment. The game follows the same plot as the movie; within the game, the player has to collect candies throughout each level while avoiding various objects and polar bears. The game received negative reviews by critics.

Cancelled sequel

On September 18, 2013, Mental Floss reported that Favreau was interested in making a sequel to the film, titled Elf 2: Buddy Saves Christmas. Later in December 2013, Ferrell stated that he did not want to make a sequel. In January 2016, Favreau stated that a sequel could still happen. The next month, Ferrell reiterated that a sequel was unlikely and stated that he was generally reluctant to do sequels unless there was a story that justifies it. On September 18, 2020, James Caan reaffirmed that a sequel was unlikely stating that Ferrell and Favreau did not get along.

Due to Caan s death on July 6, 2022, the prospect of a sequel film became all-the-more unlikely.

Year	2003
ReleaseDate	2003-11-07
RuntimeMins	97
RuntimeStr	1h 37min
Plot	Raised as an oversized elf, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter Hobbs, who doesn’t know he exists and is in desperate need of some Christmas spirit.
Awards	Awards, 2 wins & 7 nominations
Directors	Jon Favreau
Writers	David Berenbaum
Stars	Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart
Produced by	Kent Alterman,Jon Berg,Cale Boyter,Julie Darmody,Toby Emmerich,David B. Householter,Todd Komarnicki,Jimmy Miller,Shauna Robertson
Music by	John Debney
Cinematography by	Greg Gardiner
Film Editing by	Dan Lebental
Casting By	Susie Farris
Production Design by	Rusty Smith
Art Direction by	Kelvin Humenny
Set Decoration by	Johanne Hubert
Costume Design by	Laura Jean Shannon
Makeup Department	Gitte Axen,Ian C. Ballard,Donna Bis,Angel De Angelis,Rebeccah Delchambre,Victoria Down,Sherry Linder-Gygli,James Sarzotti,Tibor Farkas,Mike Fields,Teresa A. Meyer,Ryan Nicholson,James Dean Patten,Christ Stanley
Production Management	Jonathan Filley,Penny Gibbs,Erik Holmberg,David B. Householter,Andrew M. Robinson,Jay Vinitsky
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Kristin Bernstein,James Bitonti,Jim Brebner,Misha Bukowski,Silver Butler,Noreen R. Cheleden,Tarnya Cook,Mark D. Currie,Michael DeCasper,Mickey Gilbert,Kelli Gladney,Andrew M. Robinson,John Silvestri,Christopher Woods,Katherine Keizer,Michael Kruk,Peter Soldo
Art Department	Tim Atkinson,Vaughan V. Baker,Victoria Balharry,Tim Bartlett,Jeff Bender,Brenda Borrowman,Brent Borrowman,Peter Bradshaw,Katharina Brand,Craig Brisker,Peter Brown,William Glenn Burdett,Chad Calder,Deborah Canfield,Kelly Canfield,Philip Canfield,Scott Canfield,Mike Carter,Elizabeth Cecill,Niki Charalambopoulos,Anil Chauhan,Robert Clapp,Susan Connor,Susie Cowley,Alan Davis,Ron Davitt,Derek Del Puppo,Nick Diamesis,Richard Dobbin,Brian Drummond-Hay,Frank Duignan,Michael Dundas,Donald Engel,Julie Fontaine,Allan Galajda,Don Gervais,Roy Gervais,Erin Gilmore,Brent Gloeckler,Jane Gottschlag,Lloyd Griffiths,Amrit Laura Gunhouse,Mark Haddad,Joel Hansen,Haida Harper,Glen Hierlihy,Geoff Hilliard,Jeff Hoenhous,Kevin Jackson,Roberto Jiménez,Aaron Jordan,Patrick Kearns,Tina Khayat,Anu Kiviloo,Bryan Korenberg,Bill Lammers,Gordon Langston,J. Todd Lawley,Franklin Leibel,George Lesjak,Christina Livesey,Randy Lohin,Roderick MacDonald,Scott Mathers,Alexandra Mazur,James Mazzola,Charles E. McCarry,Peter McGregor,John McIntosh,Steve Miller,Jay Mitchell,Shirley Nap,Dana Neuwirth,Andy Nieman,Ryan Ostiguy,John Panozzo,Francis Panuccio,Giovanni Pasqua,David Pirrie,Doug Poetker,Mathew Pooley,Brian Price,Peter Prince,Samuel Pritchard,Jan Reeves,Danny Rovira,Ken Sawatzky,Randy Schmidt,Debra Schutt,Thaddeus Seidler,Nadine Sekora,Martin Sigmund,Jennifer Silvertand,Sigrid M. Spade,Camar Sterling,Rebecca Stillman,Nicholas Tattersfield,Robert Topol,M. Tony Trotta,Monica Valera-Perez,Ivo Vangemerden,Roger Vermeulen,Geoff Wallace,Barry Warkentin,David Weber,Mikal Williams,Barbara Wilson,Glenn Woodruff,Sean Wynia,Douglas W. Beard,Stephen Caldwell,Warren Dunlop,Leigh Harrington,Matthew Richard Harris,Carl Johansen,Todd Judson,P.K. MacCarthy,Vinny Mazzarella,Aleta Shaffer,James Summers
Sound Department	Ron Bedrosian,Julio Carmona,Matt Colleran,Rickley W. Dumm,Nerses Gezalyan,David Husby,George Leong,John Leveque,T.J. Lindgren,Kimberly Ellen Lowe,Steve Mann,Anthony Milch,James Moriana,Richard Murphy,Stephen P. Robinson,William Sarokin,Karen Schell,Brad Sherman,Jon Taylor,Ann L. Thornberg,Lisa Varetakis,Mario A. Vitale,Jeffrey Wilhoit,Wade Wilson,Kelly Zombor,Steve Bartkowicz,Jason Matthews,Anthony Milch,Todd Niesen,Onofre Ortega,Carl D. Ware
Special Effects by	John Biggs,Connie Brink,Charles Chiodo,Edward Chiodo,Stephen Chiodo,Jeffrey Cupernell,Rod Currie,Robert Falck,Chris Flemington,Terri Fluker,Bleau Fortier,Don Gray,Paul Kemp,Carol Koch,Tony Lazarowich,Eric Lemay,Heidi M. Luest,Rodd Matsui,Roger Medanich,Todd Minobe,Brad Purser,Charles Rivera,Dwight Roberts,Christopher Roth,Ernest Sheldon,Bryan Smith,Corie Tornack,Michelle Valigura,Michael S. Vincent,Amanda Visell,Christopher Warren,Chris Bignell,Dave Dunaway,Garnet Harry,Gary Heidrick,Paul Kemp,Wuchan Kim,Ian Korver,Nick Lawson,Marilyn May McKay,Eric Milner
Visual Effects by	Simon Alexander,Jeremy Appelbaum,Hunter Athey,Louise Baker,Steve Baker,Saraswathi Balgam,Christopher Batty,Joe Bauer,Jason Bayever,Douglas Bloom,Ted Bramble,Tom Capizzi,Alessandra Carlino,Troy W. Carrington,Jeffrey Castel De Oro,Mark Chavez,Craig Chun,Joseph B. Conmy IV,James Coulter,Jason Crosby,Sean Cushing,Richard Davenport,Erik De Boer,Jose L. De Juan,Brian Dowrick,Tim Drnec,Giovanni Dulay,Moriba Duncan,Antoine Durr,Daev Finn,Brian Fisher,Dan Foster,Adam Francis,Derry Frost,Denise Blakely Fuller,Bill Georgiou,Benoit Girard,Benjamin Goldman,Colin Green,Greg Groenekamp,Michael Guttman,Betsy Asher Hall,Leann Harvey,Martin Hilke,John Hughes,Patrick D. Hurd,Bob Hurrie,Arthur Jeppe,Jimmy Jewell,Marvin Jones,Ginger Joyce,John Joyce,Michael Joyce,Nori Kaneko,Michael Karp,Gene Kozicki,Kenneth Kurras,David Legault,Joe Lewis,Matt Linder,Debi Lyons,Joe Mancewicz,Joe Mangione,Ned Martin,Dennis McHugh,M. Gavin McMillan,Rob Meyers,Justin Mitchell,Raul Moreno,Jerome Morin,Michael Morreale,Jeremy Oddo,Nathan Ortiz,Eric Pascarelli,John Paszkiewicz,Chris Paxson,Bill Phillips,Jeryd Pojawa,Katie Quinn,Richard Ramazinski,Lauren Ritchie,Jonathan Robinson,Kyle Robinson,Mark Rodahl,Christopher Romano,Chad Royer,Matthew Dean Russell,Joe Salazar,Mike Schaeffer,Lopsie Schwartz,Steven Schweickart,Craig Seitz,Kent Seki,Brian V. Siador,Bradley Sick,Dan Smiczek,Mitchell Allen Snary,Suponwich Juck Somsaman,Marion Spates,David Sweeney,Ken Swenson,Stephanie Taylor,Will Telford,Scotty Townsend,Alfred Urrutia,Adrien Van Viersen,Alexander Vegh,Leandro Visconti,Deborah Wagner,Paul M. Wagner,Chien-Hsiung Wang,Mark Welser,Bill Westenhofer,Wil Whaley,Earl Wiggins,PeiPei Alena Yuan,Steve Ziolkowski,Lou Zutavern,Erik Akutagawa,Lee Berger,Nathan Brunskill,Dan Carrington,Daniel Aristoteles Collins,Brandon Craig,Anders Ericson,R.J. Harbour,Veronica Hernandez,Phil Holland,Adam Holmes,Shaina Holmes,Travis Wade Ivy,Matt Kelly,Steve Kullback,Bob Lloyd,Lori C. Miller,Viviana Palacios,Phillip Palousek,Betsy Paterson,Andrew Roberts,Gregory S. Scribner,Fred Simon,Richard Stay,Tammy Sutton,Marla Tanigawa,Kevin Tengan,Erik Tillmans,Amani Williams,Tsz Gee Yeung
Stunts	G.A. Aguilar,Dave Alexander,Scott J. Ateah,Charlie Attrill,Jim Broyden,Mike Carpenter,Douglas Chapman,Mike Crestejo,Garvin Cross,Ryan Ennis,Mark Fielding,David Mylrea,Jamie Payton,Matt Phillips,Darryl Scheelar,Heath Stevenson,Leanne Buchanan,Blaise Corrigan,Douglas Crosby,Joe Doserro,Graeme Duffy,Peter Epstein,Jeffrey Lee Gibson,Veronika Hadrava,Kathy Hubble,Thomas J. Larsen,Richard McBride,Stephen A. Pope,Chad Sayn,Owen Walstrom
Camera and Electrical Department	Tom Anderson,Matt Balzarini,David E. Baron,Justin Bergler,Hans Bjerno,Ron Bowen,Dillard Brinson,Andreas Carmona,Rob Chamryk,Jack Coffen,Steve Cohen,Peter Colavito,Dean Collins,Stephen Consentino,Michael Cox,Drew Davidson,Aaron Dawley,Bill Dawson,Christopher DeBlau,John W. DeBlau,John Dekker,Chris Dyson,Les Erskine,Robert Falcone,Jamie Fitzpatrick,Brian Fitzsimons,Gil Forrester,Anthony Gamiello,Dennis Gamiello,Michael Ginsburg,David Goyer,Rob Graham,Michael Green,Charlie Guttman,Ken Hemphill,Doug Lavender,Edward W. Lowry,Jenny Madsen,George Majoros,Alan Markfield,Kevin McCloy,Don McCuaig,Charles Meere III,Klaus Melchior,Tim Metivier,Shawn Milsted,Paul Mitchnick,Saubrie Mohamed,Scott M. Novak,Tom Percarpio,Louis Petraglia,Dylan Ringwood,Ben Rusi,Louis Sabat,Daniel Salk,John Sanderson,Todd Semmes,Igor Shtenz,Amy Silverman,Ben Britten Smith,Rick Stadder,Patrick Stepien,Allen Stillman,Cody Taylor,Kenneth Thompson,Carey Toner,Steve Vincent,William Waring,Christopher Woods,Keith Woods,David Barritt,Mel Cannon,Shane Dobie,Chris Drechsler,Craig Haagensen,James Harker,Phil Klapwyk,Sal Martorano,Scott Miller,Sean Oxenbury,Jon W. Rosenbloom,Grizz Salzl,Richard Schmon,Joshua Van Praag,J. Dan Wright
Animation Department	Musa Brooker,Teresa Drilling,Kent Burton
Casting Department	Stuart Aikins,Kevin Arens,Andrea Brown,Elena Cizmaric,Sean Cossey,Howard Feuer,Andrea Hughes,Grant Wilfley,Crystal Wilson,Terri Douglas,Louis Elman,Barbara Harris
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Andre Brouwer,Nancy Duggan,Catherine George,Lise Hache,Susie Hill,Pamela Kezal,Michelle Kitteringham,Jessica Lythgoe-Green,Susan O Hara,Heather Seshadri,Leslie Cairns,Alison Fraser,Rebecca Gregg,Kathy Kertesz Houghton,Brenda Knight,Marie Jeanne Melanson
Editorial Department	Carolle Alain,Gary Burritt,Ed Dobbs,Matt Evans,Michael Hatzer,Thom Kyle,Jody Levin,Ryan Malone,Claudia Morgado,Jim Passon,Shelly Theaker,Sandra Torres Granovsky,Matthew Walcutt,Stefanie Wiseman,Christine Dougherty,S. Scott Farrar,Sean Lawrence,Justin Parkinson,Perry Petrzilka,Mike Sowa,Judy Strazzera,Kevin Willis
Location Management	Carey DePalma,Paul Giordano,Ann Goobie,Rico Mielnicki,Santiago Quinones,Marce Sterner,David Chambers,Mark Gamache,Matthew Kania,Allan J. Ross
Music Department	Steve Becknell,Frank Bennett,Bill Booth,Bob Bowen,Paul Broucek,Michael Dansicker,Brad Dechter,Sandy DeCrescent,David Duke,Dennis Farias,Marc Gebauer,J.J. George,Terry Harrington,Todd Hemmenway,Dan Higgins,Tanya Noel Hill,Steve Holtman,Alan Kaplan,Mark Kaufman,Peter Kent,T.J. Lindgren,Jason Linn,London Symphony Orchestra,Warren Luening,David Marquette,Malcolm McNab,Joe Meyer,Dick Mitchell,John Mitchell,Will Murillo,Shawn Murphy,Don Nemitz,Brian O Connor,Mitch Rotter,Bob Sanders,Dan Savant,Jim Self,Lori Silfen,Kirsten Smith,Richard Todd,Lloyd Ulyate,John F.X. Walsh,Brad Warnaar,Wolfgang Amadeus,Pete Anthony,Tom Boyd,Tom Brown,John Debney,George Doering,Mark Graham,Jim Hoffman,The Hollywood Studio Symphony,Chris Kellett,Tom Kramer,Jeff Lingle,Aaron Martin,Roger Neumann,Tom Raney,Peter Rotter,Steve Schaeffer,Steven L. Smith,Sally Stevens,Mirek Stiles,James Thatcher,Don Williams,Alex Wurman,Monica Zierhut
Script and Continuity Department	Jessica Clothier,Nancy Eagles
Transportation Department	Blue Angus,Tom Bentham,Stephen Carr,Kemy Loree Derlago,Dwayne Deverill,Nick Diomis,Dave Driscoll,Don Dykens,Felix Fanzega,Kevin Flynn,Ed Gillis,Peter Grant,Rick Harasyn,Dave Hetherington,Paul Irvine,Malcolm Johnson,Les Joyner,Russ Keenon,Joe Lenhart,Michael Morpurgo,Jim Nelson,Terry Newton,Edward O Donnell,Peter Seppanen,Barry Shelton,Bob Townsend,Erin Wilson,Jack Wright,Sean Leahy
Additional Crew	Diana Adams,Craig Alexander,Blake Banbury,Cassandra Barbour,Katherine E. Beyda,Bonnie Brown,Laurie Cartwright,Elizabeth Cecill,Zarah Chun,Santena Jenaris King Clough,Jon Davidson,Matt Davis,Joan Devilla,Dana Dubé,Christina Dukagjini,Steve Flynn,Melissa H. Ford,Ross Framo,Cliff Fuller,William Gardner,Emily Glatter,Matthew Gordon,Allison Higgins,Dave Hoodless,Ellen J. Hornstein,Pino Insegno,Gordon Juli,Jean Kalanzi,Jody Lousignont-Gray,Daniel Lowe,Andrew Matthews,Steve McAuliff,Jennifer Mount,Michele Mueller,Kristi Mujica,Lee Anne Muldoon,Nancy Needham,Laura Nix,Taylor Norton,Melissa Brides Ockman,Brian Paterson,Tony Peterson,Doug Poetker,David Price,Paul Prokop,Joshua Ravetch,Will Reichel,Tim Reid,Steven John Reynolds,Laura Sevier,Tracey Shelley,Martin Sigmund,Alan Simon,Holly Sorenson,Lynne Spencer,Regina Stewart,Glenn Surzyshyn,Nathan Tichenor,Caitlin Tomkies,Lee Tucker,Eva Vedock,Sheila Waldron,Roger Williams,Jill Anderson,Jacque Blackstone,Duane Bradley,Leon Thomas Braun,Ronald C. Briggs Jr.,Brock T. Charde,Eunice Choi,Andrew Cinquino,Anna Damergis,Josh Dorn,Ellyn Exley,Zoe Gauvreau,Alexander Glua,Sam Koji Hale,Tara Howie,Kristi Kasubaski,Micah Kelpin,Rick Kramer,Shelley Kreutz,Warner Loughlin,Matthew Makar,Darren Maynard,Heather Milne,Peter Murray,Kenneth Pratt,Peter Ruttan,Jeremy Selenfriend,William Sepulveda,Andrew Simpson,Stan Spry,Bryan C. Winn,Jeff Wonnenberg,Ian Zweig
Thanks	Mark Gimbel,Stephen Medina,Jim Rothbarth
Genres	Adventure, Comedy, Family
Companies	New Line Cinema, Guy Walks into a Bar Productions, Gold/Miller Productions
Countries	USA
Languages	English
ContentRating	PG
ImDbRating	7
ImDbRatingVotes	264567
MetacriticRating	64
Keywords	elf,christmas,father son relationship,santa claus,christmas movie