Here’s how old Buddy is in Elf. There are lots of classic Christmas movies, those that serve as a marking point for the season’s arrival for millions of viewers, year after year. Elf has certainly found its way into that list of the yuletide favorites. Elf, released in 2003, was the directorial breakthrough of future MCU mainstay Jon Favreau. It also helped to cement Will Ferrell as the hottest comedic actor of the time with his performance as Buddy the elf. A lot of the comedy comes from seeing Ferrell as a grown man play such a childlike character, raising questions of how old Buddy is in Elf and what his age is supposed to be.
The actual age of Buddy in Elf is a key question, since the humor comes from his childlike personality and sense of wonder. There is a lot of magic and fun to Elf, but without Ferrell’s charming performance in the Christmas movie as Buddy, it wouldn’t have been nearly as special. While man-child characters are nothing new to comedy, Ferrell imbues Buddy with such earnestness and heart that he’s nearly impossible to dislike. Despite his child-like innocence, Buddy was very much a grown man by the time he sought out his birth father Walter Hobbs (James Caan) in New York City. Buddy’s age in Elf only makes his holiday adventure that much funnier and endearing.
Buddy Was 30 In Elf
It is not hard to determine Buddy’s age in Elf. In fact, he’s canonically 30 years old during the events of the movie. This is conveyed by a quick line during Buddy’s narration at the beginning of Elf, where he mentions that after he was accidentally brought back as a baby to the North Pole by Santa about 30 years ago, he became the first human to set foot in Santa’s Workshop with Buddy quickly becoming much taller than the others.
This actually makes Buddy a fair amount younger than Will Ferrell himself, who was 35 years old at the time of Elf‘s filming, and 36 when the movie was released to theaters. It’s understandable why Elf writer David Berenbaum went with 30 though, as it’s a nice round number, and a birthday very significant for most people. Having Buddy leave his home at the North Pole to go and seek out Walter after turning 30 feels like a bigger milestone decision than it would if Buddy had just turned 35.
Realistically, shaving 5-6 years off from Ferrell’s actual age for Buddy makes his romance with future Zooey Deschanel’s Jovie a bit less potentially awkward, as Deschanel was only 22 at the time of Elf‘s filming. Relationships with a significant age gap certainly aren’t a rare thing, but with the odd dynamic of Buddy acting like a child while in an adult’s body, having him be pushing 40 and her being college-aged might make the whole thing feel even stranger than it does, especially since she ends Elf bearing his children. Thankfully, Ferrell and Deschanel play off each other well enough that the age gap doesn’t get in the way too much.
Buddy’s Age Means The Time Is Right For Elf 2 (Even Though Will Ferrell Said No)
Through Buddy’s age in Elf was part of the comedic fun of the first movie, it could now be used to make the long-awaited sequel very worthwhile. Will Ferrell turned down Elf 2 and has stayed quite opposed to the idea since then, stating that he couldn’t bring himself to promote a movie he didn’t think was good. It is easy to imagine the first pitch for Elf 2 was little more than a cash grab and that it failed to inspire much confidence in Ferrell. However, with the time that has passed and the fact that Ferrell and Buddy have aged, it suddenly makes it very appealing.
Revisiting Elf 2 with Buddy in his 50s would be very intriguing. While it might feel strange to see a middle-aged man running around in that green outfit and acting like a child, Ferrell proved that be can make it funny and charming. But it is the story elements that make the sequel so fun to imagine as there are endless hilarious scenarios with Buddy facing middle age. It could find him feeling that he has lost some of his Christmas spirit and wanting to rekindle it. The fact that he would also be a father to a 20-year-old is also great fun as it is easy to imagine his child being more mature than him.
Ferrell’s reservations about returning to the role are understandable and making sequels to classic comedies doesn’t have a great track record with the likes of Zoolander 2, Dumb and Dumber To, and The Hangover II falling far short of the original. Yet demand for a sequel to Elf has not diminished over time and the years have only made it more exciting at the idea of revisiting the character of Buddy the elf and seeing what Christmas fun he can get up to at this stage of his life.
