“The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer is Singing Loud For All to Hear"
NEIRAD enilno edition
All of our favorite Christmas movies, books, and songs portray elves as Santa’s crafty little helpers - experts at toy making and singing Christmas carols in perfect harmony. Buddy the Elf defies those stereotypes.
Buddy (played by Will Ferrell in “Elf”, 2003) is unlike all of Santa’s other elves. He is a towering six feet, two inches tall, with a voice that is at least two octaves lower than the other elves’. Although Buddy is always been welcomed at the North Pole, he has always felt a bit out of place. Technically, he’s a human, but he has been raised by Santa and his adoptive father, Papa Elf, his entire life. Buddy tries to fit in and conceal his human roots with bright yellow tights, a green jacket with white furry cuffs, and a pointy hat with a red feather. Buddy’s get-up can’t hide his substandard toy-making abilities or his off-pitch singing voice.
But one quality that makes Buddy stand out among all the other elves is his impressive ability to spread Christmas cheer. When Buddy goes to New York City in search of his biological father who coincidentally was on Santa’s Naughty List, he has never experienced a place so hostile filled with bitter people
New Yorkers could see that Buddy did not quite belong there. It wasn’t just his outfit that made him stand out- he took every sign literally, congratulating a store on their “World’s Best Cup of Coffee” and since there was no sarcasm in the North Pole, Buddy often got the wrong impression about things.
New York is the complete opposite of the North Pole, but spreading Christmas cheer comes naturally for Buddy- his naiveté and charm gets many hardened New Yorkers into the Christmas spirit with the creativity he picks up from spending his life in the North Pole: Buddy turns a toy store into a winter wonderland; wins a snowball fight in Central Park; unbeards a Santa impostor, and most importantly, he shows everyone the true meaning of Christmas, ultimately saving the holiday when things go wrong on Christmas Eve.
Buddy’s entire world revolves around Christmas, and people admire his sincerity and devotion to the holiday. Senior Ryan Saffa says, “Buddy is like a beacon of hope for all those who want to be elves but are a little too big.”
Buddy taught many valuable lessons. Although he isn’t the most efficient toy-maker, he is the elf who saves Christmas just because of his true love for the holiday. “I love how he knows his nutritional information such as the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup,” Ryan said.
Junior Amy Sanborn admires Buddy’s ability to be so free-spirited, even as an adult. “When I first saw him as a baby crawling out of his crib into Santa’s bag, I knew what was to come from this joyful creature of the North Pole,” Amy said.
So if you are ever feeling like Scrooge, be sure to watch “Elf” because Buddy’s obsession with everything that is Christmas and oblivion to the world outside the North Pole, can put even the most jaded New Yorker (or Connecticut Yankee) in the holiday spirit.
