Will Ferrell Says Some ‘Elf’ Fans “Were Not Too Happy” With Buddy the Elf Drinking and Smoking

It seems like not everyone cares that Buddy the Elf may be going through a midlife crisis.

In December, Will Ferrell went viral after he was seen dressed up as his beloved character from the 2003 holiday movie while watching the Los Angeles Kings play the Philadelphia Flyers from the stands. However, the actor decided to have some fun and make it appear as if time had not been friendly to Buddy, with a beer in hand, a fake cigarette sticking out of his mouth and a scowling expression across his face.

Though Ferrell thought it was hilarious, he recently told People magazine, “Some people were not too happy.”

“They thought, ‘Please be true to the character. That was not cool,’” he added. But Ferrell doubled down that “Buddy was having a bad day. Yeah. He just went to a hockey game, smoked cigarettes and drank beer.”

Elf, directed by Jon Favreau, follows Buddy, who was raised as an oversized elf, as he travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan, who died in 2022), who doesn’t know he exists and is in desperate need of some Christmas spirit.

Ferrell recently shared on Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast what inspired the new Buddy the Elf look.

“That was just — I get these weird ideas every now and then. We’re season ticket holders for the L.A. Kings. We have seats right on the glass, which are amazing,” the You’re Cordially Invited actor explained. “I told my wife, ‘Over the break, it would be funny if I just got a Buddy the Elf costume and didn’t shave for like a week, and I’m just sitting there with a candy cigarette and I’m just gonna sit there for a period and see how people react.’ And that was it.”