You need only look at a handful of Will Ferrell’s funniest movies to see that he isn’t exactly known for his subtlety. From his time on Saturday Night Live to making Ron Burgundy a household name in Anchorman to his most recent project on the 2025 movie calendar, You’re Cordially Invited, Ferrell has made a career of pushing his characters over the top. He may have gone too far in some fans’ eyes, though, when he was seen drinking and smoking in his Buddy the Elf costume at an NHL game. Ferrell talked about going viral for that stunt and the backlash he got from it.
One of Will Ferrell’s best characters is unquestionably the titular wannabe North Pole-dweller Buddy in 2003’s Elf, which itself is one of the best movies of the 2000s, not to mention one of the greatest Christmas flicks ever. So, many fans were delighted — if not a bit shocked — to see him reprise the character while attending an L.A. Kings-Philadelphia Flyers hockey game in December. His grumpy take on the elf with a typically inexhaustible amount of Christmas cheer did not impress some fans, as Ferrell told People:
Some people were not too happy, though. They thought, ‘Please be true to the character. That was not cool.’
It does seem like a stretch for the elf — who, let's remember, was the inspiration behind getting New York City’s moodiest citizens involved in group caroling in order to save Christmas — would let himself go to such a degree (that definitely didn’t look like syrup in his glass). Will Ferrell previously discussed his decision to dress up as sad Buddy, suggesting maybe he finally got sacked from the North Pole (a theory I'm strongly opposed to). Either way, Ferrell continued:
Buddy was having a bad day. Yeah. He just went to a hockey game, smoked cigarettes and drank beer.
We’ve all been there, right? Maybe not specifically at a hockey game, but I guess even the seemingly ever-cheerful Buddy the Elf should be allowed to have a down day. And let’s be real: Seeing Will Ferrell sporting a candy cigarette in his mouth is no more harmful to our children than watching him pop chewed gum off of NYC’s subway railing and into his mouth.
I do understand people’s concerns, though, because I imagine it would be disheartening for children to see Buddy the Elf in such a light, even if they understand Elf is just a movie. Hopefully no long-term trauma will come to the kids in attendance at that hockey game, unlike these kids from the movie, who were likely never the same:
It looks like the youngsters (both in the movie and at the Kings game) got an early lesson in the saying “Never meet your heroes.” I do have to wonder if Will Ferrell will possibly think twice before risking one of his characters’ reputations like that again, but I’d say probably not.
If you want to re-experience Buddy the Elf as director Jon Favreau intended, Elf is available to rent with an Amazon Prime subscription or other rental service.
