2003’s Elf is one of the most quotable holiday movies ever made, with the hilarious dialogue and unforgettable moments in Buddy the Elf’s story immortalized by Will Ferrell’s inimitable style and delivery. Directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay co-written with David Berenbaum, Elf stars Ferrell as Buddy, a man raised by Elves and Santa in the North Pole after stowing away on Santa’s sleigh as a baby. The adult Buddy returns to the human world to discover his roots, and his impossibly childlike wonder at life outside the North Pole makes for some of the best Elf quotes.
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Elf is regarded by many as one of the best Christmas movies, and thanks to its PG rating, has been a gateway for younger viewers to discover Will Ferrell and his one-of-a-kind delivery, which in his early film career was usually reserved for more adult ventures like Anchorman or Talladega Nights. Ferrell’s performance as Buddy in Elf ensured the movie is full of quotable moments, and despite being released over two decades ago, it remains one of the most quoted Christmas movies throughout the holiday season.
25 “So Good News, I Saw A Dog Today.”
Buddy Recapping His Day To Michael
Buddy is not only one of Will Ferrell’s funniest characters, but he is also the sweetest. He approaches every situation with a sense of glee and wonderment as if it is the most amazing thing in the world. When Buddy goes to walk home with his new half-brother, Michael (Daniel Tay), he is filled with endless topics he wants to discuss, but he begins with the most important news according to him — the fact that he saw a dog.
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Seeing Buddy being the younger, annoying sibling who cannot stop talking even though he is decades older than Michael immediately sets up a funny dynamic between them. However, this random comment about a dog, seeming to be the highlight of his day, is both hilarious and endearing. Ferrell’s out-of-breath delivery makes it even better, as he seems to be overcome with excitement while also frantically moving on to the next topic of conversation.
24 “I Think You’re Really Beautiful And I Feel Really Warm When I’m Around You And My Tongue Swells Up.”
Buddy Telling Jovie How He Feels
While Buddy travels to New York City to connect with the father he never knew, it is also an opportunity to experience aspects of life that he never did while living in Santa’s Village. This includes discovering romance for the first time in the form of his coworker at Gimbels, Jovie (Zooey Deschanel). Buddy is kind and friendly to Jovie, just as he is with everyone, but it is funny to see him reacting differently to her due to the romantic feelings he is discovering for the first time.
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Will Ferrell is excellent at delivering these fast-paced and hectic speeches in which Buddy seems to be compelled to blurt out every thought that is in his head at that very moment. He then lets everything he said sit in awkward silence for a moment, before adding “So…do you eat food?“
23 “He Loves The Snow. He’s Told Me 15 Times.”
Walter Suggesting They Kick Buddy Out
While Elf truly belongs to Will Ferrell for his iconic performance, another key part of the movie is the late James Caan as Buddy’s real father. Caan has always had an onscreen reputation as a tough and serious guy which serves him very well in this role. His annoyed, grumpy, and perplexed reaction to Buddy makes Ferrell’s antics even funnier. He also gets to deliver some hilarious lines of his own.
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While Walter’s wife, Emily (Mary Steenburgen), is ready to invite Buddy to stay with them, Walter is far less enthusiastic about the idea. When she insists that they cannot just throw Buddy outside in the snow with nowhere to go, Walter responds with the somewhat cold yet hilarious remark that Buddy has already made his enthusiasm for snow perfectly clear. Caan’s delivery is perfect as is the fact that the audience can imagine Buddy really did talk endlessly about his love of snow.
22 “Watch Out For The Yellow Ones, They Don’t Stop.”
Buddy Telling Jovie About New York City Traffic
Along with being a magical and joyful Christmas movie, Elf is a hilarious fish-out-of-water comedy. Seeing Buddy navigating his way around the big city of New York provides some of the biggest laughs. During the montage, Buddy is hit by a taxi with the driver yelling at him to get out of the way and Buddy only smiling and apologizing. However, despite his obliviousness, Buddy is clearly a fast learner as he later provides a word of warning to Jovie that “the yellow ones don’t stop.”
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Given his friendly nature, it is fitting that Buddy does not question the recklessness of the drivers and simply accepts the fact that the yellow cars don’t stop.
The line is a funny bit of New York City humor, which is a city known for aggressive driving, especially in taxis. Given his friendly nature, it is fitting that Buddy does not question the recklessness of the drivers and simply accepts the fact that the yellow cars don’t stop. He believes it is a rule he just has to live with.
21 “Oh, I Forgot To Give You A Hug.”
Buddy To A Stranger On The Elevator
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Buddy is one of those characters who seems to make a best friend out of everyone that he meets. Despite the business and the chaos of the big city, Buddy is never too intimidated to be friendly to everyone around him. While riding an elevator in his father’s office building, Buddy gets carried away with pressing the elevator buttons, much to the chagrin of the man he is riding the elevator with. However, once the ride is over, Buddy feels he has made a strong enough connection that is feels the man deserves a hug.
It is one of many moments in which Buddy’s outrageous tendency towards kindness makes for an unexpectedly hilarious moment. The fact that he felt that riding an elevator was enough time to form a meaningful bond with this stranger is a silly idea but also speaks to the lovable nature of Buddy.
20 “You See Gum On The Street, Leave It There. It’s Not Free Candy.”
Santa Claus Gives Buddy Some Sagely Advice
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While Will Ferrell is responsible for many of the best quotes in Elf, Ed Asner’s portrayal of Santa Claus as a wise and lovable figure also gives the late Up star some of the funniest lines in the movie too. This Santa quote from Elf comes when Santa is advising Buddy on the risks of the real world. It’s a quote that’s made all the funnier later in the movie when Buddy completely ignores Santa’s advice.
Watching Buddy munch on old gum that he picked off of a railing in the middle of New York City could easily just be disgusting, but instead, it’s an unforgettable punchline to this joke.
19 “I Just Wanted A Hug.”
Buddy The Elf Learns About Raccoons
When Buddy first starts to see signs of the normal world after he ventures from the North Pole, he encounters his first non-magical creature — a wild raccoon that he naturally tries to hug. Of course, the raccoon instead launches into a vicious attack, and Buddy’s surprise is as endearing as it is laughable. It’s a great Elf that shows Buddy’s eternal optimism, with his assumption that animals can talk and be reasoned with in the real world just like in the North Pole making it especially hilarious.
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18 “Hey, Have You Seen These Toilets? They’re Ginormous!”
Buddy Isn’t Used To Proportionally Appropriate Surroundings
Aside from Santa, Buddy was the only human-sized inhabitant of the North Pole, and so all his life had only known the furniture around him to be comically undersized. Elf makes full use of this with a montage of sight gags that revolve around Budy being an average-sized man in an elf’s world, and one of the funniest is watching him have to sit on one of the elves’ adorably tiny toilets.
When Buddy arrives in New York and marvels at all the things in human life, he’s completely thrilled by the toilets being the right size for him.
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While it’s amusing to see a grown man so impressed by what must be a fairly standard public restroom, what makes the line truly hilarious is that it shows more of Buddy’s sweetly inexperienced personality as he excitedly yells this line at the person in the stall next to him. The use of the word “Ginormous” is the icing on the cake to this Elf quote, too, with Ferrell’s delivery making the moment even funnier.
17 “Treat Every Day Like Christmas.”
The Code Of The Elves Is Hilariously Fanatical
At the beginning of Elf, the audience learns that Christmas elves live their lives by a simple code which becomes very important by the end of the movie, particularly the final of its three main points. However, the first rule in the code of the elves is especially hilarious when it emerges that, to them, treating every day like Christmas doesn’t mean celebrating every day or constant rest, relaxation, and gift-giving.
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Treating every day like Christmas is the code’s way of saying that work never stops, and the dedication of the elves (and Buddy) to this belief is played on hilariously many times in Elf.
16 “I Like To Whisper Too.”
Buddy Struggles With Conversational Norms
Having grown up in the North Pole, Buddy doesn’t understand quite a lot of the most common social graces that appear in day-to-day human life — often with hilarious results. When Buddy’s biological father, Walter Hobbs, starts whispering to his assistant about him, Buddy leans in and lets them know that he also enjoys whispering.
From anybody else, this move would seem like a sarcastic threat of some kind, but from Buddy, it’s completely sincere and all the funnier for it. His childish grin when he says it makes it another one of the best Elf quotes that Will Ferrell’s delivery ensures is unforgettable.
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15 “This Place Reminds Me Of Santa’s Workshop Except It Smells Like Mushrooms And Everyone Looks Like They Want To Hurt Me.”
Working In The Human World Is A Culture Shock For Buddy In Elf
After sufficiently annoying his father in his office, Buddy is sent down to work in the mailroom under the false pretense that it’s a shiny and magical place. When he gets there, Buddy finds out Walter lied and discovers the grim reality of the dim and miserable room. However, Buddy remains somewhat positive and gives this sidesplitting assessment of his new workplace before he quickly turns things around. The best Elf quotes show Buddy’s unceasing ability to look on the bright side and this one does that while fitting a relatively dark joke in too.
14 “Christmas Spirit Is About Believing, Not Seeing.”
Santa Claus
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For the most part, the best Elf quotes are comedic gags and sayings, but the movie does have quite a few heartfelt moments too, as well as some lines that sum up the magic of the holiday season, as all classic Christmas movies do. This particular Elf quote comes from Santa Claus himself, who explains the workings of the Christmas spirit to Michael, in a short but powerful way.
The sentiment is the core message behind Elf in many ways, as shown in the ending when collective belief in Santa is needed to power his sleigh and save the holiday.
13 “I’m Sorry I Ruined Your Lives And Crammed 11 Cookies Into The VCR.”
Buddy The Elf’s Goodbye To Walter
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Though VCRs may effectively be a thing of the past, this Elf quote will live on for generations to come. It comes from Buddy’s goodbye letter before he leaves Walter’s home, which he hilariously writes out using an Etch A Sketch. The news that Buddy crammed a bunch of cookies into the family’s VCR is the perfect final act to all the destruction that Buddy brought to the Hobbs household in his efforts to make things more festive. However, the fact that Buddy views “ruining your lives” and destroying a VCR as equally bad is especially hilarious.
12 “You Did It! Congratulations! World’s Best Cup Of Coffee. Great Job Everybody!”
Buddy The Elf Falls For Advertising
Buddy congratulates an American diner on the world’s best cup of coffee in Elf.
After first arriving in New York City and being swept up in all of its beauty and wonder, Buddy marvels at a tacky neon sign outside a diner that states that they serve the world’s best cup of coffee. Not understanding hyperbole, among many other things, Buddy immediately runs into the diner and yells out this brilliant Elf quote to everyone inside. It brilliantly sums up Buddy’s infectiously optimistic naivety, and is one of the first — and funniest — glimpses the audience gets into just how unprepared Buddy is for life in the human world.
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11 “Son Of A Nutcracker!”
Buddy Lets Off Some Christmas-Themed Curse Words
Many of the best Elf quotes arrived due to the North Pole culture Buddy grew up in, and this includes some truly unique and hilarious family-friendly cursing from Will Ferrell. In place of actual swear words, Buddy and the other elves use completely different insults that they have created at the North Pole. Instead of saying something a lot more offensive, the phrase “son of a nutcracker” is used in its place. It’s just silly enough to get a laugh when delivered by Ferrell, and of course, the mild double entendre of “nutcracker” adds to the humor.
10 “Bye, Buddy! I Hope You Find Your Dad.”
Mr. Narwhal Says His Farewells To Buddy
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When Elf starts, Buddy is living at the North Pole with the elves and the magical arctic creatures, with the scenes homaging the atmosphere of the early Rankin Bass Christmas classics such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. So, when an adorable narwhal wishes Buddy farewell, it’s a nod to these classic movies as well as a super cute moment for Buddy. The appearance of the claymation creatures is a surprise in the film, which makes the line stand out as one of the most memorable Elf quotes.
9 “Oh, By The Way, Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow.”
Leon The Snowman Teaches Buddy A Fundamental Winter Rule
Leon the Snowman is another of the movie’s clear nods to the Rankin Bass Christmas specials, and even though he’s not in the film for very long he has some great lines. After Buddy learns of his human origins, he’s faced with having to leave the North Pole and Leon has some sage advice for him. Considering how Buddy ignores Santa’s instructions about gum on the street, viewers can only hope that he pays a little more attention to Leon.
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Related 10 Hidden Details About Elf Only Die-Hard Fans Will Have Spotted
Elf is shown in homes all over during Christmastime. The film has plenty of fans, but only the most dedicated have noticed these hidden details.
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The fact that it’s sincere advice because Buddy really would eat some yellow snow also makes it quite a sweet Elf quote instead of being a gross one while still showing the movie’s fun and family-friendly sense of humor.
8 “I’m A Cotton-Headed Ninny Muggins.”
Buddy The Elf Drops One Of The Worst Curse Words In The North Pole
This is another example of Elf having multiple new words for swear words and insults. Being a “cotton-headed ninny muggins” is definitely not a good thing, so when Buddy calls himself one the elves at the North Pole react with shock. It’s such a ridiculous and old-fashioned-sounding insult that doesn’t mean anything in the real world, so the reaction of the elves makes this Elf quote instantly timeless, as their collective gasp is akin to someone in the normal world saying the sort of curse word that would instantly get a movie an M rating.
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7 “The Best Way To Spread Christmas Cheer Is Singing Loud For All To Hear.”
The Code Of The Elves Explains The Meaning Of Elf
The final part of the code of the elves ends up being the most important in the Elf, as it’s only through the power of song that the inhabitants of New York are able to lift Santa’s sleigh off the ground. The third rule of the North Pole code makes for a great Elf quote that can be taken and used as a general saying for the holiday season. In fact, the quote is so good that one day it could become a regular Christmas phrase in popular culture that’s used without most people knowing where it originally comes from.
6 “Deb, You Have Such A Pretty Face You Should Be On A Christmas Card.”
Buddy’s Christmas Compliments Hit The Mark For Deb
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Buddy is fairly innocent about the ways of the world, so his statements often seem a little antiquated, but they always come from the heart, so they always come off as being quite sweet. Saying that someone looks as pretty as a Christmas card is not a usual compliment, but it’s a very endearing one. Instead of going with something more typical, however, Buddy dips into his Christmas-themed North Pole heritage. This is definitely a compliment from Buddy’s heart and his father’s assistant, Debra, is visibly flattered.