Review by C.J. Bunce
Yes, those cotton balls Will Farrell wolfed down in the doctor’s office were really cotton candy. Comedian and actor Andy Richter takes Elf stars Will Farrell, Zooey Deschanel, and Amy Sedaris, director Jon Favreau, studio execs Toby Emmerich, Kent Alterman, and Cale Boyter, screenwriters David Berenbaum and Scot Armstrong, producer Shauna Robertson, and costume designer Laura Jean Shannon, and others all back through the seven levels of the candy cane forest and past the sea of swirly-twirly gumdrops to filming locations in New York and Vancouver for a nostalgic journey in Elf Unwrapped, now available from Dey Street Books/HarperCollins here at Amazon. Readers will learn how Favreau’s improv comedy past ignited the movie with many of its best scenes and quotes. Reactions of the crew to the next “way over the top” idea from Farrell, just off his memorable run on Saturday Night Live, reveal a star in the making. Get ready for a look behind the rare movie where nostalgia, sentimentality, and laugh out loud comedy fused into one of the all-time best holiday classics.
How did James Caan get along with the rest of the crew? Which actors couldn’t stop laughing during filming? Is any comedienne funnier than Amy Sedaris? Her scenes as Buddy’s dad’s assistant were all improvised for the most part. Some scenes came together simply because Favreau was paying attention to his vision of creating a holiday classic in the spirit of Rankin Bass Christmas shows and watching his performers. He noticed Caan playing the piano and everyone loved Deschanel’s classic look and voice, so he had them in one take perform Auld Lang Syne for the finale. The idea of music and songs in the movie grew out of casting Deschanel. Favreau wanted Baby, It’s Cold Outside somewhere in the movie, and with Leon Redbone as the voice of the snowman, he included a separate track in addition to the Deschanel/Farrell duet for the end credits, although Deschanel and Redbone were recorded separately.
The text–probably credit co-author Aaron Karo for it–is outline-based and chronological, but it’s also thorough and includes ongoing commentary and inserts from all the key players. I can’t think of the last time any “making of” book, especially for a movie as old now as 23 years, includes so many important participants. Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, and James Caan have passed away so there aren’t new quotes from them, however, the actors and production team have such vivid and fresh memories that they are able to quote them, and it really completes the book. And it would have been nice to hear what Mary Steenburgen, Peter Dinklage, Faizon Love, Peter Billingsley, and Kyle Gass have to say about their work. Even Mark Acheson is there to tell how his role went from one line to being the memorable mailroom guy. The kids are missing, too.
Readers will find plenty of trivia, like imagining what the movie would have been like with original cast considerations: the first screenplay was written to star Chris Farley, and early casting considered Katie Holmes and Selma Blair for Jovie, Garry Shandling instead of James Caan, and Wanda Sykes for Buddy and Jovie’s boss at Gimbels. Bob Newhart for Papa Elf and Ed Asner for Santa Claus were always Favreau’s first choice. It’s a hoot to confirm that many quirks you only think about on the 20th viewing were thought of by the crew, too. Like why there was a shower in the Gimbels toy store. Favreau knew many of the details like that would work because of the spirit of the movie, and that audiences would overlook them. It’s amazing how many insiders and friends of the cast knew the film was going to be a hit based on the dailies and hanging out on set watching all the magic happen.
The crew discuss how forced perspective was used to film the North Pole scenes. Richter, best known for his run on late night television as Conan O’Brien’s sidekick, includes his own brand of humor throughout each chapter and provides insight into his work on Late Night along with the many intersections between actors and Hollywood insiders that helped bring the movie together. Did Favreau base his Central Park Rangers on the Nazgûl from New Line Cinema’s bigger project, The Lord of the Rings trilogy? Richter recounting Sedaris using Caan as a “Hollywood juke box” full of stories is a true gem.
My most surprising takeaway from Elf Unwrapped is how the creation of the movie Elf tracks with the making of Jaws, as we discussed in our reviews of Carl Gottlieb’s The Jaws Log and Matt Taylor’s Jaws Memories. All movies have their ups and downs, and Elf saw it well into production when the lawyers realized the costumes may be tracking those from Rankin Bass’s stop-motion classics too closely. And Favreau experienced an eleventh hour setback when Will Farrell’s movie Old School debuted, rocketing the actor to box office gold status. New Line studios execs didn’t want to miss what they perceived as Farrell’s college crowd audience and forced Favreau to cut much of the heart out of the film. Luckily wiser minds prevailed, including an unlikely push from Vince Vaughan.
The biggest flaw of the book is probably the reason it will also be a great seller: Most books like this are filled with behind the scenes photographs and images of concept artwork, props, costumes, movie posters and marketing images, retailing at about $50. Much of that price is from the cost of photograph rights, and this book only has a brief center photo insert, which also makes the book $20 less–more affordable to the average buyer. The content screams for photographs on every page, especially when changes in costume design and location filming are discussed. I think a deluxe version of this book stuffed with the expected photographs would sell just as well, because it could easily be adapted into the kind of coffee table book that is given as a holiday gift year after year. It’s still worth the price for the stories alone.
Elf returns every year, and is still making its creators money, marketing everything from Buddy the Elf-themed clothes to collectibles. General Mills is currently offering an Elf holiday tin for buying Chex cereal (details are here).
The writing is great and the stories are great fun. Anyone who loves the movie Elf–and who doesn’t?–won’t want to miss Elf Unwrapped, now available from Dey Street Books/HarperCollins here at Amazon. Available in hardcover, it will make a great gift for movie and comedy fans this holiday season.
*Note: I reviewed an advance review proof copy of this book, so more interviews and photographs may still make it into the final published version.
