History YMMV / Elf

** While walking in the woods Buddy gets attacked by a raccoon, which is never mentioned again. Though, this scene may have intentionally been Buddy's first encounter with culture shock and RealityEnsues and served the purpose of showing that animals and people outside of Santa's North Pole are nowhere near as nice as the talking animals and elves of Santa's place.

** "I love to smile! Smiling's my favorite!"

* TheWoobie: Buddy had no idea how to function in society and most people treated him like a pariah, none the least of which his father, whom Buddy traveled hundreds of thousands of miles to meet and wants nothing to do with him at first. This is best exemplified when Buddy mistakes Miles for one of Santa's elves: every question he asks genuinely sounds like an insult and Buddy has no way of knowing.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The North Pole scenes feature some truly amazing effects, both optical (the [[Creator/RankinBassProductions Rankin-Bass]] style stop-motion characters) and in-camera and (the scenes of Buddy interacting with the elves are a masterful combination of forced perspective sets and child body doubles). Not only do they look amazing, but it makes the few uses of CGI, namely a few shots of Santa's sleigh flying through New York, all the more impressive. Jon Favreu reportedly had to fight tooth and claw for Creator/NewLineCinema to allow him to make the film this way, and it clearly paid off.

* JerkassWoobie: Jovie's boss at Gimbel's. He's cold and a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, but like everyone else there, he just wants to do his job and get through the holidays, and it's implied he's already on thin ice as it is. You can't blame him for getting fed up with Buddy making things more complicated. The ending implies that he and Buddy have since made peace when [[spoiler:Buddy reads aloud a Christmas story to a large audience of children at the Santa's Village in Gimbles]].
* MemeticMutation

** "I'm a cotton-headed ninnymuggins."

*** FridgeHorror: He's lucky he didn't contract ''Rabies'', and the raccoon likely ''was'' rabid since it was out during the ''day''!

* IdiotPlot:
** Considering Santa has a ''sleigh'' and more knowledge about the human world, he probably could have either escorted Buddy to New York and had him meet his father, or at least given him more instructions than what he does in the film proper. Then Buddy would have an exit plan if the reunion went wrong. Even if the sleigh is having a hard time being powered on belief, [[spoiler:leading to it falling out of the sky in the climax]], it's mentioned that Buddy was trained on how to repair it. Ergo, he's the best person to be riding with Santa when it's not Christmas Eve.
** Lampshaded by Michael when he points out that [[spoiler:if Santa lets people see him, then he won't be in trouble with the cops at Central Park. Santa handwaves it that showing he's real isn't the same as people believing he's real; if people know, when the magic is gone. Even in the end, a bunch of people ''do'' see him as he and Buddy ride out of Central Park, but they're still flying.]]

* JerkassWoobie: Jovie's boss at Gimbel's. He's cold and a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, but like everyone else there, he just wants to do his job and get through the holidays, and it's implied he's already on thin ice as it is. You can't blame him for getting fed up with Buddy making things more complicated. At the very least, [[spoiler:he and Buddy have mended fences when Buddy reads aloud a Christmas story in the mall, attracting a large audience of kids]].

** All together now: "'''SANTAAAAA!!!!''' OH MY GOD!! I know him! I know him!"

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome
** The North Pole scenes feature some truly amazing effects, both optical (the [[Creator/RankinBassProductions Rankin-Bass]] style stop-motion characters) and in-camera and (the scenes of Buddy interacting with the elves are a masterful combination of forced perspective sets and child body doubles) with virtually no CGI.
** The few shots which are CGI are no slouch either. The shot of Santa's reindeer briefly touching down on a bridge in Central Park while failing to pull up is particularly awesome.

** Considering Santa has a ''sleigh'' and more knowledge about the human world, he probably could have either escorted Buddy to New York and had him meet his father, or at least given him more instructions than what he does in the film proper. Then Buddy would have an exit plan if the reunion went wrong. Even if the sleigh is having a hard time being powered on belief, [[spoiler:leading to it falling out of the sky in the clima]], it's mentioned that Buddy was trained on how to repair it.
** Lampshaded by Michael when he points out that [[spoiler:if Santa lets people see him, then he won't be in trouble with the cops at Central Park. Santa handwaves it that showing he's real isn't the same as people believing he's real; if people know, when the magic is gone. Even in the end, a bunch of people ''do'' see him as he and Buddy ride out of Central Park, but they're still flying.]]

* JerkassWoobie: Jovie's boss at Gimbel's. He's cold and a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, but like everyone else there, he just wants to do his job and get through the holidays, and it's implied he's already on thin ice as it is. You can't blame him for getting fed up with Buddy making things more complicated.

** Spaghetti with maple syrup, marshmallows, Pop-Tarts, and other sugary things. Will Ferrell later revealed that he got migraines from eating all of that sugar.

** And the fake Santa who Buddy encounters at Gimbel's. He does indeed sit on a throne of lies.

* {{Narm}}: Creator/ZooeyDeschanel's performance. She's clearly going for antisocial, but she comes off as bored.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: While Miles Finch is clearly a hothead with quite an ego, you can't really fault him for losing his cool with someone who, as far as he's aware, is going out of his way to insult his condition and won't just knock it off.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: While Miles Finch is clearly a hothead with quite an ego, you can't really fault him for losing his cool with someone who, as far as he's aware, is going out of his way to be insulting and won't just knock it off.

** The North Pole scenes feature some truly amazing effects, both optical (the Rankin-Bass style stop-motion characters) and in-camera and (the scenes of Buddy interacting with the elves are a masterful combination of forced perspective sets and child body doubles) with virtually no CGI.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Jovie's (African-American) boss taking over at the MallSanta on short notice is PlayedForLaughs, but is otherwise a non-issue. Thirteen years later, Mall of America's announcement that its Santa would be played by a black man received widespread backlash from vocally racist Americans.
* HilariousInHindsight
** The first line Miles says to Buddy is "I get more action in a week than you've had in an entire lifetime". Of course he would, [[Creator/PeterDinklage he's]] ''[[Series/GameOfThrones Tyrion!]]'' Amusingly, his next line is about having another house in Vail (Colorado), which sounds like 'Vale'.
** It also wouldn't be the last time Mary Steenburgen would be a mother figure to a [[Film/StepBrothers fish-out-of-water manchild played by Will Ferrell]].
** [[WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie Will Ferrell building a giant LEGO city]].
** Amy Sederis's character is introduced talking to her friend on the phone about declawing cats. Eleven years later, she would play a cat on ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman''.

* NarmCharm: The movie runs on it. It's not only yet another story about rediscovering the true meaning of Christmas, but also the most sincere, loving homage to classic Christmas specials from the '50s and '60s. And while ''some'' of it is [[LampshadeHanging played for irony]], the movie otherwise believes so strongly in it's story and messages that it comes off as 100% genuinely heartwarming. The scene of [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve everyone in New York singing "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town"]] is a prime example: on paper, it sounds corny as all get out, but not one character participating looks like as if they aren't thoroughly enjoying themselves. It also makes a lot of sense if you remember that not only is the film a story that Papa Elf is telling the viewer but that Buddy [[spoiler:eventually turned his story into a picture book, which obviously play up some of the more sentimental moments for entertainment]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Mr. Narwhal. He's actually voiced by Creator/JonFavreau!

* HilariousInHindsight: The first line Miles says to Buddy is "I get more action in a week than you've had in an entire lifetime". Of course he would, [[Creator/PeterDinklage he's]] ''[[Series/GameOfThrones Tyrion!]]'' Amusingly, his next line is about having another house in Vail (Colorado), which sounds like 'Vale'.

* NarmCharm: The scene where everyone in New York sings ''Santa Claus Is Coming To Town''. It's cheesy in every way possible, but at the same time it's nice to see the whole city come together in song.
** The film itself runs on this; its storyline is incredibly contrived and corny, but by God it works specifically ''because'' it's contrived and corny. Additional FridgeBrilliance aids in this when one remembers that Papa elf is recounting the story as if narrating a children's book-- [[spoiler:the reveal that Buddy actually wrote a picture book about the film's events implies that the movie itself is Buddy's version of events]], so the movie being contrived and corny works in its favor on more than one level.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Buddy befriends [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Lord Tirek]] in the mailroom.

* NoYay: Considering that Buddy is excessively naive, incapable of looking after himself, and basically a child in an adult's body, one could be forgiven for thinking that his capacity to consent to a relationship with Jovie might be a little questionable.

* TheWoobie: Buddy had no idea how to function in society and most people treated him like a pariah, none the least of which his father, whom Buddy traveled hundreds of thousands of miles to meet and wants nothing to do with him at first. This is best exemplified when Buddy mistakes Miles for one of Santa's elves: every question genuinely sounds like an insult and Buddy has no way of knowing.

* AngstWhatAngst: How does Walter's wife react to finding out he has a thirty year-old illegitimate child from a previous relationship, which he himself never knew about? You'd probably expect her to be angry or at least concerned, but she's downright delighted (this is amended in the animated version). Roger Ebert put it best:

* HilariousInHindsight: The first Line Miles says to.Buddy is "I get more action in a week than you've had in an entire lifetime". Of course he would, [[Creator/PeterDinklage he's]] ''[[Series/GameOfThrones Tyrion!]]'' Amusingly, his next line is about having another house in Vail (Colorado), which sounds like 'Vale'.

* HilariousInHindsight: The first thing Miles Finch says to Buddy is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=02572EyOIzQ "I get more action in a week than you've had in an entire lifetime"]]. Of course he would, [[Creator/PeterDinklage he's]] ''[[Series/GameOfThrones Tyrion!]]'' Amusingly, his next line is about having another house in Vail (Colorado), which sounds like 'Vale'.

* AngstWhatAngst: How does Walter's wife react to finding out he has an illegitimate child from a previous relationship, which he himself never knew about? You'd probably expect her to be angry or at least concerned, but she's downright delighted (this is amended in the animated version). Roger Ebert put it best:

* UnfortunateImplications: Given that Buddy is excessively naive, incapable of looking after himself, and basically a child in an adult's body, one could be forgiven for thinking that his capacity to consent to a relationship with Jovie seems [[NoYay more than a little questionable]].