2003's Elf, which was directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay by David Berenbaum, is chock full of iconic, quotable lines. The movie, which stars Will Ferrell as a human who was raised by Santa's elves in the North Pole, used a combination of solid screenwriting (with uncredited contributions by Scot Armstrong, Chris Henchy, Adam McKay, and Ferrell himself), improvisation, and holiday magic to wring a series of unforgettable comic moments from its fish-out-of-water premise, but one line stands out among them all as the movie's most-quoted.
The line, which Buddy uses to introduce himself over the phone while tagging along with his long-lost father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan), at his publishing office, is "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?"
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In addition to earning a big laugh and becoming a popular, festive way to answer the phone in the mid-2000s and beyond, this line is so much more than a throwaway joke. In fact, it underscores everything the audience needs to know about the character of Buddy and how he fits into the story the movie is telling. Let's break it down.
This Line Emphasizes Buddy's Fish-Out-of-Water Status
First and foremost, the reason the line works as a joke at all is the context. It packs a real punch because of everything that has come before it.
Elf has set up everything we need to know about both the characters in the scene for it to reach its maximum potential. First of all, we do get to spend some time with Buddy on his own turf in the North Pole. While he literally doesn't fit in with the other elves because of his stature (which is large even for a human, as Will Ferrell is six feet and two inches tall), his enthusiastic attitude, odd diet (which is about 1000% sugary treats), and cartoonish cheeriness are established as aspects that come from his cultural upbringing.
Even though the hardened New Yorkers that he finds himself surrounded by don't believe in Santa or the North Pole, we, the audience, know that where he's coming from is very real. This justifies his behavior much more than would have been possible if the movie had started with him arriving in New York and let the audience question whether or not he was telling the truth about his background.
Meanwhile, we have also gotten to know Walter to a certain degree. While he specifically works in the children's book industry, he has completely lost the childlike wonder that is at the core of the Christmas spirit. He finds Buddy to be at best annoying and at worst dangerous to the structure of his entire life, both personally and professionally.
'Elf' (2003)Credit: New Line Cinema
He has reluctantly allowed Buddy to accompany him to work, forcing him to wear a suit and tie in muted colors to allow him to blend in. However, Buddy's behavior in the office instantly proves that you can't hide Buddy's light under a bushel. Putting him in a suit doesn't mean that he instantly knows how to behave in an office environment. He doesn't even know that he's rejecting social norms by 1) answering his father's office phone in the first place and 2) answering it in such an unusual and whimsical way.
While we understand that Buddy is simply being Buddy, we also understand the ways that this is in conflict with the way that Walter wishes he would be. That friction is exactly why the line pops so much in the first place.
The Line Crystallizes the Entire Arc of Elf
The line "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?" is perfectly engineered to cause conflict within the scene in which it takes place, but it has a function outside of the scene, as well. In fact, that simple phone greeting solidifies everything the movie needs the audience to understand about Buddy, both in terms of where he comes from and where he's going to go by the end of the movie. And by that, I mean absolutely nowhere.
Elf is an unusual movie in that Buddy doesn't really have a character arc. While he does learn a few things about the world of New York City and how it works, by the time the credits roll, he is still essentially the same exuberant, offbeat weirdo that he was when the movie began.
This is because the movie's arcs are almost entirely focused on the way Buddy's worldview softens and changes the people around him, particularly his father and his love interest, his disaffected toy store coworker Jovie (Zooey Deschanel).
The movie's conflict comes from watching these characters bounce off of him over and over and over again, only to come to realize that he might be a little odd, but his whimsical innocence has exposed them to a way of seeing the world that they either forgot about or never fully understood in the first place.
'Elf' (2003)Credit: New Line Cinema
This line crystallizes that aspect of the screenplay exactly because of the context in which it takes place. Even though he's in a suit, in an office, Buddy doesn't code-switch. In the first part of the line, he openly and proudly declares his status as an elf. It doesn't occur to him that other people might judge him for that, or even find it odd at all. His lack of shame and fearlessness regarding the potential judgment of others seems naive to the other characters, but it ultimately proves to be powerful armor against the negativity surrounding them.
The second half of the line is even more important, however. By opening his phone conversation with the question "What's your favorite color?" Buddy proves that he is not only secure in who he is but that he is interested in finding out more about the people around him. He has an innate curiosity about strangers and the world at large, and while it breaks social norms, it almost invariably draws people in. His enthusiasm for others allows them to open up to him in ways they could never have expected. Therefore, even though the line might annoy Walter in the moment, it also explains exactly how he finds himself singing “Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town” in the middle of Central Park to help save the day at the end of the Christmas movie.
While this line emphasizes so much about the classic holiday movie and its lead character, there are many more great lines where that came from. What are your favorite lines from Elf, and what makes them stand out? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
