19 Awesome Things You Probably Never Knew About 'Elf'

Happy, almost Christmas!

Ten years ago (can you believe it's been that long?!) Buddy the Elf taught us that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear. In his Santa-loving honor, here are 20 things you may not know about this epic holiday classic:

1. Look closely at the elf in the beginning of the movie with glasses. Recognize those blue eyes? That's Ralphie from A Christmas Story!

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2. The first draft of Elf was passed around Hollywood in the early 90s.

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3. At that time, Jim Carrey was supposed to play Buddy the Elf. We prefer him as the Grinch though!

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4. The scene where Buddy is on the bridge is an homage to the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life.

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5. Director Jon Favreau makes an appearance in the movie as the doctor who runs the DNA test on Buddy and also the voice of Mr. Narwhal.

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6. The cotton balls Buddy eats at the doctor's office are cotton candy.

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7. In fact, Will Ferrell had many headaches while on set due to the amount of sugar and candy he had to eat while filming!

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8. Will Ferrell caused several minor traffic accidents when he walked through the Lincoln Tunnel in his elf costume. Wouldn't you stop and stare?

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9. The fight scene with the mall Santa had to be done in one take because it would've taken too long to rebuild.

10. The outside of Gimbels is an altered view of the Macy's on 34th Street in NYC. And get this, Gimbels is real! Or, at least it was. The department store once existed as a rival to Macy's.

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11. The costume Buddy wears is almost identical to the outfits worn by the elves in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

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12. The 12-second burp was done by the same guy who did the burps on The Animaniacs and voiced "The Brain" on Pinky and The Brain.

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13. Will Ferrell's reactions to the jack in the boxes are all real. He has always been frightened by them, but honestly, who isn't?

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14. Before his big break, Will Ferrell worked as a mall Santa.

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15. Mary Steenburgen, who plays Buddy's stepmom, also plays Will Ferrell's mom in Stepbrothers!

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16. All the scenes of Will Ferrell running through the city were shot on the last day of filming. The people aren't extras; they were pedestrians paid to appear in the movie.

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17. There aren't actually that many buttons in the Empire State Building elevator.

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18. Mistake alert! The raccoon that attacks Buddy makes a monkey sound.

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19. Unfortunately, Will Ferrell turned down $29 million to come back as Buddy in an Elf sequel.

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