Elf Began as a Misfit Story and Filmed in a Hospital

David Berenbaum began writing the screenplay that became Elf in 1995, while working without a buyer or studio commitment. After moving from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, he had first written another Christmas script, Christmas in New Jersey. Though that project was never made, it helped open doors with film executives, who wanted to know what he would write next. Holiday movies he watched while feeling isolated in Los Angeles helped spark the new idea, especially the 1964 stop-motion Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special and its outcast characters. Berenbaum also drew inspiration from the childlike outsider in Big when imagining Buddy, a human raised as an elf.

For the 2003 film, production used several vacant wings of Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, near Vancouver. Richter, who played children’s book writer Morris, said the building provided settings including offices, Walter Hobbs’ home and a mailroom. Some patients remained elsewhere in the facility. Studio space was scarce, Richter said, partly because another large film production was underway. He kept to the set, his trailer and the van, but recalled that Will Ferrell, in Buddy’s colorful elf outfit, was around the hospital for a month or two.

Richter also recounted that Zooey Deschanel nearly missed out on playing Jovie. Selma Blair had been discussed for the part, and Deschanel said Katie Holmes was offered it before a scheduling conflict ruled her out. Deschanel’s singing experience helped shape the role once she joined the cast.