THE VERY BEST OF ELF
Santa’s little helpers are in the spotlight at this time of year. Be it celebs snapping fancy dress “elfies”, playing them in films and on TV, or the recent ‘Elf on the Shelf’ craze, the diminutive toy-makers are everywhere. Marion McMullen goes on a journey of elf-discovery
WILL FERRELL caused mayhem in 2003 comedy film Elf as one of Santa’s not-so-little helpers. He plays orphan Buddy, who was raised at the North Pole but later heads to America to find his father. Writer David Berenbaum originally had funnyman Jim Carrey in mind to play Buddy.
JULIE WALTERS fronted the festive TV campaign for supermarket chain Asda in both 2003 and 2004. The 2004 adverts saw her playing a helpful elf, popping in and out of an Advent calendar to make sure Christmas preparations went well.
A LITTLE TV magic saw Paul O’Grady and his four-legged helper transformed into elves for ITV’s hour-long Paul O’Grady’s Love Of Dogs At Christmas from Battersea Dogs And Cats Home last year.
ONE of the top Twitter photos of 2012 was a cute Christmas snap posted by former One Direction singer Harry Styles of himself dressed as an elf. Seriously, is there no look that this bloke can’t pull off?
ITV comedy drama Clash Of The Santas in 2008 saw Robson Green as a grouchy elf. He played Colin who ended up representing England in the World Santa Championships in Lithuania with his bickering best mate Howie (Mark Benton).
GOT elf-envy, fear not – there’s an app for that. Elfyourself.com lets you upload photos of yourself and up to four friends, turning you into disco-dancing elves in your own shareable music video.
DUDLEY MOORE was Patch the elf in 1985 festive film Santa Claus: The Movie. The part was written with famous movie gangster James Cagney in mind, but the Hollywood legend was too old to play the role.
SHE’S already perfected her poker face, and now it seems pop star Lady Gaga is working on her elf ears. The Bad Romance singer posted this slighty racy snap, left, of her costume on Instagram this week, captioning it: “Are you on the naughty or nice list this year?”
CELEBRITY elves have done their bit for charity over the years. Actress Ashley Jensen, below, was in elf mode for Save The Children and TV presenter Caroline Flack followed foll suit fo for ITV’s Santa Christmas C Jumper Ju Day in 2014, left.
ELF on the Shelf is a more recent Christmas tradition. The festive toy, left, keeps an eye on whether children have been naughty or nice in the run-up to Christmas. It began life as a children’s book in the US back in 2005.