People only just realising where a lot of Elf movie was actually filmed

Elf, with its hilarious script, charming acting, and brilliant direction by John Favreau, is considered one of the greatest festive films of all time.

Frankly, it’s quite unbelievable to think it’s been two decades since lauded actor Will Ferrell first stepped out as the larger-than-life Buddy Hobbs.

The oddball human, raised and nurtured in the South Pole by Santa’s (played by Ed Asner) elves, is one of comedy’s finest characters—proving it’s never too late to discover your true self.

Since Elf’s debut in 2003, the merry movie has inspired the seasonal Broadway show Elf: The Musical, the 2014 stop-animation series Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas, and it's listed as Empire Magazine’s 11th Christmas flick of all time.

If you’re a serial watcher, then you may be able to recite phrases and iconic moments (see: cotton-headed ninnymuggins), that predominantly take place in New York City, off by heart.

But do you know where most of the film was actually shot?

In 2020, an episode of Netflix’s The Holiday Movies That Made Us allowed viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how Elf was made.

The official synopsis for the episode read: “Despite its gifted cast and wonderland of effects, this endearing Christmas comedy is sold short by the studio - till it scores big with moviegoers.”

During the episode, it was revealed how producers made Will look much larger than his fellow elves, and how the scenes filmed on the streets of Manhattan weren’t staged.

This is because of the small budget Elf received, with Director of Photography Greg Gardner claiming: “The best way not to have it fake is to have it real, and just put him out there on the streets.

Will Ferrell filmed scenes for Elf in public due to budget constraints (New Line Cinema)

“We completely bought into this guerrilla-style", added Kristin Bernstein, second assistant director.

After spending 13 weeks filming in New York, the Elf team headed to Canada, where they built Santa’s Village at a public access hockey rink.

Production designer Rusty Smith also revealed that many of the New York City interior scenes were actually shot at a ‘creepy’ closed-down hospital in British Colombia.

These include: the police station, Buddy’s orphanage, Greenway Press, and the Hobbs’ apartment, as per The Daily Mail.

“It was a closed down mental institution,” Smith explained in the Netflix series.

“We had to repurpose this draconian mental institution. It worked great for the police station, but it is one of the creepiest places I’ve ever been in my life.”

The Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam was also used for the iconic decorating stunt where Buddy takes it upon himself to place a star on top of the Christmas tree.

Netflix's The Holiday Movies That Made Us revealed BTS information about Elf (New Line Cinema)

After learning a lot of Elf had been filmed at an abandoned hospital, fans took to Reddit to have their say.

“Kind of brings a new perspective to the movie. What if the whole thing was in a mental hospital?”, queried one user.

A second commented: “Knew it was Riverview Hospital before even reading the article. It's in tonnes of shows. Beautiful grounds (with many condemned and buildings still in use) worth millions and millions.”

Another commented: “Plot twist. It wasn't closed down, and Elf is actually a tragedy.”

“Well. That makes sense,” remarked someone else.

A fifth fan commented: “No wonder I got weird undercurrent of doom vibes from this movie. The sad scenes seemed to hit inexplicably hard, like break-through despair. Now I know why."

Unfortunately, it's been confirmed that it's unlikely we'll ever see an Elf 2 on our screens.

In an interview with The Guardian, Ferrell admitted he'd turned down a sequel in 2006, stating: "I didn't want to wander into an area that could erase all the good work I've done."

If you haven’t tuned in to watch Elf yet this Christmas, now really is the time.