A mystery surrounding Will Ferrell’s character in Elf hearkens back to one of the movie’s strangest absences. Jon Favreau’s holiday classic stands the test of time as it continues to provoke fresh discoveries and queries, making it one of the best Christmas movies of all time. The heartwarming comedy follows an innocent character raised by elves at the North Pole as he sets out to build a relationship with his workaholic birth father living in New York City. The movie’s message about family and belonging remains touching even 21 years after its release, speaking to Elf’s great reviews.
Because of the movie’s strong focus on its character’s desire to be with his father, it becomes strange that Buddy’s mother remains an enigma. The movie never explains her relationship with Walter Hobbs, or what led her to give her son up for adoption. Without much to build from, it’s unclear what to make of her decision, her death, or understanding how Buddy and Walter feel about her. Though Elf 2 will never get a chance to explore this, the 2003 film surely makes a case to erase the character’s connection to her son, leaving an unsolved hole in his identity.
Elf Never Revealed What Buddy’s Birth Name Was
Elf Ignoring Buddy’s Birth Name Hints At A Different Version Of The Script
The beginning of Elf is set in an orphanage and sees a baby get inside Santa’s bag while he isn’t looking. Upon arriving at the North Pole, Santa and the elves discover the human baby, adopting him, and naming him Buddy, as he wears “Little Buddy Diapers.” When Buddy is of an older age in Elf, his adoptive father tells him his parents’ names are Walter Hobbs and Susan Wells. However, the movie never reveals Buddy’s birth name. Notably, in the orphanage, the nun seen tucking the little character in bed merely calls him “my angel.”
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Elf brushes past Buddy’s mother and the name she gave him, making them a larger mystery than they needed to be. Though Susan Wells’ confirmed death redeems her from abandoning her son, it’s a tragic ending and a definitive one at that, closing any possibility for Buddy to meet her. By avoiding Buddy’s birth name, the creators closed the only connection the character could have had with his mother, and it feels more intentional than not, considering neither Buddy nor Walter discuss Susan Wells in the movie.
Notably, some things that Favreau ignores respond to Elf’s hidden behind-the-scenes changes and belong to a different and much darker version of the movie. For example, Elf never reveals the nuns’ reaction to the baby’s disappearance, and this may have been because it would have been too sad for a children’s movie. Likewise, Susan Wells’ real motivations for abandoning her child perhaps were too real and crude for a children’s film, ending in the writer cutting her off entirely.
How Did Santa Claus Not Know Buddy’s Real Name At The Orphanage?
The Missing Birth Name Changes The Audience’s Perception Of Buddy’s Mother
Elf‘s attempts to leave some things a mystery don’t work when you have a character that is supposed to know it all. Santa Claus could easily have known Buddy’s real name, being that he knows everyone’s name in the world. However, Santa never corrects the elves when they call the baby Buddy. The fact that even Papa Elf knows Buddy’s birth parents’ story suggests there’s more to that hidden part of his identity. While Walter and his son could have had an off-screen conversation about his mother, the movie rather implies Buddy has no interest in her.
A possible explanation for Santa or Papa Elf not revealing Buddy’s birth name could be that Susan Wells never gave her son a name before giving him up for adoption. Certainly, children watching the movie would never get hung up on the mystery of the missing name. However, it undoubtedly tells a larger and darker story, accounting for one of the harsh realities of rewatching Elf. Buddy’s mother and her feelings toward her baby boy end up in a poor light, perhaps also with the intention of making Walter Hobbs a more likable character throughout Elf.
2003 Christmas comedy classic Elf follows Buddy (Will Ferrell), a human raised among Santa’s elves at the North Pole, when he sets off to New York to find his biological father (James Caan). After learning that children’s book publish Walter Hobbs is his father, Buddy works to immerse himself in human culture – including getting a job in a department store, where he meets and falls in love with fellow “elf” Jovie (Zooey Deschanel). However, when Santa’s sleigh crashes and Christmas is threatened, only Buddy can help save the holidays.
- Release Date
- November 7, 2003
- Studio(s)
- New Line Cinema
- Distributor(s)
- New Line Cinema , Warner Bros. Pictures
- Writers
- David Berenbaum
- Runtime
- 97 minutes
- Budget
- $33 million
