Will Ferrell came face to face with “Buddy the Elf, the ax murderer,” and he may never be the same.
The “Elf” star got a firsthand look at the life-size, animatronic Buddy the Elf decoration inspired by his iconic holiday movie when Craig Melvin and Savannah Guthrie surprised him with it on TODAY on Jan. 28.
Ferrell turned around on the couch in Studio 1A to see the viral holiday contraption that seemed more suited to a haunted house than a Christmas display.
Ferrell told Craig and Savannah he saw stories about the $199 animatronic elf sold at Home Depot during the holidays, calling the replica of his famous character “disturbing.” Then he saw it in person.
“Oh my God, itโs Buddy the Elf, the ax murderer,” Ferrell said.
The elf then recited one of Ferrell’s quotes from the movie in an eerie, robotic voice.
โWhy donโt you just say it? Iโm the worst toymaker in the world. Iโm a cotton-headed ninny muggins,” the animatronic Buddy said.
“Itโs chilling,” Ferrell said. “Is this the Halloween show? Hereโs whatโs crazy โ someone signed off on that, and it wasnโt me.”
Ferrell then jokingly escorted the talking elf off the set. Craig and Savannah urged him to take it home on his flight back to California.
“I think that’ll fit in the overhead,” he joked.
Ferrell gave people a look at the real Buddy over the holidays when he hilariously dressed up as a down-on-his-luck version of the character while attending a Los Angeles Kings hockey game with his family. The “You’re Cordially Invited” star was unshaven with a cigarette dangling from his mouth while dressed as Buddy.
“I think Buddy got laid off,” he said on TODAY. “I just told my wife, โYou know what, I want to go to a Kings game and just dress as Buddy the Elf with a cigarette. Thatโs it.’
“She just is like, โOK.โ And Iโm like, ‘And you canโt smile, you canโt break.’ Thatโs why in a lot of the photos sheโs like this (holding her chin) trying not to laugh. My family indulges me in strange moments.”
It was Ferrell’s latest endearing public moment, joining the time he served as a DJ for a fraternity party at USC and his epic drum-off with doppelganger Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“They usually just come to me,” he said. “Itโs just kind of a way to connect with the audience. And I love the fact that half the people are like, ‘What is he doing?'”
