Elf rightfully holds a spot in the Christmas Movie Pantheon. A big reason why is because it features one of the best characters in holiday film history: Buddy the Elf. Will Ferrell’s lovable, naive, sweet Buddy spread Christmas cheer everywhere he went. None of which is true about his creepy animatronic counterpart Home Depot unleashed on an unsuspecting public last year. Not even Krampus would decorate his home with that horrifying monstrosity. And if you think we’re overselling what kind of Christmas nightmare this animatronic really is, it freaked out Will Ferrell himself when he met his evil robot replica.
Will Ferrell stopped by the TODAY show to discuss You’re Cordially Invited. It’s his new film with Reese Witherspoon. Towards the end of the interview hosts Craig Melvin and Savannah Guthrie asked Ferrell if he’d heard about the six-foot, life-sized Buddy the Elf animatronic everyone hates when it went on sale in 2024. The actor said he had heard about it, but he clearly hadn’t seen it in person because he gasped when a crew member rolled it out.
As he should. It doesn’t look like him at all. Not unless his face melted off in Hell.
“It’s chilling,” said Ferrell after hearing it talk. He also called it “Buddy the Elf the Axe Murderer.” But, as he correctly pointed out, how this thing looks and sounds isn’t the weirdest thing about it. As Ferrell said, “Here’s what’s crazy: someone signed off on that.” He was quick to add he wasn’t the person who okayed it. And, after growing tired of the animatronic’s unsettling sounds, he did everyone a favor and wheeled it off-screen.
Home Depot has also done everyone a favor and stopped selling it. The Buddy the Elf animatronic page is now blank at the store’s online shop. However, if you’re looking for the perfect Halloween decoration you can still buy one on Amazon for $400. That’s actually down from its listed price of $500. Wow! What a deal… for sociopaths.
If you do get one of these bizarro Buddy robots you can watch Elf both at Christmas and Halloween time. We just won’t be coming over to your house for either.