Christmas family comedy directed by independent filmmaker jon favreau. Will ferrell stars as buddy, a human being who has spent his whole life believing himself to be an elf. Brought up by santa edward asner and his elves at the north pole, buddy has spent the last 30 years happily working in santa's toy workshop. But when his ungainly size starts to become a liability in the elf sized working environment, santa suggests that buddy head to new york city to find his biological father james caan. Needless to say, the unlikely spectacle of a 6'5' man dressed from head to foot in bright green stands out a mile on the streets of the big apple, and the good natured buddy finds himself in all sorts of scrapes as he gets used to his new family and surroundings and they get used to him.