As the holiday season approaches, the Bexley and university community remembers the movie ‘Elf’ on its 20 year anniversary.
Led by Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel, “Elf” first released in theaters on Nov. 7, 2003. The movie is now one of the top 10 highest grossing Christmas movies of all-time.
The film is about a human elf, Buddy (Ferrell), who travels to New York to reunite with his father, Walter (James Caan). As the film goes on, Buddy teaches his father what it is like to love and care for his family. The film teaches children how to grow into their identity if they don’t initially fit in; and family is an integral part of happiness.
The movie is returning to theaters around Columbus for its 20th anniversary, with runs at Marcus Cinemas in Pickerington and Worthington. In the Bexley community, the Drexel Theatre is showing Christmas films to celebrate the holiday season. “Elf” is returning to the Drexel along with the 2004 film “The Polar Express.”
An employee at the Drexel said that their Christmas film showings are pretty popular.
“They usually sell out or come pretty close,” they said. “We usually show Elf and the Polar Express every year, and lots of families show up.”
“Elf” is being screened on Dec. 8, 2023, and “The Polar Express” is being screened on Dec. 6, 2023.
One university student remembers the impact of “Elf” on his childhood.
Alex Rowley, a junior primary childhood education student, spoke about his experiences with the movie “Elf.” Born in 2002 in Strongsville, a suburb of Cleveland, he said that Christmas was a very big deal in the area.
“It’s a big deal because of the bigger Catholic population,” he said. “There’s a big tree downtown, ice skating, stuff like that. It’s a big time of year.”
For the movie “Elf,” Rowley first saw the movie when he was young. He said his family would set aside time to watch Christmas movies, and “Elf” was quite popular.
“Everyone would tell me to just put it on,” he said. “It snows a lot up [in Cleveland]. We watched a lot of movies and “Elf” was the one we watched the most, everyone loved it.”
Rowley says watching the movie with his family helped shape a nostalgic feeling to the film, and winter too.
“It’s definitely played a big part of my life and shaped a nostalgic view,” he said. “It’s played into my life where winter is my favorite season, I feel like that’s the reason.”
He went on to say that the movie’s portrayal of the family is a good representation, and the Christmas season ultimately brought them closer together.
“I think “Elf” does a good job portraying family–some rocky moments, but in the end family prevails,” Rowley said. “[Christmas] is a great chance for everyone to spend time with each other, making our family closer.”
