Elf wasn’t released until 2003, but, as with a lot of Hollywood projects, the script was floating around long before that. Back in 1993, when it first emerged, it actually had a pre-Ace Ventura Jim Carrey attached to star as the lead pseudo-elf Buddy. The project took years to get off the ground, however, so Carrey eventually turned it down and the role went to Will Ferrell ten years later.

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