Deliberate mistake: In the orphanage scene, Santa's bag drops dead center in the fireplace. The noise of the impact gets baby Buddy's attention in a quick shot, and the camera shifts back to the fireplace. Now, the bag has shifted to the viewer's left when Santa's boots are coming down. The shift of the bag is presumably to make room for the boots coming down the chimney.
Elf (2003)
1 deliberate mistake
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Starring: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Bob Newhart
Visible crew/equipment: In the scene where Buddy and Michael are leaving the school, a crew member is visible in the bottom left of the shot. At first, he is just standing there, but he then tries to hide inside a doorway. (00:52:00)
[Buddy sees the mail room for the first time.]
Buddy: It's just like Santa's workshop! Except it smells like mushrooms, and everyone looks like they want to hurt me.
Trivia: The character Jovie originally didn't sing in the script. Her singing was added after director Jon Favreau found out that actress Zooey Deschanel was a talented singer/songwriter.
Question: Did Will Ferrell have a stand-in for the mailroom dancing?
Answer: Yes.