Fans of the 2003 Christmas classic Elf will be amazed to see Buddy the Elf played by Will Ferrell return to screens for the festive season in Asda’s new Christmas advert.
Asda’s festive advert short will premiere on Friday, November 4 at 8.45pm on ITV1 during the Coronation Street ad break.
But it has already been released on YouTube.
It starts with a nod to a scene in Elf where Buddy crosses a street in New York and is nearly hit by a black-and-yellow cab – except this time, it’s a train of Asda trolleys.
The narrative surrounds Buddy starting a trial shift at the shop, and experiences Asda’s Christmas offerings with the same wide-eyed wonder and unbridled passion that endeared him to fans in the original film.
The advert neatly crafts the classic film footage into the newly filmed scenes, and shows him interacting with the help of special effects with some of Asda's offerings, apparently eating free maple pigs in blankets samples.
He also features with sugar sprinkled Extra Special mince pies, he distracts colleagues with his Christmas plans, and takes the chance to sing loudly over the store Tannoy system - before being told he might need to go on the check-outs.
When the store closes, there is a slapstick moment when Buddy jumps into a Christmas tree and falls over, while as in the film, he brings his magic touch to the store, decking it out with fairy lights and festive decorations - while re-christening the ‘elf checkouts'.
He, of course, gets the job – and to his delight, he can stay.
And in his excitement, another slapstick momnet, he dashes straight into the same shopping trolleys he encountered on his way in, causing a bemused colleague to smile, as the campaign line ‘Have your Elf a Merry Christmas’ flashes up on-screen.
But did Will Ferrell actually film any of the scenes for the Christmas advert?
The answer in a word is 'no'.
The campaign is the result of the first time that the movie Elf has been licensed for brand marketing.
It was shot by multi-award-winning director Danny Kleinman and brought to life through state-of-the art, first-of-its-kind visual effects from Bafta and Oscar award-winning creative studio Framestore.
Danny Kleinman had previously designed every title sequence for the James Bond series of films since GoldenEye (1995), with the exception of Quantum of Solace.
He has previously directed music videos for musicians such as Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, Paula Abdul, Simple Minds, Wang Chung, Adam Ant. Between 1984 and 1987, he received a record five nominations for the MTV Video Music Award for Most Experimental Video, as well as three nominations for Best Direction and several other categories.
He said: "For me this was a unique challenge, working with an A list Hollywood actor, without him being there in person, and crafting other actors around his iconic performance. It was important not only to make the action seamless but also convincingly transport him to a Christmas Asda store, creating a Hollywood feel to Asda’s Christmas celebrations.”
The creators used a process called rotoscoping to take Buddy out of the original film, and place him into the new Asda environment.
Sam Dickson, acting chief customer 0fficer at Asda said: “Like Buddy, we absolutely love Christmas – so we’re thrilled to welcome him to our team. We know this has been a tough year for so many people, which is why we want to create some little moments of joy for families this year with our Christmas campaign, and more importantly, our amazing products.
"We hope that with a little bit of help from Buddy, our joy-filled Christmas offering will create some festive magic and helps give families a Christmas to remember together.”
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