Elf is a modern Christmas classic that warms the hearts of viewers every year. But what is not exciting is a tragic fan theory that has been online for some time. The theory has been floating around for years connects the death of Buddy’s birth mother to the main antagonists in the film.
What is ‘Elf’?
Elf revolves around a man named Buddy (Will Ferrell), who as a child ends up living at the North Pole in the middle of Santa’s elves. Buddy is raised by Papa Elf (played by Bob Newhart), works at the toy store and grows up with the other elves. However, because he is not a biological elf and is human, he increases in size as he ages, while the elves get smaller.
Buddy soon discovers that he is a human and not an elf because he is an adult man. Because of this, he is not an elf and toy maker like the rest and is just a toy tester. He decides to travel to New York to find his biological father.
It is a bumpy journey, but Buddy learns a lot about himself and finds his family, including his father, brother and stepmother. He also falls in love and manages to save Christmas that is almost lost because people did not believe him.
An interesting fan theory adds much more depth to certain parts of the film
A crucial part of the initial plot of the film is how Buddy is actually the son of Walter Hobbs. We learn that he is the son of Walter and Susan Wells. The film does not state how Susan died, but one theory states that Susan has a connection to the film’s Central Park guards. The Rangers emerge as antagonists towards the end of the film while trying to prevent Santa Claus from being able to save Christmas.
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A topic on Reddit seems to believe that the Rangers are responsible for Susan’s death. The theory depends on the thought that Susan was at the Simon and Garfunkel concert in 1985, where crowd control was an issue. It is a real life event that happened in 1981, but there is not much documented about what happened in reality. In the film, it is not clear what really happened, but it is said that the Rangers are still under investigation because of their actions there. The theory on Reddit states that Susan was on the show and died, so the Rangers are still under investigation.
The Central Park Rangers may be even more villains than the film shows
In the world of this theory, as the police know that Buddy is the son of a murder victim, they may be chasing their friend and, in fact, are not trying to destroy Santa Claus and Christmas.
Reddit user AustinJacob wrote in part:
“Being rude in crowd control is not that big, (at least for mischievous list material, just think of cops, sometimes they have to be rude). Now, MURDERER, on the other hand, has a very high chance of putting them on the mischievous list .. and I’m sure it would be a closed case, but I think. A strange man who is the son of a murder victim who disappeared in 1973 dressed as an elf, (the doctor said he could be reverting to child dependencies, but what would cause such a thing? I know, I found out that his mother was murdered and the criminal was never caught (although in the film he was just an elf boy (elves were slower than humans)) I think that would require that the case be reopened? And probably also why they WERE CHASING THE FRIEND, not Santa Claus, friend … because in the snow, without glasses, it is difficult to see, so if they were after Santa Claus they would have caught Walter.
While all of this may be overkill and may not be plausible, the theory fills many holes and contexts. Why were the Rangers so feared and why were they determined to take Santa down? Perhaps the resurgence of a true crime saga that was behind it is the true story of Elf.