When the movie was released in 2003, it was clear it would swiftly become a holiday classic. It had taken influences from some of the great Christmas shows and stories from days gone by and put them in to a modern day picture audiences old and young would enjoy.
Laura Jean said: “The film was inspired by some iconic imagery from Christmas specials from the past, the classics that stick with us all.
“In our effort to create our own Christmas classic it was important to make sure we had our own distinct stylistic voice while still evoking the warm wonderful nostalgic feelings that come from childhood memories of stories held dear at Christmas time.”
Another stand-out costume from the movie is that of Santa Claus, played by Edward Asner. If you take the character on face value, it’s just another movie Santa Claus. However, when Laura Jean begins to describe the process behind some elements of that outfit, it makes you really begin to understand and appreciate what is involved in designing costumes for a movie of this size.
For example, we picked up on the fantastic multi-coloured suspenders Santa wore. So what are they all about, and where did they come from?
“I am glad you like Santa’s suspenders. I have to say that they were one of my favourites!” said Laura Jean.
“I found that ribbon and fell in love with it. I knew I wanted to prominently feature it because it embodied that old time folksy feeling. We sourced out those fun oversized wooden buttons and some good felted red fabric to back the ribbon and the suspenders were born.
“That is, after dying down the ribbon to give the ribbon some age and depth, and coupled with a red union suit and trousers.
“Santa’s other costumes actually had custom made buttons that we commissioned an artist to sculpt and cast in bronze so we could get a rough-hewn handmade quality in a large scale that complimented Santa’s proportions and fabrics well.
“That same artist made all off the elves belt buckles. We had quite an army of craftspeople in both New York and Vancouver really lending their amazing skills to bringing the vision to life. It was very fun and exciting.”
So last but not least, I wondered what funny anecdotes are there from the making of the movie? Did everything go to plan?
“I never met a movie that did not have some anecdotal fires that need putting out.
“When you have that many moving parts in so many different places it does not matter how grand a communicator you are, things get lost in translation sometimes.
“I guess one memorable snippet from Elf was when the folks making the elf jackets and the folks making the belts followed their diagrams on where they had to sew on velcro tape to match the others and work perfectly.
“Just one issue- they both sewed on the female (soft) side so it did not stick!
“That meant a lot of seam-ripping to replace all the pieces on the jackets with male velcro!”
I’d like to thank Laura Jean for taking the time to chat about the movie, and the incredible work her and her team did on the movie Elf. Also, thanks to her agent Alex Franklin.
Extras
Buy Elf on DVD or Blu Ray
or
Read our Elf review