Buddy the Elf, the character played by Will Ferrell in the 2003 Christmas comedy film Elf, is known for enthusiastically pouring syrup on various breakfast foods. In the movie, Buddy is a human who was adopted and raised by elves at the North Pole. After discovering he is human, Buddy travels to New York City to find his birth father.
Pancakes
One of the most iconic scenes in Elf shows Buddy excitedly dousing a stack of pancakes with syrup from a large pitcher. He states “We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.” This emphasizes Buddy’s sweet tooth after living on a diet of sugary treats as an elf.
Buddy’s enthusiasm for pancakes and syrup is shown in several scenes:
- When Buddy first arrives in New York, he goes to Gimbels department store looking for his father. Buddy walks up to a random employee in the changing room and introduces himself. The man sarcastically asks if Buddy wants to go get some pancakes with a “nice jar of maple syrup”. Buddy takes him literally and shouts “Oh boy, do I!” as he runs off excitedly.
- At a doctor’s office, Buddy sees a snow globe with a model of a family eating pancakes. He picks it up and mimics pouring syrup from a pitcher while saying “Pancakes!”
- During a date with Jovie, Buddy orders a big stack of pancakes and drenches them in syrup, shocking Jovie with how much he pours on.
These moments show that pancakes with syrup are one of Buddy’s favorite foods. Given his sweet tooth from being raised by elves, it’s no surprise he loves smothering his pancakes with sugary syrup.
Spaghetti
In another memorable scene, Buddy pours syrup on spaghetti during Christmas dinner with his newly discovered human family. Buddy’s father Walter serves him spaghetti, which Buddy has likely never eaten at the North Pole. Not realizing syrup does not belong on spaghetti, Buddy grabs the syrup pitcher and dumps it all over his pasta.
Walter and the rest of the family look on in shocked disbelief at Buddy’s odd food combination. The family is still getting used to Buddy’s quirky elf behavior, so his choice to put syrup on spaghetti emphasizes his lack of experience with normal human customs and tastes.
This scene highlights the culture shock Buddy faces joining human society after being raised by elves who eat candy and syrup all day long. Not knowing that syrup does not belong on spaghetti is one of Buddy’s many humorous experiences adapting to life outside of the North Pole.
Popcorn
In one scene, Buddy, Jovie and the rest of the Gimbels department store employees attend a Christmas party at Walter’s apartment. A large popcorn machine is available, which fascinates Buddy due to his limited experience with human food.
Buddy is shown eagerly holding his popcorn container under the popcorn spout, jumping up and down yelling “Oh boy!” as the popcorn pours out. But rather than eating the popcorn normally, Buddy unscrews the syrup pitcher and pours it all over the popcorn, covering it in sticky sweet syrup.
This further shows that Buddy’s first instinct is to pour syrup on any food item he encounters, even salty popcorn. It exemplifies how he views syrup as its own essential food group that can accompany both sweet and savory foods.
Candy Canes
Along with his love of syrup, Buddy is shown enjoying his former elf food staple of candy canes. In one scene, Buddy takes a bite of a candy cane and then twists the remaining piece to pretend he is decorating a Christmas tree with garland.
Buddy also famously uses a candy cane to test if a department store Santa is real, telling the Santa “I’m a candy cane expert”. When the Santa easily breaks the candy cane, Buddy concludes he must be the real Santa.
So while candy canes are not directly doused in syrup by Buddy in the film, they represent another syrup-adjacent sweet treat he enjoys and associates with elf culture.
Waffles
Waffles are another breakfast food that Buddy would likely pour syrup over with wild abandon based on his tendencies. Although he is not shown eating waffles in Elf, they are a common dish that people drench in syrup, so it is reasonable to assume Buddy would do the same.
Given the stacking, hole-filled nature of waffles that allows them to soak up maximum syrup, Buddy would surely be fascinated by testing just how much syrup he could get a waffle to hold. A tall stack of waffles would be the perfect canvas for Buddy to practice his syrup pouring skills.
Ice Cream
While not necessarily a common combination, Buddy’s extreme sweet tooth and love of syrup means he would likely pour it over bowls of ice cream as well. Drizzling syrup over vanilla ice cream for instance would create a sweet melted syrup and ice cream treat.
Buddy would probably even invent new ice cream flavors such as “syrup swirl” or “syrup ripple” that incorporate syrup directly in the ice cream to maximize the sweetness.
Fruits
Fresh fruits like strawberries, bananas and oranges are unlikely targets for syrup topping by most people. But Buddy’s unconventional palate and elf-influenced diet mean he would be more inclined to pour syrup over various fruits.
Syrup does pair well with certain fruits, so Buddy may be onto something by covering fruits in sweet maple or fruit syrup flavors. Banana pancakes with syrup are a classic combination, so syrup on fruit by itself could also make sense in Buddy’s mind.
Vegetables
While less common than fruits, pouring syrup on vegetables is another unusual food pairing Buddy might attempt. Certain sweeter vegetables like carrots or sweet potatoes could pair well with syrup’s flavor. But dousing broccoli or cucumbers in syrup would likely not yield good results.
Buddy’s willingness to pour syrup on his spaghetti shows he is not opposed to combining it with unsweet foods. So covering his vegetables in syrup could be one of Buddy’s zanier experiments learning about human cuisine after life at the North Pole.
Meats
Meat dishes like chicken, beef and pork would likely strike Buddy as yet another candidate for extensive syrup pouring. Sweet and savory combinations are often popular in cooking, so Buddy may assume syrup would enhance the flavors of all types of meats.
Of course, the extent of syrup pairing with meats would depend on preparation style. Pancetta bacon or sausage links seem like more viable options versus pouring syrup on a steak or burger patty.
But Buddy’s enthusiasm and openness to inventive food mashups mean it’s possible any meat dish is fair game for syrup coverage in his eyes.
Other Sweets
Beyond the expected pancakes and waffles, Buddy would be excited to drench other sweet baked goods and desserts in syrup as well. Pastries like donuts, muffins, scones and croissants would all be obvious targets for syrup dousing.
Pouring syrup over slices of coffee cake, cinnamon buns, gingerbread and angel food cake would all make sense in Buddy’s mind. Icing and frosting on cakes may be sacrificed in favor of soaking the cake layers themselves directly in syrup. Puddings and custards could also receive a syrup topping unorthodox to most people.
When it comes to desserts, Buddy sees no limits in his willingness to smother them with as much syrup as possible to increase sweetness.
Non-Food Items
Given Buddy’s extremely liberal and unconventional use of syrup on various unlikely foods, he may not limit syrup usage to just edible items. Indoor home and garden objects could also be covered in syrup just for Buddy’s amusement.
For example, Buddy may find it fun to pour syrup all over furniture like couches and chairs, though this would likely upset Walter greatly. He could also pour syrup on household plants, assuming its sweetness will help them grow faster, even though too much would probably kill the plants.
Buddy may even think electronics like TVs and alarm clocks would benefit from a thorough syrup soaking to make them operate more efficiently, though this would surely wreak havoc. In essence, no item in Walter’s home would be safe from Buddy’s syrup drizzling exploits.
Conclusion
Buddy the Elf’s childlike enthusiasm and extremely sweet tooth mean any food item is fair game for smothering in syrup in his eyes. From conventional syrup pairings like pancakes and waffles, to unconventional pairings like spaghetti and popcorn, Buddy will not hesitate to douse foods in massive amounts of sticky sweet syrup.
Along with elf staples like candy canes, Buddy sees syrup as its own essential food group that can complement both sweet and savory dishes. While not always creating the best taste combinations, Buddy’s liberal use of syrup exemplifies his zeal for life and openness to new food experiences after growing up isolated from human cuisine.