Christmas fanatics will want to read this...

"Elf" turns 20 years old this year, and you KNOW you're gonna watch it, because it's that much of a Christmas classic.

Here are some fun facts about the movie to help you celebrate the anniversary:

1.  Will Ferrell wasn't the first choice to play Buddy the Elf.  The script was written all the way back in 1993 with Jim Carrey in mind.  But he dropped out sometime during the decade it took to get it made.

2.  Buddy was originally written as a "darker" character.  Director Jon Favreau wasn't really interested until it was rewritten to be more family-friendly.

3.  Will Ferrell really ate all that sugar, including the maple syrup-coated spaghetti and candy.

7.  Buddy's fight with the fake Santa played by Artie Lange was done in ONE TAKE, because it took the art department WEEKS to decorate the department store.  Favreau told them to just go nuts and wreck it.

8.  Will turned down a reported $29 million to make a sequel . . . because he was worried it would suck and people would accuse him of doing it for the money.

FYI:  James Caan claims the REAL reason was because Will and Favreau didn't get along.