Ferrell, who played as Buddy the Elf in the movie, and Deschanel, who played Jovie, reprised their rendition of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” during the event.
Other original cast members who took part included Bob Newhart as Papa Elf, Edward Asner as Santa and Mary Steenburgen as Emily. Other original cast members included Amy Sedaris, Kyle Gass and Andy Richter.
Meanwhile, other roles were filled by “special guests,” including Lithgow, who performed James Caan’s role of Walter; Sykes, who played the manager of Gimbel’s department store Christmas display; and Danny Woodburn, who played Peter Dinklage’s role as children’s author Miles Finch. Jeong, Ed Helms and Busy Phillips also joined the event in various roles.
In a twist, Pod Save America host and speechwriter Jon Favreau filled in for Elf director Jon Favreau, who also played a doctor in the film.
The one-hour, 40-minute live reading didn’t feature any reminiscing or chatter among the actors. However, Helms did warn viewers during a brief break in the action that the climax of the story would not feature the song “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” as the movie did, but the cast would instead be singing “Jingle Bells.”
“Apparently, we think that perhaps Republicans own the rights to that song because we got an unkind email when we asked for the rights to do it today. That’s what I heard anyway. Who knows?” said Helms, who noted that he is a Georgia native and praised both Ossoff and Warnock as “incredible candidates but also incredible human beings.”
The goal for the event was to raise $400,000. The total raised at the start of the event was $325,000 and by the end donations had reached $402,966.
Jason Esteves, treasurer of the Democratic Party of Georgia, spoke before the event, adapting an iconic phrase from the movie to urge viewers to vote: “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is by voting loud for all to hear.”
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
