Bernard the elf is our Christmas crush every year…and he knows it

In 1994, The Santa Clause became an instant holiday classic. And every year since, it reminds us of the crush we all had.

The holiday season is upon us once again, and that means it’s time to break out the Christmas movies. This year, thanks to Disney Plus, it’s that much easier to find your favorites — like The Santa Clause.

Sure, the movie threw off an entire generation on how to correctly spell the big guy’s name – for the record, it’s Santa Claus, and I’ll always be mad about it – all for a pun, but aside from that, the film has rightfully earned its status as a Christmas staple.

The Santa Clause has everything: humor, heart, and a gruff-but-lovable elf making sure everything runs smoothly. His name is Bernard and he is, without a doubt, one of Disney’s most underrated characters.

After doing his job for hundreds of years, Bernard had no time for Scott Calvin and his skepticism about the North Pole. All he cared about was making sure the children of the world had the best Christmas possible, and that Charlie was able to have a lifeline to his dad at all times.

For Charlie Calvin, Bernard was a hero. For fans watching The Santa Clause, Bernard stirred some very…different feelings.

Okay fine, let’s just own it: we had a crush on Bernard the Elf.

Oh, and he’s fully aware of it.

It’s not that we weren’t subtle about it. David Krumholtz – the actor who brought Bernard to life – truly had no idea about this whole phenomena at the height of the movie’s popularity. He was clued in in 2014, thanks to Buzzfeed.

In the aftermath of this discovery, he understandably had some mixed feelings about it all. Because while Bernard may have been hundreds of years old, Krumholtz was not. At the time, he was just 16 years old.

“It was a little weird, like I felt slightly violated. But at the same time, it’s really cool, you know?” Krumholtz said while meeting fans at Wizard World Chicago.

As time has gone on though, he’s gotten more okay with the idea. “I find the whole thing funny, I mean hilarious and sweet,” Krumholtz continued. “I had no idea. I must’ve had some kind of swagger going on, I had no idea.”

Maybe it was swagger, or maybe it was that he had a sweetness combined with a Christmassy “bad boy” vibe to him. Bernard would never end up on the naughty list – except maybe in some fanfiction which DOES EXIST – but he wouldn’t hold back from unleashing every biting remark he thought of.

In reality, Krumholtz is just as sweet as Bernard, and handles his admirers as gracefully as possible…even when biting actually happens.

Recalling perhaps his weirdest fan encounter ever, Krumholtz admitted that things got a little physical. “A woman got really drunk, came up to me and she was with her friend, and she said ‘Will you make out with me while my friend takes a picture?'”

Naturally, he politely declined. But this woman’s crush ran a bit deeper than most.

Krumholtz continued, saying “She dropped to her knees, pulled my shirt up, and bit my belly. Like, literally bit my belly, and wouldn’t let go until her friend took the picture.”

So for him, it’s not weird to hear that Bernard is so loved – depending on how the fan goes about it. For the most part, he notes that fans of The Santa Clause are really great.

“It means the world to me. I appreciate any kind of reaction [to] anything I do,” Krumholtz notes. “You know, really! You’re supposed to make people feel things, whatever those things are.”

For the record, he has gone back and watched the movie since finding all this out, in an effort to figure out what exactly it is that makes Bernard so swoonworthy.

And after doing so, he came to a conclusion. “It was the hair. Which I can grow back at any moment.”

Have you watched The Santa Clause yet this holiday season?