In a scene straight out of a movie that lines up perfectly with this current month, 43-year-old Maine man Doug Henning dressed up like Will Ferrell's character from Elf during his first ever face-to-face meeting with his biological dad.
The meet went down recently at Boston's Logan Airport, with Henning explaining (in footage below) that the point behind the cosplay was to provide an icebreaker for the moment. He paired the ridiculous (but also pretty touching) getup with part of the awkward song that Ferrell signs to James Caan in the 2003 film, and said he found the inspiration to do all of this after watching the movie before they met.
“When he came out of the airport, he probably thought I was a lunatic,” Henning said to Boston.com. “It was a really good way to break the ice.”
That thinking-his-son's-a-lunatic theory was probably heightened by the fact that his biological father had never seen Elf. But, whatever, he still seemed to be very happy to see his son.
As for the rest of Henning's story, he said he grew up with adoptive parents he deemed "amazing," but that he was pumped to learn from cousins he met through Ancestry.com that he could be put in touch with his biological dad.
His father was previously unaware of Henning, but the two met over Zoom. His dad then flew to Boston for Thanksgiving.
In addition to learning he was Henning's father, the (older) dad also learned he's a grandparent.
Anyway, enjoy the footage above and the original below.
