50 Fun Facts About 90s Comedy Movies

Which game show host trades punches with Adam Sandler during a golf tournament in Happy Gilmore?

Bob Barker, then the host of The Price Is Right, played himself and came out on top. The brawl won the pair an MTV Movie Award for Best Fight.

Which Queen song hit number two in the US in 1992 after a headbanging car scene in Wayne's World?

Bohemian Rhapsody had peaked at number nine in 1976, so the film took it higher than its first run. The studio had wanted a Guns N' Roses track for the scene.

Which California city gained an NHL team named after Disney's 1992 hockey comedy The Mighty Ducks?

Anaheim took the ice in 1993, after the Walt Disney Company founded a real franchise off the back of its own film's box-office success.

Which Pennsylvania town traps weatherman Phil Connors in a time loop in the 1993 comedy Groundhog Day?

Punxsutawney barely appears on screen: the film was shot almost entirely in Woodstock, Illinois, picked after more than 60 towns had been scouted.

Which cocktail is the Dude's drink of choice throughout the Coen brothers' 1998 comedy The Big Lebowski?

White Russian popularity surged after the film came out. The habit was borrowed from life: the Dude was modelled on producer Jeff Dowd, who liked to drink them.

Which 1995 teen comedy set in Beverly Hills is loosely adapted from Jane Austen's novel Emma?

Clueless began with director Amy Heckerling recalling Emma from college. She then observed students at Beverly Hills High School to pick up real teenage slang.

Which city is the McCallister family flying to for Christmas when Kevin is left behind in Home Alone?

Paris never hosted the shoot. Chicago's O'Hare airport doubled as Orly for the family's arrival, filmed over four sixteen-hour days.

Which Colorado ski town do Lloyd and Harry drive across America to reach in Dumb and Dumber?

Aspen is where the pair hope to hand a briefcase back to its owner, never realising the money inside had been left as a ransom.

Which sci-fi franchise and its devoted fandom does the 1999 comedy Galaxy Quest affectionately parody?

Star Trek fans took the joke so warmly that in 2013 they voted Galaxy Quest the seventh-best film of their own franchise.

Which comedian plays Professor Sherman Klump and several of his relatives in 1996's The Nutty Professor?

Eddie Murphy vanished under prosthetics so convincing that the film won the Academy Award for Best Makeup.

In which city does Daniel Hillard disguise himself as a nanny to see his children in Mrs. Doubtfire?

San Francisco supplied the family home at 2640 Steiner Street, which pulled in tourists for years and became a fan-made memorial after Robin Williams died in 2014.

Which comedian wrote Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and played both its hero and Dr. Evil?

Mike Myers ended up in both roles after Jim Carrey passed on playing Dr. Evil in order to star in another comedy.

Which former model made her acting debut opposite Jim Carrey as Tina Carlyle in The Mask?

Cameron Diaz had no acting experience at all, and studio executives fought her casting until the director persuaded them she was the right choice.

In which 1997 comedy does a son's birthday wish force Jim Carrey's lawyer to tell only the truth?

Liar Liar earned Jim Carrey a Golden Globe nomination. It was the second of his three films with Ace Ventura director Tom Shadyac.

Which 1992 comedy hides a Reno lounge singer in a convent, where she takes over the choir?

Sister Act turned Whoopi Goldberg's reluctant nun into a franchise, with a film sequel the next year and a stage musical that premiered in 2006.

Which Shakespeare comedy is the loose basis for the 1999 high-school film 10 Things I Hate About You?

The Taming of the Shrew proved a launchpad: the update gave Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt their breakthrough roles.

On which famous shopping street do sales assistants refuse to serve Vivian in the 1990 hit Pretty Woman?

Rodeo Drive's snub belongs to a lighter rewrite: the script was first intended as a dark cautionary tale before it was reconceived as a romantic comedy.

Which Saturday Night Live star plays the heir to an Ohio brake pad company in Tommy Boy?

Chris Farley shared the road trip with David Spade, a close friend and fellow cast member from the same sketch show.

What breed of dog is the slobbering title character of the 1992 family comedy Beethoven?

St. Bernard star aside, the film had a famous name hiding in its credits: John Hughes co-wrote the script under the pseudonym Edmond Dantès.

Which actress won an Oscar as Mona Lisa Vito in the 1992 courtroom comedy My Cousin Vinny?

Marisa Tomei took Best Supporting Actress for a comedy that attorneys have praised for its accurate depiction of trial procedure.

Which 1996 Farrelly brothers comedy pairs Woody Harrelson's one-handed schemer with a naive Amish prodigy?

Kingpin sends its fallen bowling star out on the road, and road trips drive each of the directors' first four films, Dumb and Dumber included.

Which desk item does Milton guard obsessively in Mike Judge's 1999 workplace comedy Office Space?

A red stapler was not something Swingline sold, so the prop was painted for the film. Demand from fans later pushed the company to make a real one.

Which actress plays waitress Julia Sullivan opposite Adam Sandler in the 1985-set comedy The Wedding Singer?

Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler worked together here for the first time, then reunited for 50 First Dates and Blended.

What kind of animal is Snowflake, the stolen team mascot Jim Carrey hunts for in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective?

The dolphin is stolen from the team's stadium shortly before the Super Bowl, and real quarterback Dan Marino co-stars in the film.

Which British actor shot to international fame as Charles in Four Weddings and a Funeral?

Hugh Grant was ready to give up acting when the script arrived, and roughly 70 actors had already been seen for the part.

Which comedian plays disgraced coach Irv Blitzer in the 1993 Jamaican bobsled comedy Cool Runnings?

John Candy never saw another of his films open: Cool Runnings was the last one released in his lifetime.

Which rapper co-wrote the 1995 comedy Friday and stars in it as the unemployed Craig Jones?

Ice Cube wrote it with DJ Pooh to counter the violent portrayal of hood films, drawing on their own experiences in South Central Los Angeles.

In which Massachusetts town are the Sanderson sisters resurrected on Halloween night in Hocus Pocus?

Salem and its witches found their audience late: years of October television airings turned the 1993 film into a cult classic.

Which actor plays the grizzled Agent K, mentor to Will Smith's Agent J, in Men in Black?

Tommy Lee Jones was not the studio's first choice: Clint Eastwood turned the part down to direct and star in a film of his own.

Which veteran actor won an Oscar as cattle-drive leader Curly in the 1991 Western comedy City Slickers?

Jack Palance marked the win during his acceptance speech by dropping to the stage floor and performing one-armed push-ups.

Which composer earned two Oscar nominations for the score and a song from Home Alone?

John Williams was a late replacement: the director joked about asking him, then reached him with help from Steven Spielberg.

Which actress plays the love interest in both Groundhog Day and Four Weddings and a Funeral?

Andie MacDowell achieved stardom with the box-office success of the first film, then co-starred in the British hit a year later.

What kind of shop does William Thacker run in the 1999 romantic comedy Notting Hill?

A travel bookshop on Portobello Road is where a famous American actress happens to walk in, and the street was one of the main filming areas.

In which English steel city do six unemployed men form a striptease act in The Full Monty?

Sheffield hosted almost the entire shoot in 1996, and the film opens with clips from a real 1972 promotional reel boasting of the city's thriving steel industry.

Whose autograph is on the prized baseball that Smalls borrows from his stepfather in The Sandlot?

Babe Ruth meant so little to Smalls that his teammates had to explain who the slugger was and what the ball was really worth.

Which young actress plays Wednesday, daughter of Gomez and Morticia, in the 1991 comedy The Addams Family?

Christina Ricci, then 10, was picked by the adult cast to tell the director they opposed his plan to leave Fester's true identity unclear.

Which internet provider's new-email greeting gave the 1998 romantic comedy You've Got Mail its title?

AOL logos feature so prominently that one critic flinched at the product placement in a film about corporations destroying small businesses.

Which director shot his 1994 debut Clerks in the New Jersey convenience store where he worked?

Kevin Smith paid for the black-and-white comedy by selling much of his comic book collection and maxing out a stack of credit cards.

Which future Oscar winner broke out as David Wooderson in the 1993 high-school comedy Dazed and Confused?

Matthew McConaughey was undiscovered talent, like most of an ensemble that also included Ben Affleck, Parker Posey and Adam Goldberg.

Which NFL quarterback appears as himself, one of Mary's ex-boyfriends, in There's Something About Mary?

Brett Favre was the third choice: Drew Bledsoe had to drop out, and Steve Young turned the part down because of the film's coarse humour.

Which team does Tom Hanks's former slugger Jimmy Dugan manage in A League of Their Own?

The Rockford Peaches finish the season with the league's best record, in a story based on the real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Which 1970s compact car, painted baby blue with flames, is Garth's Mirthmobile in Wayne's World?

The AMC Pacer was deliberately a second-hand car with non-matching wheels, and the one used on screen sold for $37,400 in 2016.

Which famous American painting does Mr. Bean sneeze on and ruin in the 1997 comedy Bean?

Whistler's Mother ends up on Bean's bedroom wall: he swaps in a poster coated with egg whites and nail varnish, then smuggles the original home.

Which song from the 1999 South Park film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song?

Blame Canada was performed at the ceremony by Robin Williams, who walked on with tape over his mouth and later turned his back rather than sing its profanity.

What unlikely source was Tim Burton's 1996 alien-invasion comedy Mars Attacks! based on?

A trading card series from Topps supplied the story, and Burton insisted that the sets, camerawork and costumes copy the look of the 1960s cards.

Which veteran of Westerns narrates The Big Lebowski as a character known only as the Stranger?

Sam Elliott spent just two days on set, yet did many takes of the speech that closes the film.

Which Scottish band topped the UK chart for 15 weeks with a song from Four Weddings and a Funeral?

Wet Wet Wet ended the run themselves: the band chose to delete their cover of Love Is All Around from sale while it was still number one.

Which director made the family hits Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire only three years apart?

Chris Columbus was approached by writer John Hughes to direct the first, then gave Robin Williams the freedom to improvise his lines on the second.

Which hairless cat breed plays Mr. Bigglesworth, Dr. Evil's pet, in the Austin Powers films?

A Sphynx named Ted Nude Gent took the part. In the story the pet begins as a fluffy white Persian and loses his fur to an error in the thawing process.

Which 1980s fighter-pilot blockbuster is the main target of the 1991 Charlie Sheen spoof Hot Shots!?

Top Gun takes most of the hits, though individual scenes also send up Dances with Wolves, Rocky, Superman and Gone with the Wind.