50 Fun Facts About Little Miss Sunshine

In which city does the Hoover family live at the start of the film?

The script was originally an East Coast trip from Maryland to Florida before budget issues moved it to the Southwest.

Where is the Little Miss Sunshine pageant being held?

Olive learns she has qualified with only two days' notice, prompting the whole family's 800-mile drive.

What make and colour of vehicle does the family drive to the pageant?

Five VW Microbuses were used in filming; three had engines and two were mounted on trailers for camera work.

After the van's clutch breaks, how does the family get it moving?

Later the horn starts honking on its own and the side door falls off; all three problems came from writer Michael Arndt's own childhood road trip.

Which of these van problems in the film was NOT based on writer Michael Arndt's real childhood trip?

Arndt chose the VW bus for its high ceilings and clean sight lines that let the camera see everyone from the windshield.

Which philosopher does the silent teenager Dwayne admire?

He has vowed not to speak until he becomes a fighter pilot, a dream wrecked by a revelation late in the trip.

What discovery finally makes Dwayne break his vow of silence?

He screams his disdain for the family, then apologises after Olive calms him with a hug.

Uncle Frank is a scholar of which French writer?

He is living with the family after a suicide attempt prompted by his ex-boyfriend leaving him for an academic rival.

Why was Grandpa Edwin evicted from his retirement home?

He coaches Olive's dance routine and dies of an overdose in a Scottsdale hotel midway through the trip.

How does the family get Grandpa's body out of the hospital?

They are pulled over for the honking horn but escape trouble because the officer is distracted by Grandpa's pornography.

To which song does Olive perform her pageant routine?

The script called for the Prince song and ZZ Top was used on set; the Rick James track was suggested by the music supervisor in post-production and remixed by ROCAsound.

Which song did the original screenplay call for Olive to dance to?

During filming a ZZ Top song was used instead, and the final choice came in post-production.

On what condition is the family released from the hotel security office at the end?

They pile back into the van, horn still honking, and head home.

Who plays Olive Hoover?

Casting directors searched 'every English-speaking country' before choosing her at an audition when she was six.

How old was Olive's actress when she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar?

She had to wear a padded suit to play the 'plump' Olive and spent two weeks with a choreographer on the final dance.

How did the filmmakers keep Olive's young actress from hearing Grandpa's foul-mouthed dialogue?

She only learned what was being said when she watched the finished film.

Which actor won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing Grandpa Edwin?

He had been Oscar-nominated for The Russians Are Coming forty years earlier, and later again for Argo.

Which Daily Show alumnus was cast as Uncle Frank despite producers doubting his star power?

He was chosen only a few months before filming and became a movie star that same summer with The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

For which comedy legend was the role of Frank originally written?

The studio also pushed for Robin Williams before the directors met the eventual star and found him 'right on the same page'.

Which actor plays the silent Dwayne, and took his own vow of silence for a few days to prepare?

He was cast two years before production and the next year earned a BAFTA nomination for There Will Be Blood.

Which Australian actress plays mother Sheryl Hoover?

She had earned an Oscar nomination for The Sixth Sense; the BBC's critic felt she was 'underused' here.

Which future Breaking Bad star plays Stan Grossman, the businessman who lets Richard down?

Arndt named the character as a tribute to Fargo, which has its own Stan Grossman.

How long did it take Michael Arndt to write the first rough draft of the script?

He started on May 23, 2000, finished on May 26, then made about 100 revisions over the following year.

Which later blockbusters did Michael Arndt go on to write after his Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine?

He became the first screenwriter nominated for both original and adapted screenplay Oscars for his first two scripts.

How much did producer Marc Turtletaub pay first-time screenwriter Arndt for the script in 2001?

Turtletaub later paid $400,000 to buy the rights back from the studio that dropped it and personally funded the $8 million budget.

Which studio developed the film for two years, fired Arndt, and then dropped it in 2004?

They wanted to shoot in Canada; Arndt was rehired when the replacement writer left after four weeks.

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris made their name with what kind of work before this feature debut?

Their 'Tonight, Tonight' video for the Smashing Pumpkins won six MTV Video Music Awards.

How many days did principal photography take?

Filming ran across Arizona and Southern California from June 2005 and was shot in the script's chronological order.

How much did Fox Searchlight pay for worldwide rights after the Sundance premiere?

The deal was done by sunrise the morning after the premiere, topping the $10.25 million Miramax had paid for Happy, Texas in 1999.

What was the film's production budget?

It went on to gross just over $100 million worldwide.

How many Academy Awards did Little Miss Sunshine win?

Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor, from four nominations that also included Best Picture.

Which Denver band wrote the film's score with composer Mychael Danna?

The directors first heard the band's 'You Love Me' on KCRW and bought the cast iPods loaded with their albums.

Why was the film's score ineligible for the Academy Award?

'How It Ends' became 'The Winner Is', and the band and Danna still earned Grammy nominations for the soundtrack.

Which singer-songwriter has two songs, 'No Man's Land' and 'Chicago', on the soundtrack?

The album reached No. 24 on the US soundtracks chart and was Grammy-nominated but lost to Walk the Line.

Which politician's quote about hating 'losers' inspired Arndt to write a script lampooning that attitude?

Arndt called a child beauty pageant 'the epitome of the ultimate stupid meaningless competition people put themselves through'.

Who were the other girls competing in the film's pageant?

They performed the same acts as in their real pageants, and their parents supplied most of the costumes and equipment.

How many producers did the film have, sparking a dispute that led the Academy to cap the number at three?

Berger and Yerxa were excluded from the Best Picture nomination; in 2007 the Academy created an exception for 'rare and extraordinary' cases.

How did Fox Searchlight mark the film's release on July 25, 2006?

More than 60 Volkswagen buses turned up at the Vineland Drive-In in Industry, California.

Greg Kinnear called it 'the most dangerous movie I've ever made' because of what?

A camera truck would whiz in front and the actors sometimes spent three or four hours a day inside the van.

A stage musical of Little Miss Sunshine premiered in 2011 with music and lyrics by which composer?

James Lapine wrote the book and directed; it reached Off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre in 2013.

To whom is the film dedicated?

She appeared as an extra in the diner and convenience store scenes.

Where did the film rank on The New York Times' 2025 list of the 100 best movies of the 21st century?

Readers placed it higher, at 42, and Paste had earlier ranked it 34th among the films of the 2000s.

Roughly how much did Little Miss Sunshine gross worldwide?

About $60 million came from North America and $40 million internationally, on an $8 million budget.

Where does Richard Hoover drive to confront Stan Grossman after losing his contract?

While he is away, Grandpa Edwin snorts heroin in the hotel and fatally overdoses.

Screenwriter Michael Arndt named the character Stan Grossman as a tribute to which film?

The Fargo character was played by Larry Brandenburg; Bryan Cranston plays the Little Miss Sunshine version.

How many Academy Award nominations did Little Miss Sunshine receive at the 79th ceremony?

It won two: Best Original Screenplay for Arndt and Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin.

How many Volkswagen Microbuses were used to play the family's van during filming?

Some were modified for different filming techniques.

In which Californian city did the pageant scenes spend two weeks filming in a hotel?

Most equipment and costumes were provided by the real pageant contestants' parents.

Which ZZ Top song was used on set for Olive's dance before 'Super Freak' replaced it?

The screenplay had originally called for Prince's 'Peach'.

In 2010 the film was released on a double DVD pack with which other Fox Searchlight indie hit?

By September 2008 the film's domestic DVD sales alone had topped $55 million.