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31 Trivia Tidbits That Pull Back the Curtain on Your Favorite TV Shows and Movies

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31 Trivia Tidbits That Pull Back the Curtain on Your Favorite TV Shows and Movies

July 30, 2024

We honestly had no idea that so many great movie and TV moments came from a lack of funding. These scenes may have upset the director at the time, but they now get to hold their heads up high as if such happy little accidents were the plan all along. And we should definitely let them have this moment, because as everything below makes abundantly clear, these directors behind-the-scenes headaches extended far beyond just a lack of cash.

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The Grinch's songs were sung by the guy who voiced Tony the Tiger. Thurl Ravenscroft sang The Grinch's songs, but he's probably best known for the line They're Grrrrreeeat! CRACKED.COM — Source

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Jon Hamm voiced a sentient toilet. CRACKED COM In the episode O.T. The Outside Toilet, Gene discovers an advanced, talking toilet in the woods and VOWS to protect it from Max Flush, the toilet hunter. — Source

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Tom Hanks and Tim Allen wept at Jessie's backstory scene... ...when they first watched Toy Story 2, even though they both knew the whole script. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

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EASTER EGGSTRA SPACE The Bill Murray CaM joke that was more true than funny. When Daffy asks Murray how he was able to get to Looney Tune Land, Murray says: Producer's a friend of mine. Just had a Teamster come and drop me off. Murray was, in fact, friends with producer Ivan Reitman who directed Ghostbusters, and Teamster is the famous labor union in the U.S. and Canada. CRACKED.COM — Source

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In Toy Story 4, they created AI spiders to spin webs... ...saving animators months of work. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

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BUSY PHILIPPS AND JAMES FRANCO DIDN'T GET ALONG CRACKED.COM Philipps says that Franco was a bully and physically assaulted her on-set. — Source

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BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS JOHN С. REILLY SANG ALL OF HIS SONGS. WALK HARD Reilly put a huge amount of effort into becoming Dewey Cox. Не would be on set all day and then record songs during the night. I was really determined not to be treated like an actor playing a musician. CRACKED.COM — Source

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There was a lot of IMPROV on set. Director Nick Stoller said he'd guess there was about 30 to 40 percent improvisation in the movie and that the filming was a collaborative experience. ALL IN ALL THEY SHOT 1.2 MILLION FEET OF FILM-SO MUCH THAT KODAK GAVE THEM BOTTLES OF DOM PERIGNON. BEHIND THE SCENES | FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL CRACKED.COM — Source

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André had to use wires to lift Robin Wright. GRACKED.COM Despite his large physique, Andre needed assistance lifting the small actress because he was in so much physical pain from wrestling. — Source

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School of Rock

BEHINO-THE-SCENES FACTS Jack Black made a personal plea to LED ZEPPELIN CRACKED.COM Не videotaped an appeal, filmed in front of a huge crowd, asking Robert Plant and the boys for permission to use Immigrant Song in the film. It may seem corny but it worked, says Black about nailing the audish. The moral of the story is: Don't be too proud to beg. — Source

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BEHINO-THE-SCENES FACTS Once filming, they still had to WRITE THE SONGS SHICE KAKES CRACKED.COM That was scary, because you're working on a time limit, says Black. And you know, I'm a songwriter. We put out an album with Tenacious D, but we had 10 years to f***in' put that thing together and only a few months to write all the songs in the movie! — Source

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BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS THE SHOW USED A REAL STREET MUSICIAN. TED LASSO The musician Lasso brings in from the street as a replacement for Robbie Williams is Cam Cole-a famous London street performer. CRACKED.COM — Source

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BEHINO-THE-SOENESPACTS Learning to drive a race car is TERRIFYING في to wonder TALLADEGA NIGHTS CRACKED.COM THE BALLAD OF BICKY BOBBY After a single scary lap at racing speeds, Ferrell and McKay were ready to call it a day. Reilly insisted they keep going: Guys, we can't be wusses here. We can't make a NASCAR movie and not actually experience being in a race car. — Source

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CRACKED.COM Faye Dunaway soaked Roman Polanski with pee (or so they say). Polanski being an abusive director and Dunaway being not exactly a pushover, sparks flew on the set of Chinatown. According to cinematographer John Alonzo, Polanski refused to let Dunaway take bathroom breaks - so she just peeds on a cup and throwed it on Polanski's face. — Source

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STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS D.A.R.Y.L. The greatest accomplishment of this forgotten 1985 movie about a robot child is being acknowledged by the Duffer brothers as maybe a possible subconscious influence on Stranger Things. Leonard Maltin called it, one of the blandest movies I've seen. CRACKED.COM — Source

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STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS THE GOONIES The child actors didn't see the pirate ship before shooting, as Richard Donner wanted to catch their genuine reaction. Too bad that their genuine reaction was to say stuff in the vein of, Holy s#!t so the scene had to be reshot. CRACKED.COM — Source

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STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS POLTERGEIST JoBeth Williams did the mud scene like a pro - only to later find out those were actual human skeletons, not props. The FX artists got medical skeletons and dressed them up to look gross. CRACKED.COM — Source

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STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS THE IN THE THING The iconic title card is a direct copy of the one in 1951 original. It was shot by attaching the title to a fish tank full of smoke, and then attaching a black trash bag to that t - which was set on fire. THE ING FROM ANOTHER WORLdRACKED.COM — Source

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STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS STAND BY ME According to Kiefer Sutherland, production had to be shut down for two days after Jerry O'Connell snuck into a hippy fair and unknowingly bought some funny cookies. They found him lost and crying in a park. CRACKED.COM — Source

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STRANGER THINGS INSPIRATIONS STAND BY ME Director Rob Reiner kept making the young actors cry for real. For a scene, he told River Phoenix to think of a time an adult let him down, and Phoenix became unconsolable. On another occasion, he exasperatedly yelled at all of them. Cue the waterworks. CRACKED.COM — Source

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A 1960s Batman episode had Batman, Robin, and Batgirl fight all their villains at once. THE IMPROVISATION: There was no money to actually show that, so the villains turned invisible and the trio punched air. Then they turned off the light to even the odds, leaving the screen black. THE RESULT: An episode in which the show topped itself in campy hilarity. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Back to the Future

To get home in Back to the Future, Marty was supposed to drive into a nuclear explosion. PRINTS THE IMPROVISATION: The original plan of sending Marty into a Nevada test nuke blast would be incredibly expensive in 1985, so the writers came up with a cheaper scene at the clock tower. THE RESULT: Probably one of the most famous climaxes in film history. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Alfred Hitchcock shot Psycho as an episode of his TV show. THE IMPROVISATION: Hitchcock shot Psycho with the crew and assets of his TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents, because the studio didn't want to give him a cent for a new movie. THE RESULT: An instant classic that influenced pretty much all later horror films. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Rocky and Adrian's lovely first date owes its magic to the movie running out of money. NE VISITOR THE IMPROVISATION: Rocky's ice rink date scene was supposed to have 300 extras. But the movie burned through cash too fast, so Rocky and Adrian had to be in an empty ice rink. THE RESULT: A surprisingly intimate atmosphere that made for one of the best ever movie first dates. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Instead of spending money on music for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the director made it himself. THE IMPROVISATION: With a sound recordist, he did things like screaming into a cardboard tube, torturing an upright bass, and playing broken instruments. THE RESULT: One of the scariest movie soundtracks of all time. It's the equivalent of pouring terror straight into your ears. CRACKED.COM — Source

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The Incredible Hulk TV show was too cheap to spend money on shooting planes and trucks. Footage from Steven Spielberg's Duel, used in S1E9 of The Incredible Hulk THE IMPROVISATION: They just picked up that footage from other movies. These were well-known films from just a few years before. The network owned the rights, and they didn't care that it was obvious. THE RESULT: An action-packed first season that made the show a hit from the start. CRACKED.COM — Source

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The original setting of Planet of the Apes was completely modern. THE IMPROVISATION: There were supposed to be monkeys watching movies, shopping, driving-everything. But the producers didn't want to pay for that, and they got a new writer, who created a new setting. THE RESULT: The barren wasteland with the iconic half-buried Statue of Liberty. CRACKED.COM — Source

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There was absolutely no narrative reason for The Walking Dead to spend a season on a farm. THE IMPROVISATION: The network axed the Season 2 budget before even airing the pilot. So, to save money, the show was stuck with using Hershel's farm as much as possible. THE RESULT: A critically acclaimed season with a finale that was the network's most-watched episode ever at the time. CRACKED.COM — Source

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James Cameron didn't have a filming permit for The Terminator, so the crew had to avoid cops. THE IMPROVISATION: They shot at night so they had less chance of running into police. And to save extra money, they used convenient clouds of pesticide as fog. THE RESULT: A dark neo-noir visual style that helped make the movie a classic. CRACKED.COM — Source

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The window shutters in Clerks had to be locked to hide the fact that it was night outside. Quick STOP GROCERIES I ASSURE YOU WERE OPEN! AB6703 THE IMPROVISATION: Kevin Smith only had permission to film at night, and had to keep the windows closed. To explain this, he decided the store's shutter locks would be jammed shut in the movie. THE RESULT: The (now iconic) sign saying, I assure you we're open! CRACKED.COM — Source

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