Seeing Stars: Where the Movies Were Shot (on Location)
1996
The
1996 Tom Hanks movie, "THAT
THING YOU DO" was filmed at the traffic circle
in the City ofOrange. This historic Old Town
neighborhood already has a turn-of-the-century look, but the movie's producers
weren't satisfied: they fixed up the vintage storefronts to look like Erie,
Pennsylvania in 1964 (i.e. the local Wells Fargo Bank was transformed
into the Erie Public Library). They even stripped the autumn leaves off
the trees and replaced them with silk green leaves, like those found in
Erie during the Spring time.
The Orange traffic circle is located at the intersection of Chapman Avenue
& Glassell Street, two and a half miles east of the
Crystal Cathedral, and about four miles southeast of Disneyland.
The main filming location, "Patterson's
Appliances," was located just a few stores north of
Chapman, at 129 N. Glassell (on the east side of the steet).
Another key filming location in Orange was the landmark
Watson Drug Store, just east
of the traffic circle. The 100-years-old drug store is a wonderful bit
of nostalgia in its own right - a real blast from the past. (In fact, the
song "That Thing You Do" is the #1 choice on their
old-fashioned juke box.)
Other Orange buildings seen in the movie included
a "Woolworth" store (which was actually an antique store
on the other side of the street from Pattersons, at 160 N. Glassel), next
to the town's Regent movie theatre (a former theatre, now converted into
a church, at 172 N. Glassel).
The carnival / state fair scenes in "THAT THING
YOU DO" (where the band, managed by Tom Hanks,
plays on stage) were shot at the Los Angeles
County Fairgrounds (known as Fairplex), in Pomona, CA.
[Buy the Movie.]
Basketball
superstar Michael Jordan & Bugs
Bunny co-starred in Warner Bros' "SPACE JAM"
(1996), a unique mix of cartoon animation & live action. The baseball
scenes from that movie were really shot at Blair
Field in Long Beach. Blair Field is located in Recreation
Park, at 4700 E. 10th Street, between Park Ave. and Pacific Coast Highway,
in east Long Beach. Many scenes from the 1998 spoof "BASEketball"
were also shot at Blair Field.
[Buy the Movie.]
The basketball scenes from "SPACE
JAM" were shot inside the Long Beach
Arena, part of the Long Beach Convention Center complex, at
300 E. Ocean Blvd., in downtown Long Beach.
[Buy the Movie.]
In the 1996 fantasy "MATILDA"
(starring Danny DeVito & Rhea
Perlman), there is a scene where young Matilda (Mara
Wilson) is almost run over by a cement truck. This scene was
shot in downtown Long Beach, at the
corner of Third Street and Pine Avenue, near the southwest corner of the
Long Beach Plaza mall.
(Pine Avenue was also used for scenes from 1999's "BOFINGER,"
starring Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin.)
[Buy the Movie.]
In the 1996 sequel to "The Brady Bunch Movie,"
"A VERY BRADY SEQUEL,"
Shelly Long and the kids take
Carol's long-lost husband (Tim Mattheson)
on a musical shopping spree to get him "hip" to their retro 70's
styles.
That
outdoor musical number was shot on Santa Monica's popular Third Street
Promenade (Third Street, between Wilshire & Colorado - not far
from the Santa Monica Pier). You might notice the Promenade's famous topiary
dinosaur fountains in the background...
[Buy the Movie.]
In the 1996 comedy "THE CABLE GUY,"
cable TV installer Jim Carrey takes
customer Matthew Broderick out
for a colorful dinner at a medieval theatre/restaurant, where Carrey ends
up battling with the knights in shining armor. Those scenes were actually
shot at Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament
(7662 Beach Blvd., in Buena Park; just north of Knott's Berry Farm).
[Buy the Movie.]
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