Beth Hutson, Fayetteville Observer

Thursday

Jan 31, 2019 at 12:52 PM

"Then put your little hand in mine. There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb. Babe. I got you babe."

Happy Groundhog Day, y'all! In honor of the day when a large rodent tells us how much longer we have to suffer through winter, we bring you 10 things you didn't know about "Groundhog Day," the 1992 comedy classic starring Bill Murray.

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1. The movie wasn't filmed in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

"Groundhog Day" is set in Punxsutawney, but most of it was filmed in Woodstock, Illinois.

2. That first step is still a doozy.

There's a plaque on a sidewalk in Woodstock to commemorate the place where Murray's character, Phil Connors, steps in a puddle. The plaque reads "Bill Murray stepped here."

3. Bill Murray wasn't the first choice for the role of Phil Connors.

Bill Murray and director Harold Ramis (you might remember him as Egon in "Ghostbusters") had worked together frequently, but Tom Hanks was Ramis' first choice. Hanks was unavailable for the role because he was filming "Sleepless in Seattle." Hanks later said it was a good call to go with Murray because he was better suited for the part. Hanks, after all, tends to play the nice guy.

4. Andie McDowell wasn't the only person up for the role of Rita.

Singer-songwriter Tori Amos was under consideration for the role of Rita, Frank's producer and love interest in the movie.

5. The script originally explained how and why Phil was trapped in the time loop.

Phil's angry ex-girlfriend Stephanie caused the time loop by cursing him. Eh, good call by Ramis to leave that out.

6. Murray and the groundhog didn't exactly get along.

The groundhog bit Murray twice during filming. Murray even had to have anti-rabies shots.

7. Phil was stuck in the time loop for 12,395 days.

That's according to whatculture.com. That link is worth checking out -- they really did their homework. Ramis initially said it was 10 years, then backtracked and said that seemed like too short of a time and that it must be more like 30 or 40 years.

8. Murray threw those snowballs really hard

Ramis told the kids in the scene to throw the snowballs really hard, so they did. And Bill Murray threw them back just as hard.

9. Andie McDowell's accent caused a line change.

The part where Rita says to Frank, "Oh, let's not spoil it," was originally, "Oh, let's not ruin it." The line was changed because Ramis thought McDowell's South Carolina accent made it too difficult for her to say "ruin" properly.

10. It's a classic.

Time magazine has named it one of its ALL-TIME 100 Movies. Rolling Stone named it No. 11 on its 100 Greatest Movies of the Nineties.

"Then put your little hand in mine. There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb. Babe. I got you babe."

Here are 10 things you didn\'t know about the movie \'Groundhog Day\'

Here are 10 things you didn't know about the movie 'Groundhog Day'

Thursday