Top 100 Comedy Movie Characters Trivia

Jim Carrey Classics

Ace Ventura’s “All righty then!” catchphrase was improvised by Carrey.
The talking butt scene in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective almost got cut for being “too weird.”
Carrey modeled The Mask’s wild dance moves after Tex Avery cartoons.
Lloyd Christmas’s chipped tooth in Dumb and Dumber is real—Carrey had his cap removed.
The “Most annoying sound in the world” wasn’t in the script, Carrey made it up on set.
In Liar Liar, the courtroom “blue pen” gag required over 20 takes because Carrey kept cracking up.
The Riddler’s spandex costume in Batman Forever was so tight Carrey couldn’t sit down properly.
His Grinch facial expressions in How the Grinch Stole Christmas used no CGI—just prosthetics and Carrey’s rubbery face.
Carrey originally turned down The Truman Show, thinking it was too dramatic.
Carrey was paid only $350,000 for Ace Ventura, but $7 million for The Mask released the same year.

Wayne’s World started as a recurring sketch before becoming a box office hit.
Garth’s drum solo was actually performed by Dana Carvey.
Chris Farley’s Matt Foley character shouting “living in a van down by the river” came straight from his improv days.
Coneheads was the first SNL sketch to become a feature film.
The Blues Brothers holds the record for most cars destroyed in a movie chase.
The “Superstar!” catchphrase was Molly Shannon’s real audition line for SNL.
Will Ferrell’s “More Cowbell” sketch became so iconic it inspired Walk Hard’s Dewey Cox character.
The MacGruber film was shot in just 28 days.
Wayne’s World was filmed in only 34 days despite its success.
Dan Aykroyd had to learn to drive backwards at high speed for The Blues Brothers.

Donkey in Shrek was inspired by Eddie Murphy’s stand-up rhythm.
Mike Myers recorded Shrek’s voice twice: first normal, then in a Scottish accent.
The Minions’ language in Despicable Me is a mix of French, English, and gibberish.
Genie in Aladdin had 16 hours of Robin Williams improv that animators turned into gags.
Pumbaa in The Lion King was the first Disney character to fart on screen.
Po in Kung Fu Panda was based on Jack Black’s real mannerisms.
Melman the giraffe from Madagascar was voiced by David Schwimmer of Friends.
Olaf in Frozen was originally written much darker before Josh Gad’s goofy spin.
Homer Simpson’s movie version required 10 redesigns to scale him for the big screen.
Buzz Lightyear’s original name was “Lunar Larry.”

Charlie Chaplin once entered a Chaplin lookalike contest and lost.
Groucho Marx’s greasepaint mustache was originally a time-saving gag.
Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First” was performed for President Roosevelt.
Buster Keaton never laughed in his films, earning him the nickname “The Great Stone Face.”
Mae West’s witty lines were censored heavily in the 1930s.
Harold Lloyd really dangled off that clock in Safety Last! without safety nets.
W.C. Fields’s drunk persona was based on his real love of liquor.
Chaplin composed the score for many of his films, including City Lights.
Marx Brothers’ chaos in Duck Soup inspired Monty Python.
Laurel and Hardy’s bowler hats became comedy icons.

Leslie Nielsen never improvised fart jokes on Airplane!—they added them in editing.
Airplane! was based on a serious 1957 disaster movie called Zero Hour!
Mel Brooks insisted on playing multiple roles in Spaceballs.
The “Schwartz” lightsaber rings were designed to parody kids’ toys.
Scary Movie was originally titled Scream If You Know What I Did Last Halloween.
Anna Faris did most of her own slapstick stunts.
Naked Gun’s Frank Drebin was adapted from the flop TV show Police Squad!.
“Don’t call me Shirley” was voted one of AFI’s top 100 movie quotes.
Robin Hood: Men in Tights included cameos from Brooks himself.
Nielsen carried fart machines on set to keep people laughing between takes.

Ferris Bueller’s parade scene was filmed live during Chicago’s real parade.
The “Twist and Shout” routine took 10,000 extras.
John Hughes wrote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in less than a week.
American Pie’s infamous pie scene almost got cut by the studio.
Sean William Scott only got paid $8,000 for American Pie.
Regina George’s house in Mean Girls is a real Toronto mansion.
Tina Fey based the Mean Girls book on a nonfiction self-help guide.
Stifler’s mom scene was shot in one take.
Clueless popularized the phrase “As if!”
Alicia Silverstone filmed her famous yellow plaid outfit in over 90-degree heat.

When Harry Met Sally’s diner orgasm scene was Meg Ryan’s idea.
Billy Crystal ad-libbed the line “I’ll have what she’s having.”
Pretty Woman’s necklace snap was improvised by Richard Gere.
Julia Roberts’s laugh in that scene was genuine.
10 Things I Hate About You was based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.
Heath Ledger really sang “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”
Bridget Jones’s Diary required Renee Zellweger to gain 20 pounds.
Hugh Grant hated dancing in Love Actually.
Notting Hill’s “I’m just a girl” scene is among AFI’s most romantic.
Drew Barrymore got a black eye filming the baseball kiss in Fever Pitch.

The Dude in The Big Lebowski was based on a real Hollywood producer.
Jeff Bridges wore his own clothes for the role.
Clerks was filmed for under $30,000 on credit cards.
Jay and Silent Bob became recurring Kevin Smith icons.
Office Space’s red stapler was created by props—it didn’t exist before the movie.
Sales of red staplers skyrocketed after the film.
This Is Spinal Tap’s amps that go to “11” became a real product.
The film was mostly improvised.
Shaun of the Dead was pitched as “a romantic comedy with zombies.”
Simon Pegg actually vomited while filming some zombie scenes.