20 fact you might not know about 'Pleasantville'

Gary Ross didn’t just write Pleasantville. He also directed it. While this was his first movie as a director, he had written a few films before this one, including Big and Dave.

While Pleasantville is both black-and-white and color, the entire movie was shot in color. Then, they scanned and digitized the footage in order to desaturate the movie. This was the first time this had been done for a new feature film, and the movie set a new record for the most digital-effects shots.

J.T. Walsh plays the antagonist role of “Big Bob,” and the character actor excels in the role. Sadly, Walsh would die in February 1998. Pleasantville would be a posthumous release for him, and the movie is dedicated to his honor.

These days, Witherspoon is a huge star, and she crushes it in Pleasantville. However, this was before her career really surged, so she wasn’t a lock for the role. Melissa Joan Hart apparently turned down the part, and Rachael Leigh Cook also reportedly auditioned for the role.

In the world of Pleasantville, David and Jennifer’s parents are William H. Macy and Joan Allen. In the real world, though, their mother is played by Jane Kaczmarek. Two years later, she would get her defining role as the mom on Malcolm in the Middle.

For many, Pleasantville is the first time they saw Paul Walker on screen. That’s because previously he had only two significant roles, and they were in flops. The year prior, Walker was in Tammy and the T-Rex, a movie that was completely forgotten until it was recently rediscovered as a cult classic. Earlier in 1998, Walker also costarred in the misfire of a comedy Meet the Deedles.

Everybody has to start somewhere. Jenna Fischer is now famous for being Pam on The Office, but she had to work her way up in the business. Indeed, Fischer is in Pleasantville, but not even in a “real” acting role. She has a part as a “featured extra.”

The supernatural repairman is played by TV legend Don Knotts. However, the initial choice was Dıck Van Dyke, and had that been the case, the character would have been named Rob in honor of his character Rob Petrie. Instead, Knotts got the role, and it would be his last live-action film.

Knotts was able to do all his onscreen work, but once the movie was in post-production, he was not available for looping, which is to say overdubbing line readings that needed to be reworked. Instead, actor Craig Shoemaker stepped in to do an impression of Knotts.

In order to hide the fact she’s become colorful, Betty covers her body in gray makeup to still appear like she’s black-and-white. However, that makeup was actually green, not gray. This allowed the makeup to work like a green screen, and they could then digitally alter it to make the makeup appear gray.

There’s a scene that’s a reference to To Kill a Mockingbird in Pleasantville, and the scene with Big Bob in front of the bowling scores references Patton. Those were both intentional by Ross. However, when people suggested that the scene of Bud raising his arms in a rainstorm was a reference to Shawshank Redemption, Ross had to admit that he was not aware of the scene and had come up with that idea himself.

Bud gifts Mr. Johnson with the book The World of Art by an author named Edward Bissell. That book is a prop created for the film, though. In fact, Bissell is a fictional artist for good measure.

When Jennifer, now Mary Sue, pops into a bathroom in Pleasantville, there are toilets to be found. This is fitting for the setting. In the early days of television, toilets were not allowed to be shown in scripted shows, according to the FCC.

When you are making a film about a TV show, it’s alright if the setting is pretty clearly on a studio backlot. A new house was built to serve as the Parker’s home for the movie, but you can see a couple classic TV houses in the neighborhood. That includes the Kravitz’s house in Bewitched and Gidget’s house from Gidget. By the way, that Gidget house is also the Murtaugh’s house in Lethal Weapon.

That jukebox in the malt shop? It may ring a bell. That particular model is colloquially known as the Happy Days model, because it’s the jukebox seen in Arnold’s. If Fonzie had shown up, he would have known how to handle it.

Once Pleasantville is opened up to the rest of the “world,” it suddenly has a bus connection to the town of Springfield. In addition to being a common city name, it’s also the city where the 1950s sitcom Father Knows Best takes place. Oh, and Springfield is also the city from The Simpsons, of course.

Before the movie was released, there was an online contest where the winner would get a trip to Pleasantville, Iowa, the smallest town named Pleasantville in the United States. While over 30,000 people allegedly entered, the winner wasn’t too enthused about the idea. They declined the trip and took a $10,000 prize instead.

Pleasantville got really good reviews. Roger Ebert gave it four stars. It has an 85 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, in spite of the critical success, Pleasantville did not succeed at the box office. The film, with all its digital effects, cost $60 million, and the movie only brought in $49.8 million from ticket sales.

The Academy Awards gave three nods to the movie. It was nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score, which was provided by Randy Newman. Alas, it did not win any of those awards.

Evidently Ross and Maguire enjoyed working together. Maguire would star in Ross’ next film Seabiscuit. On top of that, Macy would have a supporting role in that movie as well.