1. Jim Carrey based Ace Ventura off of the movements and style of birds. This goes a long way to explain the hair, the brightly colored outfits, and even the way he talked.
He specifically liked really smart birds like cockatiels and parakeets.
2. Director Tom Shadyac revealed in an interview that after first seeing the film, he thought it was going to destroy his and Jim Carrey's careers.
Talk about believing in your work.
3. Jennifer Aniston once told a story about going to hang out with Courteney Cox and bringing along Ace Venturato watch. Courteney refused to watch it.
Continuing the trend of people being proud of this film.
4. Rick Moranis was offered the part of Ace but he turned it down. Other actors considered for the role were Alan Rickman and Judd Nelson.
It's hard to picture anyone else in the role, and those are certainly some interesting choices.
5. The voice and mannerisms for Ace come from Carrey's own stand-up routine and a character from a sketch from In Living Color known only as Overly Confident Gay Man, even down to the "Alllllrighty then!"
It took several script read-throughs before Carrey decided to go this route and once he did, he says everything clicked perfectly.
6. Jim Carrey explained in an interview that he had dinner with Anthony Hopkins once and discovered that he approached playing Hannibal Lecter in the same way as Carrey and Ace: by imitating other animals. Specifically reptiles instead of birds, in Hannibal's case.
Carrey says that Hopkins even started acting like Hannibal Lecter right at the table.
7. Because Jim Carrey spent a lot of time away sick from set while filming the sequel, main villain Simon Callow's contract expired before finishing his scenes and wasn't paid overtime – it was an "act of God" in his contract, but he had other obligations in London...
The producers suggested that Callow fly back to set first class as the contract stated to finish his part when he could. However he didn't realize until much later that they were deducting the cost of his tickets from his overall salary and he ended up working for almost nothing.
I can only imagine he wasn't pleased.
8. There was a point in time where producers thought of casting a female lead for the film, and Whoopi Goldberg was their first choice.
That would be a very different movie indeed!
9. The scene where Ace Ventura pretends to be dolphin expert Heinz Getwellvet was cut from the theatrical release, but was included once more in the home release. The movie was then cited as having "additional footage not seen in theaters."
I mean, they're not wrong.
10. The film was originally going to be about a dopey Sherlock Holmes parody, but screenwriter Jack Bernstein saw a David Letterman segment about pet owners, which convinced him to go for the animal-related angle.
It makes for a much more peculiar niche – I don't think there's anything else that hits the pet detective genre!
11. Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls was the only sequel to a Jim Carrey film to actually star Jim Carrey until 2014's Dumb and Dumber To.
This is the one he would lend his name to. Or maybe he learned his lesson this time?
12. Ace Ventura's talking ass got its start behind the scenes at In Living Colorwhen Carrey was furious with fellow actor Keenen Ivory Wayans for always rejecting his sketch ideas – so he read a sketch from his posterior. Wayans got so mad they almost fought before he stormed out!
They worked it out later, but Carrey later turned it into the bit in Ace Ventura. I guess he wanted to be the butt of that joke!
13. Ace Ventura's landlord, Mr. Shickadance, was named for the company that managed the apartment Jim Carrey lived in while living in Toronto, Shickedanz Brothers.
Take inspiration from what you know!
14. Jim Carrey had a personal chef on the set, and this chef was also required to prepare meals for Jim Carrey's pet iguana.
Service fit for a king. Or a lizard.
15. The Shady Acres Mental Hospital was named after the film's director, Tom Shadyac.
Definitely something you want to loan your name to.
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