13 Facts Most People Don't Know About 'Pleasantville'

I'm sure we've all had daydreams about what it'd be like to live the life of the characters in our favorite TV shows. Although I love me some Game of Thrones, I'd never want to live in Westeros! But I would love to live life in New York City like in Friends. How cool would it be to live across the hall from your best friends? It'd be like one big sleepover all the time! That's exactly what happens to David and Jennifer in Pleasantville, except they realize that it's not all fun and games living in a TV show. And the two become responsible for bringing a bit of color and life to the characters in the show! It's one of my favorite movies and I bet a ton of you love it too. Here's everything you need to know about the movie.

1. When the movie was first released, it completely bombed at the box office. It wasn't until later that the movie became popular, and it has now become a cult favorite.

At the time, it only earned $49.8 million on a $60 million budget. 

2.  It was the movie with the most digital effects until Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace came out a year later. This was because every single scene had to be digitally altered to have all the black and white TV characters interact with the people who were in color.  

3. As soon as Jennifer enters Pleasantville, she becomes Mary Sue. Mary Sue is a term that actually started from fan fiction and it means someone who suddenly comes into the lives of other characters and magically solves every single problem. Just like Jennifer!

4. The house across the street from Bud and Mary Sue's was the house in Lethal Weapon.

5. This was director Gary Ross's first movie. He later went on to direct Seabiscuit and The Hunger Games. 

6. When the characters started to show color, they had to apply gray makeup to cover up. In real life, the actors were all using makeup that was green because it looked better when the scenes were changed to black and white! 

7. To promote the movie, the studio actually held a contest for people to win a trip to visit Pleasantville, Iowa.

That's such a fun idea! More studios should hold contests like that.

8. Jennifer could have looked very different. Supposedly Melissa Joan Hart turned down the role, which meant that Reese was free to snag the part.

9. When Jennifer and David first arrive in Pleasantville, one of the TV shows that's playing in the background is Leave it to Beaver. The writers wanted to pay homage to the old shows that inspired Pleasantville.

10. The two books that David talks about to the teenagers of Pleasantville are The Adventures of Huckleberry Finnand Catcher in the Rye. Those books are infamous for being banned in the States.

Did you have to read those books in high school? I did!

11. It's never stated, but the movie is set in 1958 as shown in the calendars in the background.

12. The first time color is seen in Pleasantville is the red rose in Lover's Lane. Remember Paul Walker's character and how confused he was seeing it?!

13. The jukebox used in the movie is very special. It's known as the "Happy Days" jukebox since it appeared in the Happy Days TV show.

Leave a COMMENT and tell us your favorite scene from the movie!