Happy Gilmore just had its 20th anniversary.
Well, it was actually back in February, but
we had some other movies we needed to cover at the time.
And, you know. >> You blew it!
>> Okay, Billy is kind of right.
But hey, better late than never.
Here are seven things you didn't know about Happy Gilmore, probably.
(Noise) >> Son of a bitch,
ball why didn't you just go home! >> I
bet you didn't know that Happy Gilmore is actually based on a true story.
Okay, not quite, but it is based on a real guy.
And that guy is Adam Sandler's childhood friend, Kyle McDonough.
They grew up together in New Hampshire and
McDonough played hockey all throughout their childhood.
He even had a stint playing in a few leagues as an adult,
including the British Hockey League and some league in Norway.
Anyway, Sandler and McDonough always used to play a little golf growing up, but
Sandler could never outdrive McDonough and
always figured it was because McDonough's hockey background gave him an edge.
And those childhood golf games were the basis for Happy Gilmore's entire premise,
about a pro hocky player becoming a pro golfer.
Let's just hope that Billy Madison wasn't based on somebody Sandler actually knows.
Really for, really.
(Sound) A real guy may have been the basis for
Happy, but the movie itself then went on to become the basis for
some real life merch, specifically that hockey stick putter.
Believe it or not, Odyssey golf actually produced those.
They made a limited run and occasionally one will pop up for
sale on golf forums or on eBay.
So if you really love wasting money, be sure to set an email alert for
the next time one gets listed.
(Sound) Let's talk about the tryout scene.
See that guy in the white jersey next to the coach?
Well you probably didn't know that that's a teenaged Vincent Lecavalier.
The same Vincent Lecavalier who went on to become a Stanley Cup Champion with
the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 and who won the Maurice "Rocket"
Richard Trophy for being NHL's leading goal scorer in 2007.
So I guess it's pretty obvious why coach picked him over Happy.
>> Better luck next year.
(Laugh) >> Got that.
(Noise) >> But she's an old lady.
I mean, look at her, she's old.
You can't just take her stuff.
She's too old. >> We all remember Grandma in
Happy Gilmore, who was played by the late Francis Bay.
But you probably didn't know that Jerry Seinfeld stole Grandma's rye.
Yes, that's the same actress getting robbed of her marble rye in the iconic
Seinfeld episode. >> Help!
>> Shut up, you old bag!
>> Poor grandma.
As if her tax problems weren't bad enough.
(Sound) >> The price is wrong,
bitch. >> Happy's fight with Bob Barker is quite
possibly the most memorable scene in the entire movie.
But here's the thing, Bob Barker did his own stunts, in fact he insisted on it.
The director had a stunt double all lined up for the scene but when Barker
heard about the stunt guy he said, wait a minute, I know how to fight which is true.
Bob Barker studied karate with Chuck Norris which sounds like an awesome movie
pitch in itself.
The point is since Barker knew he would win the fight in a movie
he was even more keen to do the stunts himself.
The scene went on to win an MTV movie award for best fight,
which, let's be honest, who gives a (Bleep).
But still, knowing that it really is a 72 year old Bob Barker
beating up Adam Sandler makes the fight even more legendary.
>> Now you've had enough.
Bitch.
(Noise) >> Could I trouble you for
a glass of warm milk?
It helps put me to sleep. >> You could trouble me for
a warm glass of shut the hell up. >> Did you know that
Ben Stiller actually doesn't have any screen credit?
Sure, he plays the evil orderly Hal L., but
no one ever actually calls him Hal in the movie.
On top of that, Stiller is completely uncredited at the end of the film.
I guess it was just some weird kind of I'm so
cool I don't want a credit type of deal.
I don't know, Hollywood stuff.
Moving on. (Sound)
>> You're in big trouble little pal.
I eat pieces of shit like you for
breakfast. >> You eat pieces of shit for
breakfast? >> No.
>> Christopher McDonald passed
on the role of Shooter McGavin.
In fact, he passed on it twice.
But what's even more surprising is who else auditioned for the role.
Both Kevin Costner and Bruce Campbell read for Shooter.
And I think we can all agree that the role went to the right guy in the end.
Granted, McDonald didn't want it at first because he was sick of playing dicks.
But after he met with Adam Sandler, they worked through the script, and he was
convinced to do it which is really good because that guy plays an excellent dick.
That wraps up our belated 20th anniversary celebration of Happy Gilmore but
don't forget to check out cinefix.com and
subscribe for more truish things about movies.
And honestly, quite a lot of the time, excellent dick.
That really seems to come up a lot, right here on Things You Didn't Know.
(Sound)