“Well, it’s Groundhog Day, again.” For many, February 2nd doesn’t just mark the day we superstitiously ask a groundhog whether there will be six more weeks of winter, but it’s also the day we laugh at the 1993Bill Murraycomedy,Groundhog Day. Who doesn’t love this movie? It’s both hilarious and inspired, with plenty of memorable lines and laugh-out-loud sequences that will have you ready to take out a few life insurance policies by the end. Of course, all of this only occurs because Phil Connors (Murray) is trapped in the instantly recognizable Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the small town that hosts the annual festival. But wasGroundhog Dayactually shot in the real-life town of Punxsutawney?
‘Groundhog Day’ Was Not Filmed in Punxsutawney, PA
Each day, as Phil re-lives the same 24-hour period, we learn more about the local inhabitants of Punxsutawney, so much so that, by the end (which was originally very different), Phil feels a deep and profound connection to the town. When he and Rita (Andie MacDowell) finally get to February 3rd, Phil has grown particularly attached to it in all the years he spent in a time-loop (yes, we did say years). Considering how much ofGroundhog Dayfocuses on Punxsutawney the town, it’s almost shocking that it wasn’t shot there. Instead,Harold Ramis filmed the picture in Woodstock, Illinois, and for a pretty simple reason: it just looked better. It’s hard to argue with that.
“We didn’t use Punxsutawney for the film because Punxsutawney itself didn’t have a real town center that looked very good on camera, so we wanted a town that looked perfect, so the town you’ll see is Woodstock, IL,” Ramis explained in the film’s director’s commentary, as recorded byGroundhog Days. He continued:
“We scouted all of southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois looking for the perfect town, and we pulled into Woodstock just the way the van pulls into town in the movie. It was the last town we saw, and we looked at this little town square and thought ‘aw’, this is perfect.”
Of course, Ramis was right. Essential to everything aboutGroundhog Dayis the town itself, which needed to be small, easy to navigate, and look appealing to those watching.
Bill Murray and Harold Ramis Fought Over ‘Groundhog Day’
Thankfully, their story has a happy ending.
Whether you love each morning and night that Phil spends at the local bed and breakfast just outside of town, or prefer the diner location where Phil loads up on everything on the menu,many of Woodstock’s filming locations still stand today. According toMovie Locations, the spot where Phil runs into “Needle Nose” Ned Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky) each day now has a plaque dedicated to the film in place of an icy pothole. While the main Groundhog Day celebration with the real Punxsutawney Phil always takes place on February 2nd in the actual Pennsylvania town, Woodstock also hosts an annual Groundhog Day celebration from January 30th to February 2nd in honor of the 1993 film.
The People of Punxsutawney Thought Ramis Made the Right Choice for ‘Groundhog Day’
According to theGroundhog Daydirector’s commentary, even the local delegates from the actual Punxsutawney (who aided the director in ensuring the ceremony was handled correctly) thought thatRamis made the right choiceby choosing Woodstock. “They were very jealous that the movie wasn’t shot in Punxsutawney,” the director first noted, “butwhen they saw Woodstock they thought it looked better than their town.” Again, it’s not hard to see why. In the fictional Punxsutawney (unlike the actual Pennsylvanian town), most of the action happens in the same space. While the real Punxsutawney’s Gobbler’s Knob islocated just southeast of the town, the one as seen in the film can be found in the town’s main square (the center of all Groundhog Day activities to this day).
When speaking withVariety,Katie Donald, the executive director of the real-lifePunxutawney Groundhog Club, reiterated that whilethe townspeople were likely disappointed at first, they eventually understood. “Punxsutawney is depicted as a cute, quaint, clean small town,” Donald stated, “and that’s what we think we are.” Indeed, that’s exactly the sort of idea we get, too,whenever revisitingGroundhog Day. It’s no wonder that, by the end of the film, Phil is so enamored by the small town that he even suggests moving there. While we may have broken your allusions concerning what the real Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania is like if your only experience with the town iswatching the Bill Murray film, rest assured that the iconic locations you remember from the film still exist, if only in Woodstock, Illinois.
Groundhog Day
