Twelve Monkeys - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Twelve Monkeys or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Twelve Monkeys

[tammy]

When Cole is drawing blood from himself, the shadow of a hamster in a hamster wheel can be seen on the wall. This scene would normally be shot in 5 minutes, but took a whole day because the hamster would not move, and Terry Gilliam is such a perfectionist, that he insisted that even this detail should work as intended. For the rest of the production, Gilliam's perfectionism was nicknamed "The Hamster Factor".

[frederick]

Pennsylvania requires only a rear license plate, the shot of the car at the Goines party, where James Cole is underneath, has a front license plate. In 1996 they still only required the rear plate.

[jeffrey]

In one of the 1996 scenes, Dr. Railly gives a lecture about Cassandra, the figure from Greek mythology. When the television adaption 12 Monkeys (2015) was announced, Railly's first name was changed from Kathryn to Cassandra.

[norma]

It was Terry Gilliam's intention to make the film's plot ambiguous and that there are many theories that suggest Cole is simply mad and that none of the events in the future actually happen.

[cameron]

Director Terry Gilliam and producer Charles Roven had several arguments about how the film should end. Gilliam wanted to finish on the shot of Railly looking at young Cole while Roven preferred the scripted final scene in the parking lot outside the airport. In an attempt to dissuade Roven, Gilliam proposed an immensely complex setup involving two cranes on top of one another and a vast sea of cars in the hope that Roven would veto it as being too expensive. Roven not only okayed the shot but Gilliam so loved the result that he used it to end the film.

[fred]

Terry Gilliam's first choice for the lead role was Jeff Bridges, whom he had enjoyed working with on The Fisher King (1991), but the studio wanted a bigger star, so he cast Bruce Willis. Ironically, Willis had originally auditioned for "The Fisher King", but lost out to Bridges.

[violet]

The Army of the Twelve Monkeys is inspired by a passage in L. Frank Baum's novel, "The Magic of Oz", in which the Nome King and Kiki Aru convince twelve monkeys they will have an endless supply of food if they become human soldiers for them.

[darrell]

When Cole wakes up in the future to the doctors singing "Blueberry Hill," the painting above him is "Valley of the Yosemite", by Albert Bierstadt.

[stephanie]

Director Terry Gilliam first met Bruce Willis while casting his film The Fisher King (1991). He was impressed by the sensitivity shown by Willis in the scene from Die Hard (1988) where McClane (Willis) talks about his wife while pulling glass from his feet. Talking to Willis, Gilliam discovered that this part was ad-libbed by Willis. Gilliam remembered this, and was convinced to cast him in this film.

[morris]

Although this was inspired by Chris Marker's classic short, La Jetée (1962), director Terry Gilliam had not seen it when this was made.

[maureen]

David Morse also plays Bruce Willis' nemesis in 16 Blocks (2006).

[miriam]

Most of the actors took a pay cut just so they could get the chance to work with Terry Gilliam.

[bernice]

Features a fresnel (flat) lens, as did Brazil (1985), also directed by Terry Gilliam.

[kylie]

The film takes place in 1917, 1990, 1996 and 2035.

[jim]

When Cole and the doctor are in the movie theater they are watching Vertigo (1958). When Cole wakes up, The Birds (1963) is playing. As Cole leaves the theater, the marquee says Hitchcock Marathon and lists all the movies, but does not include The Birds (1963).

[terry]

The "TV Ball" prop was notoriously problematic, with either the electronics or hydraulics breaking almost every time it was used.

[jeffrey]

In the asylum, when Bruce Willis is sitting at the little table talking to Jeffrey, he is writing with his left hand. Bruce is pretty strict about being a lefty with his directors, even golfing left-handed in Armageddon.

[carl]

When James is escaping from the asylum, he runs past a security guard who is reading a tabloid, its cover is the now famous photo of the fictional "batboy" that was supposedly found in a cave in the 1990s. The story, about a society outcast ahead of his time, was made into an off-Broadway hit musical.

[phyllis]

Some scenes were filmed at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. By some accounts, it was the world's first penitentiary, and it was built in 1829 in an effort to begin treating prisoners more humanely. Despite official good intentions, prisoners were forced to wear hoods whenever they were outside of their cells and all forms of human interactions were forbidden. Silence was absolutely enforced throughout the facility and prisoners were kept completely isolated from the outside world and each other, so naturally many of them came in as delinquents and came out insane (if they came out at all). Unsurprisingly, there are now claims that and even in the 20th century, when the prison became overcrowded and the silence rules were dropped, prisoners couldn't wait to get out of that creepy place.