Whittier – IAMNOTASTALKER

August 20, 2018August 20, 2018

The Wormwood Home from “Matilda”

Every time I open up Instagram lately I’m inundated with videos of the so-called “Matilda Challenge.” For those whose feeds haven’t been flooded by the clips, in the challenge fans of the 1996 film re-create this scene in which Matilda Wormwood (Mara Wilson) perfects her magic powers. Though I’ve never seen the movie (or read the 1988 Roald Dahl novel on which it was based), I did stalk the home where Matilda lived with her parents, Harry (Danny DeVito) and Zinnia (Rhea Perlman), and her brother, Michael (Brian Levinson), in it a few years back. The challenge served as a reminder that I somehow never blogged about the place and, being that there’s no time like the present, here goes!

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I first learned about the Wormwoods’ zany ranch-style residence via this image posted by fellow stalker Tony Hoffarth on his fabulous Flickr filming locations page. I immediately became fixated on the unique property, especially its cantilevered front steps, rock detailing, and double-peaked roof. Though I knew from Tony’s photo comparison that the actual home barely resembles its onscreen self, I ran right out to stalk it nonetheless.

In person, the dwelling is much more ordinary and non-descript than it appeared in Matilda, with a muted color palate and an abundance of foliage. Missing are the Wormwoods’ tanbark and rock front yard and odd decorative paneling, as well as many of the other elements that made it so eccentric onscreen.

The most glaring difference between the real house and its movie counterpart, though, is the front porch area. As you can see in my photos, while the Wormwood home has a flush front with a central window, the actual pad boasts a recessed entrance.

Several palm trees are planted in the space and the roof above it has an opening through which said palm trees grow.

There are also two dormer windows which sit behind the roof cutout, as well as a wrought iron gate enclosing it all. None of these elements are present in the film.

The property looks so different from the Wormwood pad that when I first sat down to make screen captures for this post, I thought Tony may have pinpointed the wrong locale. The dormer windows (which have to be fake being that the house is one-story) especially threw me for a loop – though, truth be told, it wasn’t the first time faux dormers figured into a filming locations hunt. Thanks to street signs visible in the background of a few scenes, though, as well as landmarks such as neighboring homes that were easily identifiable, I was able to verify his information. 15811 Youngwood Drive in Whittier did indeed portray the Wormwood residence. I am unsure if the many differences we are seeing today are the result of renovations done by the homeowners in the 22+ years since Matilda was lensed or if the dwelling was altered significantly by the production team for the shoot and then restored to its original state after filming wrapped, but I am guessing the latter.

In real life, the 1965 pad features 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2,366 square feet of living space, and a 0.46-acre plot of land.

The property does boast one fantastical, Matilda-esque element – an ornate leaf-covered wrought iron mailbox. I am unsure if it is original to the home or a left-over set piece, though.

The first time I scanned through the movie, I did not see the mailbox pop up at all, so I assumed it was an element authentic to the house. But during a second viewing I noticed the piece – painted red – in the very background of the scene in which Matilda confronts some FBI agents searching her parents’ garage. If the mailbox was just a set piece added for the shoot, I’d think it would have been made more visible and prominent throughout the flick, which leads me to believe it is actually genuine to the home.

Either way, the mailbox is one of the most fabulous I’ve ever encountered.

I am 99.9% certain that only the home’s exterior was utilized in the filming and that the interior of the Wormwood pad was a studio-built set.

And what a magical set it was! Production designer Bill Brzerski truly created a masterpiece with the Wormwoods’ congested, over-the-top, gaudy décor. Amazingly, Matilda was Brzerski’s inaugural feature film job! Talk about hitting it out of the park your first time up! You can read an interesting article about how he got started in the business here.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Tony Hoffarth for finding this location. Smile You can check out his Flickr page here.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Wormwood home from Matilda is located at 15811 Youngwood Drive in Whittier.

July 3, 2017June 29, 2017

The Fourth of July Parade Location from “The Wonder Years” Finale

Americans nationwide will be gathering together tomorrow to celebrate the birth of our country. So what better time than today to write about a location related to the holiday? Back in late 2015, I stalked the street where Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) and his family and friends attended a July 4th parade in the final episode of The Wonder Years, Season 6’s “Independence Day.” Filming of the nostalgic – and, let’s face it, incredibly sad – scene, which was the second to last of the entire series, took place on Greenleaf Avenue in Uptown Whittier. Though I had planned on blogging about the picturesque street last year in honor of the Fourth, I somehow completely forgot to do so. Then, in a rather fortuitous turn, I randomly came across my images of the site while going through old photographs a couple of days ago. Talk about perfect timing!

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Uptown Whittier was originally established in 1887.

The charming business district, which is centered around tree-lined Greenleaf Avenue, boasts shops, boutiques, restaurants, bars, cafes, and a historic theatre.

The district also boasts quite a few historically significant spots, including the National Bank of Whittier Building at 13006 Philadelphia Street. Constructed in 1923 by architects John and David Parkinson, the Beaux Arts-style structure was the site of Richard Nixon’s first law office.

Greenleaf Avenue could not be more idyllic and perfectly encapsulates that Smalltown, U.S.A. feel, especially when viewed through a camera lens.

It is not very hard to see why location managers have flocked there over the years.

I first learned of Greenleaf Avenue’s appearance in The Wonder Years finale thanks to the Tourist Inspiration website, which I came across while researching locations during my binge of the series back in 2014. The website states, “The parade scene in the final episode of The Wonder Years was filmed at the corner of Greenleaf Avenue and Philadelphia Street. Kevin is standing under the awning of Rocky Cola Café. He crosses Philadelphia to meet Paul (Josh Saviano) as a parade goes by.” I immediately added the information to my To-Stalk List without doing any verification of it, which was an unfortunate mistake. As I discovered when I sat down to write this post, Tourist Inspiration’s data is as erroneous as that pesky rumor that Saviano grew up to become Marilyn Manson. Not only did Kevin not cross a street to reach Paul in “Independence Day,” but he also never stood in front of the Rocky Cola Café. In the parade scene, Kevin sidles up to Paul outside of what is now Pour Le Bain at 6721 Greenleaf Avenue. (Sadly, because of the erroneous info, I took photos of the wrong areas of Greenleaf while I was there, so you’ll have to make due with some Street View imagery in this post.)

Kevin and Paul – and Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar), who is also in tow – then head over to where the Arnold family is waiting, on the sidewalk in front of the small park-like space situated in between what is now La Monarca Bakery, at 6727 Greenleaf, and Mimo’s Café, at 6735 Greenleaf.

That area is pictured below via Street View.

The group then proceeds to watch the parade while standing in front of what is now Legends Boardshop, at 6725 Greenleaf.

As I mentioned above, Greenleaf Avenue has long been popular with location scouts. In 1987’s Masters of the Universe, He-Man (Dolph Lundgren) searches for a portal-opening cosmic key on Greenleaf.

After finding out they are going to have a baby in 1995’s Father of the Bride Part II, George (Steve Martin) and Nina Banks (Diane Keaton) drive down Greenleaf and watch various parent-child interactions.

Greenleaf is also the road Franck Eggelhoffer (Martin Short) speeds down on the way to the hospital at the end of the film.

Greenleaf is the site of Wendy Carroll’s (Ashley Williams) candy shop in Lifetime’s 2013 made-for-television movie Christmas in the City.

Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) re-create Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” music video on Greenleaf in the Season 6 episode of Glee titled “The Hurt Locker: Part 1,” which aired in 2015.

The upcoming movie Spinning Man also did some filming on Greenleaf Avenue.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Fourth of July parade from the “Independence Day” episode of The Wonder Years was filmed on the 6700 block of Greenleaf Avenue in Whittier, in front of what is now Pour Le Bain (6721 Greenleaf), Legends Boardshop (6725 Greenleaf), and the small park-like space located in between La Monarca Bakery (6727 Greenleaf) and Mimo’s Café (6735 Greenleaf).

October 31, 2016September 29, 2017

The Los Angeles Filming Locations of “Hocus Pocus”

It’s finally here, folks! The day I wait for all year long. Halloween! I hope all of my fellow stalkers have a fabulous, spooky and safe holiday! I figured what better way to celebrate my favorite day than with a post about one of the world’s most beloved Halloween movies, Hocus Pocus. Last week, my friend Katie detailed the Salem, Massachusetts locations featured in the 1993 flick, so I thought I would write about a few of its L.A. locales. Yep, that’s right – portions of the film were lensed right here in Los Angeles!

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A couple of years ago, I came across a Whittier Daily News article that chronicled the various filming that had taken place in the city over the years. I was shocked to learn that Hocus Pocus was shot in the area. At the time, I was under the impression that the movie had been lensed solely in Salem, but as the column stated, in December 1992, HP did some filming “in and around Central Park with inside shots at the Uptown YMCA.” So I immediately popped in my DVD and started scanning through it. While I did not see any scenes that looked to have taken place at the YMCA or in Central Park (as I later found out thanks to this article, the park scene was cut), I did notice an address number of 6536 posted above the door of the Victorian-style house where the Devil (Garry Marshall) lived with The Master’s Wife (Penny Marshall).

Feeling lucky, I did a Google search for “Victorian house,” “Whittier,” and “6536” and one of the first results kicked back was an article on the Historic Whittier Homes website about a residence located at 6536 Friends Avenue. Sure enough, the images shown matched the Devil’s house to a T. As it turns out, the dwelling is situated along the eastern side of Central Park, which is also known as Friends Park.

The picturesque property only popped up briefly in Hocus Pocus, in the scene in which the Sanderson Sisters – Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy) – inadvertently find themselves on the doorstep of a hapless man dressed up as the devil on Halloween night. Thinking he is their master, the witches head inside to do his bidding. The man’s wife is having none of it, though, and quickly boots the three sisters.

The residence looks much the same today as it did when Hocus Pocus was filmed back in late 1992.

I am unsure if interiors were also filmed inside the home or if those segments were lensed elsewhere.

The same pad also served as the residence of Rita Robbins (Glenne Headly) in the 1996 comedy Sgt. Bilko.

In real life, the Devil’s house was constructed in 1911 and boasts 4 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1,792 square feet of living space, and a 0.16-acre lot. According to the Historic Whittier Homes website, the dwelling has been featured in 7 movies, including Hocus Pocus, though, aside from Sgt. Bilko, I am unsure of what the others are.

After identifying the Devil’s pad, I decided to do some further digging and discovered that another scene was filmed just two doors down – a very brief set-up scene in which extras dressed in costume were shown trick-or-treating.

The property featured in that segment is another gorgeous Victorian, originally built in 1896.

The colorful 2,512-square-foot dwelling boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, tin ceilings, stained glass windows, wood moldings, hardwood flooring, and a fireplace. You can check out some interior images of it here.

A further search of “Hocus Pocus” “filming,” and “Whittier,” led me to a post about the movie on the Life at Cloverhill website in which a commenter named Efrain stated that interior school scenes were shot at East Whittier Middle School. While I have never stalked the school, I believe that information to be correct.

I found a video about East Whittier that was filmed in one of the school’s actual classrooms and, as you can see above and below, that classroom appears to be a direct match to the Hocus Pocus classroom.

The archways visible outside of the French doors in the movie also seem to match those of East Whittier.

As I mentioned in my February 2016 post for the Mike the Fanboy website, some Hocus Pocus filming also took place at Warner Bros. Ranch. The park where Dani (Thora Birch), Allison (Vinessa Shaw) and Max (Omri Katz) celebrated the supposed death of the Sanderson Sisters towards the end of the movie is located at the Ranch. As I also mentioned in my Mike the Fanboy post, the park, and its fountain, should be recognizable to Friends fans – they were featured each week in the hit series’ opening credits.

The house visible behind Max in the scene is none other than the Griswold residence from Christmas Vacation, though it looks quite a bit different today than it did when both Hocus Pocus and CV were shot.

Warner Bros. Ranch makes another appearance in Hocus Pocus. It is on the lot’s Blondie Street that Sarah haphazardly drove a city bus. (And what do you know? There’s the Griswold house again!)

I was thrilled to discover during a recent re-watch of the movie that the interior Halloween party scenes were shot at a place I am very familiar with – The MacArthur. Formerly known as the Park Plaza Hotel, the oft-filmed site has popped up in hundreds upon hundreds of productions over the years. I toured the space as a possible wedding venue back in 2009 and became quite enamored with it.

Filming of the Halloween party scene took place in The MacArthur’s Elks Hall, a grand room featuring sweeping archways, carved wooden columns, and ornate chandeliers.

And last, but not least is a location I just now figured out! While scanning through the movie making screen captures for this post, I almost fell out of my chair when I realized that the interior of Allison’s mansion was none other than the interior of the Crank House, aka the Omega Beta Zeta house from Scream 2, aka the Strong residence from Catch Me If You Can! As you can see in the screen captures below, the interior shown in Catch Me If You Can matches the inside of Allison’s mansion perfectly! I had always wondered where the interiors of Allison’s residence were shot, so I am floored to have finally figured it out! You can read a more in-depth post on the Crank House here.

I am fairly certain that a few other Hocus Pocus scenes were shot in L.A., including the trick-or-treating segments pictured below, but as of yet I have not been able to figure out where. If any of my fellow stalkers happen to know, please fill me in!

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For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Devil’s house from Hocus Pocus is located at 6536 Friends Avenue in Whittier. The residence from the movie’s trick-or-treating scene can be found two doors down at 6546 Friends Avenue. East Whittier Middle School, where the interior school scenes were filmed, is located at 14421 Whittier Boulevard. Warner Bros. Ranch, where Dani and Allison celebrated the supposed death of the Sanderson Sisters, can be found at 411 North Hollywood Way in Burbank. The MacArthur, where the interior Halloween party scenes were shot, is located at 607 Park View Street in Westlake. And the Crank House, which was used as the interior of Allison’s mansion, can be found at 2186 East Crary Street in Altadena.

January 25, 2012January 24, 2012

George’s Childhood Home from “Blow”

This past Saturday morning, after waking up to a torrential downpour and then waiting a few hours for it to pass, the Grim Cheaper suggested that we head south to the city of Whittier to do some stalking of Whittier High School, aka Hill Valley High School from Back to the Future, which, amazingly enough, in all my years of stalking I had yet to visit. And I should mention here that while I do absolutely love me some BTTF and have stalked quite a few of its locales, I have yet to blog about any of them as The Big Waste of Space Photologue features a Back to the Future Tour in which each and every one of the movie’s sites is painstakingly documented. I have long been of the opinion that, unless I have something to add to the mix, there is no reason to blog about places that have already been reported on and since BTTF has been done, and done quite well, I figure my stalking “talents” are best left to more uncharted territory. Anyway, the GC and I had an absolute blast stalking Whittier High School and while I might do a blog on my experiences there sometime in the future, for now I thought I would write about the other places we visited, one of which was the childhood home of George Jung (Johnny Depp) from the 2001 movie Blow.

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While doing some stalking on Painter Avenue in the Whittier Historic Neighborhood Association area, I happened to run into a homeowner who informed me that one of the properties on a nearby street had been used as George’s childhood home in Blow. And while she did not remember the exact property used, she pointed me in the right direction. From there, I contacted Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to see if he would email me some screen caps of the residence in question so that I could attempt to track it down while I was in the area. Mike’s response? “Oh, I know where that house is – it’s at 6216 Friends Avenue.” LOL I really should have known – if a property has anything to do with filming and is located anywhere in the vicinity of greater Los Angeles, chances are Mike is going to know about it. So, with the address firmly in hand, I immediately dragged the GC right on over there. On our way, I just had to pull over and take a picture with the Friends Avenue street sign – for reasons that should be imminently clear to all of my fellow stalkers. Winking smile LOVE IT!

George’s childhood home, where he lives with parents Ermine Jung (Rachel Griffiths) and Fred Jung (Ray Liotta) and which is said to be located in Weymouth, Massachusetts, shows up quite a few times in Blow. It first pops up at the very beginning of the movie in the scene in which George is describing his background to the audience.

It is next featured in the scene in which George skips bail to go see his parents after the death of his girlfriend, Barbara Buckley (Franka Potente). While there, Ermine calls the police on him and he winds up being rearrested.

It later appears in the scene in which George visits his parents yet again in order to tell them that he is going on the lam and might not be in touch for a while.

And it lastly pops up towards the end of the movie in the scene in which Fred listens to a message that George has tape-recorded for him.

In real life, the Blow house, which was originally built in 1924, boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 2,734 square feet of living space. And while it does look similar to how it appeared onscreen, I actually much prefer the color scheme from the movie to the colors it is currently painted.

And while I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the residence was also used in the filming, I was unable to find any interior photographs of the house online with which to verify that hunch.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for telling me about this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: George’s childhood home from Blow is located at 6216 Friends Avenue in Whittier.