Why wasn Groundhog Day filmed in Punxsutawney?
I was told that the reason was that Punxsutawney is laid out in a more linear fashion, and the festival is off to the side. In order to make the town look and feel claustrophobic it was important to have the festival set in a town square – that was a big part. It was important for the character to feel claustrophobic, even in the scenes in his room. His room got smaller & smaller throughout the movie. Also, there were better technical facilities available to the crew in Chicago. What made you decide to visit Punxsutawney in 1992? It was Bill (Murray’s) idea. The timing worked out. A couple days before Groundhog Day that year, he called and was surprised that no one involved in the production had been there, and he thought it would be a good idea if he and I went. What was your impression of the festivities? I loved it. I thought the festival was so much fun. It doesn’t start at dawn – it starts the night before and that’s the goofy drama of it. It is a very local affair but everybody k
