‘Adventureland’ shines movie spotlight on Kennywood theme park

When “Adventureland” opens in theaters this weekend, the coming-of-age movie starring Jesse Eisenberg (”The Squid and the Whale”) and Kristen Stewart (”Twilight”) will feature a 111-year-old Pittsburgh-area theme park in the title role: Kennywood.

“Superbad” writer Greg Mottola based the R-rated comedy set at an amusement park in the summer of 1987 on his own youthful misadventures as an employee at the real-world Adventureland on New York’s Long Island.

The “Adventureland” crew, which shot the film over a three-month period during Kennywood’s shoulder season in fall 2007, chose the vintage park for its retro look.

“The real Adventureland is much too modern,” said Kennywood spokesman Jeff Filicko. “Kennywood is still a very nostalgic park with a traditional feel.”

For the story’s sake, Filicko said, the filmmakers took many liberties — from the rigged carnival games to the stale corndogs to the rundown look of the theme park.

“There’s definitely a difference between the movie magic and reality,” said Filicko, who saw a preview of “Adventureland.” “It’s not an accurate depiction of Kennywood. Things are run a little differently here.”

With about half the movie’s scenes set at the theme park, several of Kennywood’s classic wooden roller coasters played a starring role — including the 1921 Jack Rabbit, the 1924 Thunderbolt and the 1927 Racer.

The park’s Musik Express flat ride figures in one of the film’s signature gags, in which employees must endure an endless loop of two grating 1980s pop songs: “Rock Me Amadeus” by Falco and “Let the Music Play” by Shannon.

During another scene, Eisenberg and Stewart steal away for a romantic ride on the Gran Prix bumper cars, with an onboard camera recording the action.

To accommodate one shot, filmmakers adjusted the ride time on the spinning Wipeout from two minutes to 10 minutes, causing several movie extras to throw up.

The 1927 handcrafted carousel, which served as a backdrop during a fight scene, unfortunately ended up on the cutting-room floor.

Keen Kennywood regulars will notice a few irregularities in the movie version of the theme park, including a manager’s office built on the midway and an Adventureland entrance curiously erected in Kennywood’s parking lot.

Kennywood, which is still closed for the off-season, will host an “Adventureland” movie character look-alike contest on opening day (May 2).

Still no word yet on whether Kennywood will offer “Adventureland” T-shirts or the movie theme park’s ultimate plush prize — a crudely named Giant Panda.

Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the
Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland

— Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times staff writer

Photos: Kennywood

Permalink | E-mail | Print | Add to My Trips

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 6:53 am by Brady MacDonald and is filed under Celebrity, East Coast, Family & Kids, Theme Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.