Trivia for
Bowling for Columbine (2002) More at IMDb Pro »

• In May 2002, became first documentary to compete in the Cannes Film Festival's main competition in 46 years.
  
  
• After two years of trying to get an interview with Charlton Heston, Michael Moore was going to give up. Showing up at Heston's house was totally spontaneous - on the way to the airport, a staff member suggested that they find his house using a star map.
  
  
• Formerly highest-grossing documentary of all time. The highest-grossing documentary is now Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), also by Michael Moore, which made more in its opening weekend than this movie did in its entire run.
  
  

• Because the film didn't fit neatly into any established categories at Cannes, the Jury created a special 55th Anniversary Award just for the film.
  
  
• At the Cannes film festival, the movie received a standing ovation that lasted 13 minutes.
  
  
• In 2003 became the first documentary to be nominated for and then to win a WGA Award for its screenplay.
  
  
• When the movie won the Best Documentary award at the Oscars, Michael Moore sparked a controversy by denouncing the George W. Bush administration on stage.
  
  
• The first rough cut of the film ran about six hours.
  
  
• Contrary to the news media, Columbine High School was never located within the city of Littleton, Colorado. Littleton is actually the mailing address only. Columbine High School is actually located four miles west of the Littleton city limits in unincorporated Jefferson County (still the suburbs), and is part of Jefferson County Public Schools, not Littleton Public Schools.
  
  
• After Charlton Heston abruptly ended the interview, Michael Moore and his film crew walked down Heston's driveway to find themselves temporarily trapped as the gate closed. Fearing that Heston may have called someone to try and confiscate the interview footage, Moore had his cameraman pass the film through the bars of the gate to staffers waiting outside. Moore then told the staffers to depart immediately with the film. Moore and his crew eventually left Heston's estate without incident.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Michael Moore] [flint] The elementary school that Moore visits is in Flint, Michigan
  
  
• The quote of Charlton Heston saying "From my cold dead hands!" was from the NRA convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, in spring 2000.
  
  
• Contrary to popular belief, "South Park" (1997) creator Trey Parker and co-creator Matt Stone had nothing to do with the animated section of this film.
  
  
• The "Willie Horton" ad from the Bush-Quayle campaign shown during the film is actually two separate ads spliced together. The footage was removed from the VHS version of the film, but not the DVD.
  
  
• Contrary to popular belief, "South Park" (1997) creator Trey Parker and co-creator Matt Stone had nothing to do with the animated section of this film. Stone was enraged, believing that the impression that they had done the animated section was intentional. For that reason, Moore was portrayed in an amazing negative fashion in Parker and Stone's film Team America: World Police (2004).
  
  

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