Trivia / DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story

• Creator Couple: Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor are married.
• The Danza: Justin Long as Justin Redman.
• Defictionalization: Starting in 2017, as a response to the still-popular "The Ocho" joke, ESPN has devoted August 8th (normally a slow day in sports) to turning one of their channels into "ESPN8", airing 24 hours of oddball sports like trampoline dodgeball, competitive juggling, kabbadi, bossaball, video game tournaments, and even lightsaber dueling, concluding with airings of this movie. The promotion initially started on college channel ESPNU but in 2018, made its way to its original inspiration, ESPN2, formerly nicknamed "The Deuce." In 2020, it aired in March thanks to COVID-19; for 2021, it returned to a more normal date, but aired on Friday, August 6 (even in a slow time on the North American sports calendar, Sunday is a bit more busy than Friday). In 2023, ESPN launched ESPN8 as a free ad-supported streaming television channel.
• Deleted Scene:
  • After winning the match by himself when he saw his wife flirting with another man, Gordon divorces her on the spot, much to the delight of his kids.
  • Just before the cheerleading match, Justin sees Derek in a full-body cast.
  • White is put in the circle of shame for hitting Kate after she was already tagged out.
• DVD Commentary: The unrated DVD contains a fake commentary where Ben Stiller and two main actors do nothing but fight, as well as claim to hate each other, before storming out forty minutes in. The commentary is then replaced with the commentary for There's Something About Mary. The real commentary is on the DVD as an Easter egg.
• Enforced Method Acting: Of the unintentional variety. Arguably the funniest moment in the movie is when Patches hits Justin in the head with a wrench. However the rubber wrenches were still pretty hard and it actually cut Justin Long. His initial reaction is quite genuine. The ensuing rolling around and yelling "oh my god" was embellished as he went with it. They subsequently used softer foam rubber wrenches.
• Focus Group Ending: The film is a spoof of the Sports Story Tropes. This was reflected in the original ending, which spoofed the trope Underdogs Never Lose by having the heroes lose the final round to the Jerkass villain, only for one of their number to win big in Vegas and recover some of their losses. The suits didn't like this and insisted that the heroes win. In response, the director created an overly-complicated ending with an obviously labelled Deus ex Machina, and a scene in the credits shows the villain whining that he only lost because "audiences can't cope with anything challenging". The DVD has an "alternate ending" which gives insight into how the original might have gone; if it were genuine, it would have been the cruelest ending ever.
• Follow the Leader: After this movie's success, there were a bunch of comedy films that put focus on obscure sports — figure skating, table tennis, underground drinking competitions...
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Not to the film, which was given a wide release in theatres and on home media— but to the soundtrack, which was never given an official release and features Theodore Shapiro's excellently breezy score (as well as the ass-kicking "Face Off", composed by Tom Morello).
• Looping Lines: Gary Cole and Jason Bateman had to keep redoing their voice recordings for the dodgeball matches, because everyone kept changing stuff in the screenplay during the shoots.
• Playing Against Type: Jason Bateman's role is one of his few that is not an uptight Straight Man. Also, Ben Stiller's role as White Goodman is a change from his usual roles as a hapless everyman Butt-Monkey, although he plays a similar fitness-obsessed villain in Heavyweights and an abusive retirement home orderly in Happy Gilmore. Downplayed with Vince Vaughn, where he is somewhat sarcastic, he's also the Only Sane Man.
• The Red Stapler: Adult dodgeball leagues began to spring up across the country around the time of the movie's release. Gary Cole was even invited to a tournament in Chicago.
• Separated-at-Birth Casting: In the 1950s dodgeball documentary, Hank Azaria has a brief cameo as a young Patches O'Houlihan. Amusingly, Patches' actor Rip Torn actually did look quite a bit like Hank Azaria in his younger days.
• Star-Making Role: They're not exactly superstars, but Justin Long, Alan Tudyk, and Joel David Moore were barely well-known before this movie. After they became easily recognized character actors. It also elevated Vince Vaughn to marketable leading man.
• What Could Have Been: Brigitte Nielsen was briefly considered for the role of Fran.
• Working Title: Underdog.

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