Trivia / Monster House

• Artist Disillusionment: Apparently it had enough for one of the screenwriters, Dan Harmon, to write an apology letter, citing that Executive Meddling had made the movie scarier than intended. The letter also took the opportunity to call Spielberg and company morons regarding decisions made that Harmon was clearly unhappy with.
• Celebrity Voice Actor: In the Japanese dub, Chowder is voiced by film and TV actor Shun Miyazato, Jenny is voiced by actress Satomi Ishihara, and Horace Nebbercracker is voiced by folk singer-songwriter Shigeru Izumiya.
• Creator Backlash: Dan Harmon admitted that he was dissatisfied with the film's final result.
• Defictionalization: The game depicted inside the movie (Thou Art Dead) exists and is entirely playable, though it's not an arcade game; It was playable on Sony Picture's website and is playable in the game based on the movie.
• Dawson Casting: Mitchel Musso was 14 years old when he played 12 year old DJ.
• Executive Meddling: Per word of Dan Harmon, producer Steven Spielberg and director Gil Kenan made the final product scarier in tone than he had wanted and forced in the scene expanding on Constance's origin and death against his wishes. Considering the film is in fact called Monster House and the backstory is actually very important to the plot, some fans of the film would see their influence as a good thing. Ironically, this was in addition to executive decisions made to make the film less disturbing, such as having all of the house's victims show up alive and well during the credits and rejecting Harmon's original idea to have the house be full of human organs.
• Follow the Leader: Critic Todd McCarthy accused the movie of copying Harry Potter, saying that D.J. was Harry, Chowder was Ron and Jenny was Hermione. In a sense, it’s not too unfounded, considering the film has a trio of kids (two boys, one girl) in a supernatural scenario.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Last time Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, and Kathleen Turner worked on a movie together, Turner played the extremely thin sex symbol Jessica Rabbit. Here she plays the opposite, an extremely overweight woman who’s mocked for having looks that don't conform to society's standards.
• Missing Trailer Scene: The scene where the house eats the police car whole with its tongue shown in the trailers is never seen in the final film.
• Real-Life Relative: In the Latin-American Spanish dub, DJ and Chowder are played by real-life brothers Alejandro and Luis Fernando Orozco.
• What Could Have Been:
  • One piece of concept art◊ has Zee standing outside the police car while the kids are in the backseat, with the tree starting to pick her up to suck her inside the house. This was ultimately dropped from the film.
  • Another piece of concept art◊ implied that originally Officer Lister was supposed to be the Straight Man cop while Officer Landers was the rookie. In the final film their dynamic is switched.
  • In Dan Harmon's original draft of the film, the house was full of human organs.
  • Originally, Jenny was the one who was to come nose-to-nose with Constance.
  • The DVD feature concept art of scenes that didn't make it in the film:
    • One of them shows Mr. Nebbercracker putting the Little Girl's Tricycle in the Basement.
    • Another one shows him spying on DJ when his Parents leave
    • A flashback scene show how Bones lost his Kite.
    • A Pizza Van (possibly Skull's) parks in front of Nebbercracker's House with a flaming object falling on the Lawn.
    • Jenny goes to the Library to look up Nebbercracker's House.
    • Jenny was making a Slingshot with D.J. watching her while sitting in a Car.
    • The scene of DJ, Jenny, and Chowder exploring the house was originally extended it included Chowder wondering away from DJ and Jenny, DJ, Jenny, and Chowder in the Kitchen and Jenny pointing her Water Gun at the Refrigator, and another shows Pipes coming to live in the Hallways. Chowder is seen falling through a Bed with the Springs coming to live. DJ would've come upon the Furnace believing its the Source of Life, only to find out its not and then it lights up with Fire.
    • A scene then shows Nebbercracker in DJ's house with a cup of Coffee talking to DJ.

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