Iconic Aussie Film Turns 20 Today!

The Castle turns 20 today!

Seriously though, we can't remember a world without quotes like "that's going straight to the pool room". And you know what, we don't want a world without it!

It's very, very well known across all generations, but we did a bit of digging and found 20 things you didn't know about The Castle - one for every year it's been on our TVs.

1. Michael Caton's character, Darryl Kerrigan, has been voted several times as our most beloved Aussie movie character.

He's just so relatable!

2. The Castle started as a thought bubble that developed from a three-hour chat between Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Jane Kennedy - all the Aussie greats!

"A family that lives near an airport, but doesn't want to". That was it. And the rest is history.

3. It's low budget meant that it was a super simple film, and so it really didn't take long to shoot.

Five weeks. That's all. From the first script to the final edit. Just a little over a month. And two of those weeks were just spent writing! All in all, it was just 10 days on set.

4. Santo Cilauro attributes the film's success to Michael Caton's dedication.

He seriously got into the role.

5. This film was Eric Bana's jump from small to big screen

It's the movie that launched him to stardom - nowadays his roles are barely recognisable from the kick-boxing enthusiast Con Petropolos. What a national treasure! (Forget about The Hulk. That never happened.)

6. When the movie plays before 8:30pm, swearwords are censored.

They use the sound of a plane going overhead to disguise the distasteful language. Seems appropriate...

7. The film has two main locations.

Most of the film was shot in Melbourne, but the Bonnie Doon bits? Yeah. They actually went to Bonnie Doon!

8. The High Court is really the Supreme Court

All the scenes in the High Court of Australia are really shot in Victoria's Supreme Court rooms.

9. The real owner of the Kerrigan's house lived in a hotel room during filming

The crew doorknocked homes near the airport until they found someone who agreed to let them use their house. So, as a means to thank the owner, they put him up in a hotel during the time they were using his house.

10. One of the writers, Santo Cilauro's dad is really a lawyer

They used his office as Denis Denuto's office. But then, the sun moved, so they shot half the scenes two doors up in the local chemist. Of course, they didn't want to delay filming.

11. By today's standards, The Castle has a tiny, tiny budget.

$750,000 that's all they used. Still, it's one of Australia's highest grossing films. Certainly one of the most loved.

12. It grossed $10,326,428 in Australia

Which is 13 times its budget.

13. Miramax purchased the rights to film for $6 million dollars.

Six million dollaroos! Tell him he's dreamin'!

14. When it was released in the US, some of the Aussie slang was re-dubbed.

Blasphemy basically...

For example, 'rissoles' became 'meatloaf'. You guys, it's not the same thing!!

15. Several scenes were removed entirely in the US version.

No 'Microwave Jen'. No thank you.

16. The Kerrigans are a combination of traits the writers noticed in their own families.

Writers write from experience.

17. They were given the name 'Kerrigan' as another way to cut down costs

Kerrigan's Towing is a real company, so they used the real vans with the real signs.

18. In a survey in 2010, we Aussies voted The Castle as the best representation of life in Australia.

Call that a knife, hey Crocodile Dundee?  

19. The Aussie version is the best version

You probably knew this one, but it bares the reminder. 

20. It may well be the most quoted film in Aussie production history!

Again, you probably already knew this one.