‘Groundhog Day’ movie was almost filmed in Baraboo

BARABOO, Wis. (WMTV) - Location scouts for the movie “Groundhog Day” considered filming the 1993 comedy in Baraboo, Wisconsin, but chose a town closer to Chicago.

Location Manager Bob Hudgins reflected on the film’s production Thursday in honor of its 30th anniversary. Before the movie’s production, he recalled touring 60 Midwest cities with town squares that mirrored Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

”We ended up going through the middle of Wisconsin in Baraboo of all places which whimsical is the big word for Baraboo,” Hudgins said. ”We had lunch on the square, we walked around the square once and Harold turned to me and said, ‘Hey is there a town square closer to Chicago?’”

The film follows a meteorologist played by Bill Murray who is stuck in a time loop on Groundhog Day. Murray and Harold Ramis’s families lived in Chicago, so they picked Woodstock, Illinois, for the location to be closer to home.

Barabooians said the film crew missed out on a great community.

“You come here and you just feel like you’re at home,” Chandler Fraser said.

”I’m a townie... I live right downtown,” Jacqueline Alwin said. “Everyone is super close and we try to look out for each other. It’s nice!”

”It’s like a family,” Trisha Churchill said. “Everybody takes care of everybody.”

If you missed Punxsutawney Phil’s reading, the critter predicted six more weeks of winter during the Pennsylvania town’s annual Groundhog Day celebration. Sun Prairie’s very own Jimmy the Groundhog also saw his shadow, bringing big cheers to winter lovers in the crowd.

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