Trivia for
Meet the Parents (2000) More at IMDbPro »

• When the urn breaks, Mr. Jinks the cat runs and urinates on Jack's mother's ashes. In The Untouchables (1987), Al Capone, played by Robert De Niro, says he wanted Eliot Ness dead so he could go to his house in the middle of the night and 'piss on his ashes'.
  
  
• Mr. Jinks the cat was played by Mishka.
  
  
• Mr Jinks the cat is, of course, named after the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series of the 50s-60s.
  
  
• Greg's prayer is an excerpt from the song "Day by Day" from Godspell: A Musical Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (1973). In a previous scene set at Oyster Bay Drug and Sundry, an elevator-music version of the song can be heard playing in the store.
  
  
• At one time Jim Carrey was slated to star as the lead and even contributed jokes to the screenplay, such as the main character being named 'Focker'.
  
  
• Before offering a dinner blessing, Ben Stiller says, "... it's not like I'm a rabbi or anything." In his previous movie, Keeping the Faith (2000), he plays a rabbi.
  
  
• Writer Jerry Stahl, whom Ben Stiller portrayed in Permanent Midnight (1998), co-wrote the "cat milking" scene.
  
  
• Spencer Breslin, who starred in The Kid (2000) can be seen as one of Pam's students.
  
  
• The home video footage of Teri Polo during the opening credits was filmed by her ex-husband Tony Moore.
  
  
• Westchester County Regional Airport in New York State was used to portray O'Hare and LaGuardia.
  
  
• The Victor Talbot's tuxedo store in the film is located in Greenvale, New York.
  
  
• The scenes at the "Surf and Turf" restaurant were filmed at a Port Washington, NY restaurant called "Louie's". The car racing scenes between Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro were also filmed in downtown Port Washington. Also, the scene where Stiller and De Niro go shopping is in Port Washington at Salem Drugs.
  
  
• As Greg is holding the cat on the roof, the soundtrack pays homage to the theme of Vertigo (1958).
  
  
• According to the DVD commentary, the car chase scene was originally meant to be a spoof of Ronin (1998). When the filmmakers go to the location, they saw how quickly the lights changed, realized it would be a funnier joke, and rewrote the scene (the lights really do change from green to red as fast as they are shown in the movie).
  
  
• Christopher Walken was the second choice for Jack Byrnes.
  
  
• According to Teri Polo, in the scene where she and Ben Stiller are making out on her bed and he fondles her breast, she stuffed cookies into her bra as a gag.
  
  
• Jack's Thai is extremely poor and he is constantly repeating the word "What?" making it seem like it's a longer conversation than it is. Thais applaud Robert De Niro's effort however.
  
  
• John Hamburg, Ben Stiller's preferred screenwriter, did an uncredited rewrite during production.
  
  
• Greg's MCAT scores are (out of 15): 14 Verbal reasoning, 13 Physical Sciences, 15 Biological Sciences, and an R on the Writing Sample (very high).
  
  
• The MPAA would not allow the name 'Focker' unless the film makers could find an actual person with that surname.
  
  
• Julia Stiles auditioned for the part of Pam, but dropped out due to filming 10 Things I Hate About You (1999).
  
  
• The burglary alarm system at Jack's house is of a Magnum Alert MA1000e type.
  
  
• Jack's knowledge of code names (Foxtrot, Oscar, Charlie, Kilo, Echo, Romeo, aka Focker) is all accurate.
  
  
• James Rebhorn and Thomas McCarthy both appeared in two espionage thrillers of 2009 that starred Clive Owen. Rebhorn in The International (2009/I). McCarthy in Duplicity (2009).
  
  

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