The scenes where Chris Penn's character had to learn how to dance were added to the script because Penn really could not dance.
In a 2013 interview with Howard Stern, Kevin Bacon admitted that he actually has tipped DJs at weddings not to play "Footloose". He stated that people expect him to dance to the song as he did in the movie. In truth, while he did do some of the dancing, there was also a dancing double for him.
Loosely based on events that took place in the small, rural, and extremely religious farming town of Elmore City, Oklahoma in 1978. Dancing had been banned for nearly ninety years, until a group of high school teenagers challenged it.
The dancing feet in the opening credit sequence contained many of the cast and crew. Over 150 different pairs of feet were shot. The dancer with the gold shoes was Kenny Loggins.