YOOPER TERMINOLOGY
-PASTIES: The traditional foodstuff at the Soady deer camp, and food commonly associated with Yooper culture.
-LEINENKUGEL'S BEER: Remnar brings a case to deer camp, a reminder of Escanaba's proximity to Wisconsin, where Leinenkugel's is produced.
-MACKINAC BRIDGE: Simply referred to as "the Bridge" throughout the film, the bridge that connects Michigan's peninsulas.
-MACKINAC ISLAND FUDGE: Albert refers to tourists from the Lower Peninsula of Michigan as "those fudgesuckers," a reference to the fudge made on Mackinac Island, a considerable draw for tourism from within the state.
-THE SUPERIOR STATE: Used a few times to refer to the film's location; although a nickname for the state of Michigan as a whole, Superior is also the name of a once-proposed 51st state formed from the Upper Peninsula and, in some iterations, parts of Wisconsin.
-U.S. HIGHWAY 41: An old shield for this highway hangs on the wall in the Soady cabin; an important north-south highway in the western to central U.P.
-PICTURED ROCKS NATIONAL LAKESHORE: Natural formation along lakeshore mentioned briefly.
-EUCHRE: A card game popular in the Midwest, possibly introduced to the United States by the early German settlers of Michigan.
-M-35: State highway starting at Menominee in the south, passing through Escanaba, and ending at US 41/M-28 between Marquette and Negaunee in the north.
Jeff Daniels founded a theater in his home town of Chelsea Michigan called The Purple Rose.
The movie was made and produced for $1,000,000.
The bus full of kids were local school children.
Jeff Daniels' directorial debut also features his three children Lucas Daniels, Nellie Daniels and Ben Daniels.