Seen in: Rocky II
“I wonder if you wouldn’t mind marryin’ me too much.”
Referred to as “America’s First Zoo”, the Philadelphia Zoo was featured in a very snowy Rocky II when Rocky finally took ‘er to da zoo.
Rocky’s proposal to Adrian was shot in front of the zoo’s Carnivore House on a very cold and snowy day in Philly.
Today, the area looks completely unrecognizable than it did in Rocky II; it’s part of the “Big Cat Falls” exhibit. The (rough) spot where Rocky asked Adrian to marry him is no longer an open area but instead is within an enclosure walled off by glass.
Behind the Scenes on Rocky’s Proposal at the Zoo
“It’s kind of a unique sequence, because we had no plans of it,” Sylvester Stallone said while kicking around the snow at the zoo as the Rocky II film crew set up the scene. “This is a classical case where the weather dictates what you’re going to do. We were driving in, most of us were snowbound.”
Sly – dressed in character as Rocky Balboa but speaking as the film’s director continued, “I said – How interesting. Rocky has got to propose to her, but where? In a zoo, an empty zoo. When? In the middle of the snow. And I thought that would be really, really nice. And the fact that we have a crew that can gel so quickly and we’ve got a Tiger who’s cooperative.”
Incidentally, the gorgeous tiger seen pacing in the background of the proposal scene is a celebrity of his own – click here to read Mr. Tiger’s story.
