Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure





Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure was released into theaters on February 17th, 1989. Filming locations include Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe, Az. and Pacific Palisades, Ca. It was directed by Stephen Herek. Other notable movies directed by Herek include Critters, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead and The Mighty Ducks. Alex Winter played the part of Bill S. Preston. Other notable movies starring Winter include Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, Death Wish 3 and The Lost Boys. Keanu Reeves played the part of Ted 'Theodore' Logan. Other notable movies starring Reeves include Bram Stoker's Dracula, Constantine, The Devil's Advocate, The Matrix, Point Break, River's Edge and Speed. It was followed by two sequels, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991) and Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020). The score was composed by David Newman. The films first DVD release was on December 4th, 2001.


Bill's house (exterior) - 1460 Amalfi Dr. Pacific Palisades, Ca. 90272

The house seen in the film was built in 1941. It was torn down in 2017 and another house was built in it's place. 


Original house via Google street view, shortly before it was torn down.

Current house. "Now" picture taken in 2023.


Bill's house (interior) - 112 W. Kaler Dr. Phoenix, Az. 85021

The 4,077 square foot house was built in 1983. All of the comparison pictures are from the realtor.com website.






San Dimas High School - 7501 E. Virginia Ave. Scottsdale, Az. 85257
(Coronado High School)

In 2005, the entire school was torn down and rebuilt, with the exception of two of it's buildings. One of those buildings was the one with the wavy roof seen in the background of the first picture. The roof style was identical to the one seen on the building in the foreground of the screenshot. These exterior shots were filmed on the west side of the campus. The mural seen in the second screenshot behind Bill & Ted is still on campus and displayed in front of the Performing Arts building. The high school can also be seen in the movies Just One of the Guys and Not Quite Human.


All "Now" pictures taken in 2024.



Ted's house - 1841 E. Berridge Ln. Phoenix, Az. 85016

The 2,549 square foot house was built in 1960.


2021

2024


Circle K - 1010 W. Southern Ave. Tempe, Az. 85282

In 2023 it was converted into a Corner Market.


All "Now" pictures taken in 2023.




New Mexico 1879 - 31900 N. Old Bridge Rd. Scottsdale, Az. 85266
(Formerly Carefree Studios)

At the time, the location where the old west scenes were filmed was Carefree Studios. It opened in 1969 as Southwestern Studios. In 1999 Carefree Studios was demolished; this included the old west set portion where Bill & Ted was filmed. In 2006, Whisper Rock Golf Club was constructed and the former site of the old west set is now occupied by the hole 1 green at the private golf course.


All "Now" pictures taken in 2023.




ShowBiz Pizza - 8039 N. 35th Ave. Phoenix, Az. 85051

In 1992, it was converted into a Chuck E. Cheese.


2024


Bowling alley - 4407 S. Rural Rd. Tempe, Az. 85282
(AMF Tempe Village Lanes)

They were bowling on lane 11. 


All "Now" pictures taken in 2024.





Baseball field - W. 8th Ave. (between S. Westwood and S. Extension Rd.) Mesa, Az. 85210
(Kleinman Park)

They were standing next to softball field east. At some point the fence was extended further along the baseline.


2024


Waterloop - 155 W. Hampton Ave. Mesa, Az. 85210
(Golfland Sunsplash)

Some shots of Raging Waters, located at 111 Raging Waters Drive San Dimas, Ca. 91773, were also used.


2021


Police station - 7337 E. 2nd St. Scottsdale, Az. 85251

In 1996, the building was demolished and a new building was erected in it's place. At the time of my visit it was an Arizona Center for Cancer Care. In the second screenshot, the Cavalliere Blacksmith Shop can be seen in the distance, behind Bill. It's still there today.


All "Now" pictures taken in 2024.



Mall - 9617 N. Metro Pkwy. W. Phoenix, Az. 85051
(Metrocenter)

The Metrocenter opened in October of 1973 and closed on June 30th, 2020. When I lived in Glendale, Az. I visited this mall frequently. I liked it's architecture and I have some fond memories of it. I went to my first ever Spirit Halloween store inside the mall, at it's south end. Sometimes when I would go snowboarding in Flagstaff, I'd rent my board from the Sports Chalet located at the north end of the mall. I would always stop by the Hot Dog on a Stick (the only one in Arizona), located just around the corner from the food court. One regret I do have regarding the mall though, is never taking the time to take photos of the locations from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure that were located within in. The last time I visited the interior of the mall was in 2018, shortly before I moved to Texas. On May 21st, 2023 I attended a celebration for the mall and watched Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure inside the Harkins which was part of the mall. When the mall scenes first appeared in the movie everyone cheered loudly, it was a proud, albeit sad moment. I recently drove around the mall and took some photos of it's main entrances. At the time of this article's publication, it's still standing.


All pictures taken in 2024.



1 comment: