This Classic Movie Filmed In A Minnesota College Cafeteria Nearly Thirty Years Ago

I was ten years old when the first Mighty Ducks movie came out in 1992, which put me squarely in the Disney hockey movie's target demographic. I absolutely LOVED the first movie and especially enjoyed seeing the many Twin Cities filming locations that I recognized.

Some of the filming locations for the first edition of the movie included Mickey's Dining Car, City Center, Met Center and even the Stearns County Courthouse, which was used for the scene at the beginning of the movie when Gordon Bombay is in court.

A sequel was released in 1994 and was, again, filmed almost entirely in the great state of Minnesota. The Mall of America, Rice Park and the Met Center were all among the locations shown in the movie.

A third, mostly unnecessary installment of the movie came out in 1996. D3: Mighty Ducks featured a southern Minnesota flavor, which scenes shot at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, Rochester International Airport and the cafeteria scenes were shot at Northfield's Carleton College.

According to a 'Mythbusters' section of Carleton College's website, the lunch scenes were shot at Severance Great Hall... but it nearly didn't happen!

“When the Minnesota Film and TV Board approached us, we almost said no,” says Joe Hargis, associate vice president for external relations on the Carleton website. “But the production timetable changed so that they could shoot while classes weren’t in session, and it worked out.” Carleton was paid about $10,000 for the use of Great Hall. “Plus, we got a credit at the end of the movie,” says Hargis. “Priceless.”