Trivia for
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) More at IMDbPro »

• Neil Patrick Harris plays a character named "Neil Patrick Harris" and is billed as such rather than being billed "as himself." According to an interview on NPR, this was done to make clear that he plays a parody of himself.
  
  
• Some of the books on Kumar's bookshelf include: "To Kill A Rabbi" by Reuben Slonim, "Spy Story" by Len Deighton, "The Grand Chessboard" by Zbigniew Brzezinski, "The Knight, Death and the Devil", "McMahon!" by Jim McMahon and Bob Verdi, and "Catch". Kumar also has a Fourth Edition MCAT prep book, but that's just the hiding place for his weed, as well as his supply of roaches to roll with.
  
  
• There were no White Castles in the filming location so a building was trucked in.
  
  
• The movie poster at the end of the Burgerland dream sequence lists Maria's full name as "Maria Quesa Dilla". It also contains the tagline "There is a pinche puto in all of us."
  
  
• When the "extreme" guy takes Harold and Kumar's parking spot, one of them says, "Better luck tomorrow!" John Cho (Harold) starred in Better Luck Tomorrow (2002).
  
  
• Kal Penn, who plays Kumar, is a vegetarian, so technicians made veggie Castles for him.
  
  
• Rosenberg and Goldstein's first names (as said by Kumar) are Manny and Chevitz. This is a reference to Manischewitz, a brand of wine traditionally (and stereotypically) associated with Jewish celebrations.
  
  
• WILHELM SCREAM: When Harold and Kumar are riding the cheetah and Harold is hit by a tree branch.
  
  
• The pipe that Goldstein and Rosenberg smoke marijuana out of is made of a shofar. A shofar is a musical horn made from a kosher animal's horn (usually a ram) that is used on the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
  
  
• As a "thank you" for all of the free advertising the film gave them, White Castle arranged to have collectible "Harold and Kumar" cups at all of their locations during the film's release. It marks the first time an R-rated comedy is advertised on fast food containers.
  
  
• Contrary to the plot of the movie, there is no White Castle located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. When the film was written, there was a White Castle in Pennsauken, NJ (a nearby town). Currently, the nearest White Castle is in Jersey City, New Jersey, which is actually about 15 minutes from where the movie begins. The nearest White Castle to Cherry Hill is in Tom's River, NJ.
  
  
• Luis Guzmán had a small part as boyfriend to Maria's roommate, but this was eventually deleted from the film. The scene was a gag that made Harold think Guzman was dating Maria.
  
  
• The characters Rosenberg and Goldstein are also a reference to the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the play "Hamlet". The writers hope to create an alternate film with these characters that takes place in the same time period much like the way that the play "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" takes place in the same time period as "Hamlet".
  
  
• Co-writer Jon Hurwitz told the New York Times that if Neil Patrick Harris had turned down the role, their second choice was Ralph Macchio, who, like Harris, was best known for a wholesome role. In Macchio's case, The Karate Kid (1984) and its sequels.
  
  
• The real restaurant "Hot Dog Heaven" is only located in two cities in Ohio, Amherst and Avon Lake. The Producers had lunch in the original restaurant in Amherst one day and loved it so much they asked the owner to use the logo in the movie.
  
  
• The "dust" in the vent was made out of walnut powder, even though the crew had received a memo saying that Kal Penn is extremely allergic to nuts. Production had to be stopped for the day that they shot the scenes with Kumar falling out of the vent in the police station while Kal Penn had to go to the hospital. The powder was then remade with chocolate powder for the next round of shooting. (from DVD commentary)
  
  
• On a promotional talk show appearance by Christopher Meloni, he explained that when writers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg approached him with the script, they said of the part "You we're the first person we thought of." After reading the introduction of his character, which simply describes him as "the ugliest man on Earth," he got the joke.
  
  
• On the DVD version if you go to the Menu screen you'll see Harold and Kumar driving Harold's car. If you let it sit long enough, they'll start to complain. "Why haven't they picked one of the menu choices yet? There are only, what, four choices?" Wait awhile longer: "They STILL haven't picked? What should we do? Do you want me to take my clothes off?".
  
  
• Although they not worked together, Kal Penn and John Cho appeared in "House M.D." (2004) TV show. Cho was House's patient in the first season, and Penn played doctor Lawrence Kutner from the fourth to the fifth season of the series.
  
  

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