Trivia / Kindergarten Cop

• Actor-Shared Background: John Kimble is Austrian, from a family of cops, just like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Pamela Reed (Kimble's partner O'Hara) said of her role, "I shoot, I save Arnold's life, kids cheer. It's not a gold statue, but it's not a bad feeling."
• Completely Different Title:
  • Greece: The Cop's Menagerie
  • Taiwan: Devil Kid King
• Creator's Favorite Episode: On The Late Late Show with James Corden, Arnold Schwarzenegger called this his favorite movie he's ever done, owing it to enjoying working with Ivan Reitman again and being a fun change-of-pace after doing so many action films.
• Follow the Leader: Every movie in the past twenty years that pairs an action star with a bunch of annoyingly cute kids has this movie to thank for its existence.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: In the scene where Kimble asks the kids "Who is your daddy and what does he do?", many of the young actors weren't given lines. Instead they speak about their real parents.
• Hostility on the Set: Penelope Ann Miller apparently acted like a diva and the crew disliked working with her. Peter Kent, Arnold Schwarzenegger's stunt double, decided to get back at her by giving Schwarzenegger, unbeknownst to the actor, pasta with tomato sauce made with juiced vegetables on a day when he knew Schwarzenegger and Miller would be shooting in an enclosed space. Miller had no choice but to endure Schwarzenegger's uncontrollable farting and, as an unintended consequence, Schwarzenegger had to deal with the discomfort of trying and failing to hold it all in.
• Reality Subtext: "Father was a cop, brother was a cop, mother was a cop's wife." Arnold Schwarzenegger does come from a family of cops; at least his father and brother were cops, just like Kimble and his family. Both Arnold and Kimble are Austrian, too.
• Real-Life Relative: Ivan Reitman's son Jason Reitman has a cameo as the boy making out with the girl that Kimble interrupts during the real fire drill. His daughter Catherine also has a background role, thankfully not in the same scene.
• Release Date Change: The release was postponed until Christmas, 1990 because Ivan Reitman was still working on Ghostbusters II for Summer, 1989.
• Wag the Director: A positive example. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a few conditions before accepting the role of John Kimble; he wanted Ivan Reitman to direct the film, he wanted a physical fitness theme, and he and Reitman wanted broken homes, child abuse and family life written into the script.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Bill Murray and Patrick Swayze turned down an offer at the lead role. Danny DeVito was ruled out as being too short. Jack Nicholson was also considered.
  • Elijah Wood auditioned for a part as a child actor. He later told Empire Magazine that this was the worst audition he ever did.
  • Christian Slater was considered for the role of Cullen Crisp after Ivan Reitman had seen him in Heathers. But he turned it down to avoid being typecast.

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