History Trivia / MammaMia

* CreatorBacklash: Amanda Seyfried stated she never wanted to hear "Voulez-Vous" again after the "frantic" choreography involved in the scene.

* QueerCharacterQueerActor: Harry's partner Petros is played by Juan Pablo Di Pace, who later came out as gay.

** Subverted with the stage musical. While musicals are often cut down to one act when performed in Las Vegas or on cruise ships, this is not the case with ''Mamma Mia!'', which is performed in its two-act entirety on some Royal Caribbean cruise ships and during its two Las Vegas runs.

* CashCowFranchise: Overall, the ''Mamma Mia!'' franchise has made well over '''$5 billion''' from the original musical ($4 billion as of 2019), both films (combined, grossing over $1 billion at the box office), DVD, Blu-ray, and soundtrack sales, royalties from licensed stage productions, ''Mamma Mia! The Party'' (a dinner theatre attraction running in the UK and Sweden), and an upcoming reality series on ITV.
* CastTheRunnerUp: Music/{{Cher}} turned down the role of Tanya due to concert commitments. She went on to appear in the sequel.

** The version that airs on Creator/{{Paramount}}-owned networks such as VH1 and CMT is severely edited for time. Among the cuts include abruptly going straight to the start of "Money, Money, Money" right after Sophie explains the legend of Aphrodite's fountain, removing much the scene from the morning after the party (going straight from "Voulez Vous" to Donna and Sophie's fight), and cutting most of "Waterloo", including Donna's "Do you want another one?!" and Sam, Bill, and Harry's entrance in the jumpsuits (going straight from the "Dancing Queen" reprise to just the final chorus).

** Early previews of the stage show featured "Summer Night City". It was cut when the show officially opened, although it is still used instrumentally as scene change music at one point in Act II, and a sample from the song is used in the Entr'acte. It is believed that it was cut due to nearly the entire cast (minus the dads) being introduced over the course of a single musical number.

* DawsonCasting: Donna is supposed to be in her early forties, but Streep was nearly sixty when she did the role. In fact, nearly all of the middle-aged adults are played by actors close to retirement age. Creator/ColinFirth was 48 at the time of filming, so he averts this trope by being of the right age.

* The title song itself is a strange case, because in the stage show, it’s mostly a Donna solo, but with Bill, Harry, and Sam finishing off the last chorus after Donna departs the stage. In the movie, it’s an out and out Donna solo, and the guys don’t sing a word of it, which considering some of their shall we say, limited singing talents on display in the movie, may not have been a bad thing at all.

** The "Under Attack", "One of Us", "Knowing Me, Knowing You", (which was probably for the best considering [[Creator/PierceBrosnan who would have ended up singing it]]) and "The Name of the Game" numbers from the musical do not appear in the movie (although "The Name of the Game" sequence is a DeletedScene). All but the first one would go on to appear in [[{{Film/MammaMiaHereWeGoAgain}} the sequel]].

** The "Under Attack", "One of Us", "Knowing Me, Knowing You", and "The Name of the Game" numbers from the musical do not appear in the movie (although "The Name of the Game" sequence is a DeletedScene). All but the first one would go on to appear in [[{{Film/MammaMiaHereWeGoAgain}} the sequel]].

** Creator/MichellePfeiffer and Olivia Newton-John were considered for Donna.
** Creator/BillNighy was considered for one of the dads.
** Music/{{Cher}} turned down the role of Tanya due to concert commitments. She went on to appear in the sequel.
** Creator/AmandaBynes, Creator/RachelMcAdams, Music/MandyMoore and Creator/EmmyRossum were for Sophie.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: So obviously a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_paternity_testing paternity test]] would ruin the entire plot.

** An episode of ''Series/30Rock'' features Jack in a similar predicament to Sophie's. When Liz finds out, she excitedly tells him how this is just like ''Mamma Mia!'' and suggests luring all three of his possible fathers in under false pretenses so he can get to know them and figure out which one is his father after meeting them all. Unlike Sophie, Jack successfully identifies his father on his own. When the father figures out what's going on, he says, "Is this ... some ''Mamma Mia!'' thing?"

* ReferencedBy: Canadian ice dancers Hales Sales & Nikolas Wamsteeker performed to the ''Mamma Mia!'' soundtrack for [[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7n2xh7 their rhythm dance]] during the 2019-2020 competitive season.

** Early previews of the stage show featured "Summer Night City". It was cut when the show officially opened, although it is still used instrumentally as scene change music at one point in Act II, and a sample from the song is used in the Entracte. It is believed that it was cut due to nearly the entire cast (minus the dads) being introduced over the course of a single musical number.

** Between this and ''Film/MeanGirls'', Creator/AmandaSeyfried almost immediately became one of Hollywood's most sought-after actresses, as she made an excellent showing in two very different movies, playing two very different roles.

** Creator/DawnFrench was originally cast as Rosie. After the creators described her character as "the fat, funny one," and the musical director was clearly not impressed with her singing, she declined the role.

** Early previews of the stage show featured "Summer Night City". It was cut when the show officially opened, although it is still used instrumentally as scene change music at one point in Act II. It is believed that it was cut due to nearly the entire cast (minus the dads) being introduced over the course of a single musical number.

* TheCoverChangesTheGender: [=ABBA's=] ''"Does Your Mother Know"'' was originally sung by the men in the group. In ''Mamma Mia!'', it is sung by the character Tanya.

** Creator/DawnFrench was originally cast as Rosie. After the creators described her character as "the fat, funny one," and the musical director was clearly not impressed with her singing, she declined the role.