Trivia / An American Carol

• Box Office Bomb: Made back just over $7 million versus its $20 million budget. David Zucker afterwards claimed that he was done making conservative-driven spoof films as a result. Regardless, his career suffered from the film's failure, and he has not directed a film since then.
• Completely Different Title: The Brazilian version of the film received the title Corra que Tem Loucos por Aí! (Run, There are Crazy People Out There!).
  • In the UK and other markets it was called Big Fat Important Movie.
• Creator Backlash: At least two cast members have spoken out against the film. Kelsey Grammer didn't think the Denser and Wackier humor typical of David Zucker's work was a good fit for a film trying to deliver a serious political message, and felt it went a little too far in demonizing liberals^note And Kelsey is a Republican. Jon Voight, on the other hand, felt it didn't go far enough in demonizing them.
• Creator Killer:
  • The film put Zucker's directing career in limbo. He has not directed another film and didn't even get another credit until Scary Movie 5.
  • Kevin Farley hasn't had many leading film roles since this one apart from a Paranormal Activity spoof he directed. He has since mostly taken supporting roles in obscure films and recurring roles in television shows.
• Direct-to-DVD: Just about everywhere outside the US.
• Not Screened for Critics: David Zucker feared that the film's highly conservative bent would turn critics against it. For better or worse, he was correct, though most critics said they simply considered the movie unfunny.
• Stillborn Franchise: Zucker apparently wanted to make a sequel just after this, but its failure made that impossible.
• Troubled Production: Per the DVD Commentary, the movie was heavily reshot after test audiences (in conservative Texas) proved more confused than amused by the original cut (Zucker felt many viewers didn't understand it was a comedy), while the film's conservative bankrollers objected to some of its crude humor. Additionally, Zucker and the filmmakers found their cast (mostly political conservatives themselves) uncooperative and often domineering. Particular offenders were Kelsey Grammer, who objected to a scene where his General Patton shoots a horde of ACLU lawyers,^note The scene was rewritten at Grammer's request so that it seemed less like he was murdering liberals for their political beliefs, with all the Unfortunate Implications that carries and Jon Voight, who demanded to write his own George Washington monologue and complained that Zucker and Kevin Farley made Michael Malone too sympathetic.

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