'Angels in the Outfield' Turns 20! Here's 20 Facts About the Film

Angels in the Outfield premiered 20 years ago today. So in honor of the anniversary, we’re rounding out 20 facts you may not know about the film!

1. The film cost $24,000,000 to make and grossed more than double that amount, totaling roughly $72,693,831 in the U.S.

2. The movie was a Walt Disney Pictures film and based on the California Angles. Turns out in real life, Walt Disney was actually one of the Angels original board members.

3. Though the flick was set in a ballpark in Anaheim, California. They actually filmed the movie at the Oakland Coliseum.

4. Remember the line, “ya gotta believe?” That tagline was actually coined by New York Mets pitcher Tug McGraw in 1973.

5. There were a few real life baseball players in the film including Carney Lansford who played the role of Kit “Hit or Die” Kesey. He was drafted by none other than the California Angels in the third round in 1975.

6. Ben Johnson played Hank Murphy. According to imdb.com, the character was loosely based on then-owner Gene Autry.

7.Christopher Lloyd reprised his role as Al the Boss Angel in 1997 for the TV movie, Angels in the Endzone. He was the only character from the 1993 Disney film to appear in the sequel.

8. Matthew told Cigar Aficionado magazine in 2011 that he thought he was really making the big bucks after his Angels in the Outfield acting gig. "I was getting $48,500 just to act and play baseball," he said. "I thought I was rolling in dough. Two weeks into shooting that, I got called back to read for Herbert Ross and got that role too."

9. Angels in the Outfield was one of Matthew McConaughey's first auditions in L.A. The other was for Boys on the Side in 1995.

10. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was 13 at the time he starred in Angels in the Outfield. In 2012 he told Playboy magazine what made him originally try his hand at acting as a young kid. "I played baseball, did gymnastics, took piano lessons and started acting as just another one of the things I did. I wasn't pressured into it. But it was acting I loved. I had a really cool acting teacher who taught us how to become a character, to be realistic and feel those feelings."

11. Dermot Mulroney plays a baseball player in the film, but in real life he is also very musically inclined and is able to play the cello.

12. Angels in the Outfield is a remake of the 1951 version which starred Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh.

13. Two of the actors, Matthew McConaughey and Adrien Brody went on to win Academy Awards for Best Actor.

14. Ben Johnson is also an Oscar winning actor from Angels in the Outfield. He took home the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1972 for The Last Picture Show.

15. The cast has a few Golden Globe winners and nominees as well including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adrien Brody, Matthew McConaughey, and Tony Danza.

16. Danny Glover, Christopher Lloyd, and Tony Danza are among the Emmy winners and nominees. Matthew McConaughey just joined them this week for his nomination for True Detective.

17. Tony Danza appeared in Don Jon, the film Joseph Gordon Levitt wrote, directed, and starred in back in 2013. Told Parade magazine, "We did Angels in the Outfield 20 years ago," says Danza. "Joseph called me out of the blue and said he had me in mind for this."

18. Co-stars Tony Danza, Adrien Brody, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt all reunited at the Don Jon premiere in September 2013. A moment Tony went on to capture on camera and tweet about later.

19. Danny Glover didn't start acting until he was 28 years old, but has 159 acting credits on IMDB. That means that on average, the 67-year-old has been in 4 films or TV shows a year since the late 1970's.

20. Before co-starring in Angels in the Outfield, Christopher Lloyd and Tony Danza both appeared in Taxi between 1978-1983.

Check out the video above to see ET’s set visit (and first interview) with Matthew McConaughey 20 years ago at the Oakland Coliseum for Angels in the Outfield!