34 Comments

  4. Unknown's avatar

    McDonnell did a whole week of Groundhog Day jokes in “Mutts”.
    P.S. The “holiday” (or whatever you want to call it) is not observed at all here, but thanks to the movie, there’s a fair number of Germans who have heard of it, although almost none of them know the exact date.
    P.P.S. No shadows here. I celebrated by watching the DVD.

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  5. Unknown's avatar

    there’s a fair number of Germans who have heard of it, although almost none of them know the exact date

    Most Americans don’t either.

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  6. Unknown's avatar

    Germans may not have the groundhog tradition, but there are plenty of weather proverbs stating that sunny, clear weather means more winter weather is coming and/or overcast and snowy means an early spring. Of course, I doubt any but the most devout Catholics know when Lichtmess (Candlemass) is.It’s a widespread tradition in northwestern Europe, brought to the US by British settlers. How the rodent got mixed up in it, I have no idea.

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  9. Unknown's avatar

    I think everyone caught in the polar vortex is just desperate for any good news about the weather.

    Also, yes, that’s just the movie, not part of the tradition.

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  11. Unknown's avatar

    Re: Andrea 8:39 AM

    It’s just the movie.

    Watch the beginning of this scene where, Phil, Bill Murray’s character, wishes he could experience some other day over and over again.

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  15. Unknown's avatar

    Also, within the movie, Groundhog Day itself was a central “character” because Phil, Bill Murray’s character, was an obnoxious weatherman, for whom Groundhog Day and all its accompanying rituals was the stupidest thing in the world and he hated being made to participate in all of it.

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  22. Unknown's avatar

    Of course, Bill Murray’s character dies multiple times, so that probably averages out to more than one per person.

    In other news,the film is 26 years old,which is horrifying.

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  23. Unknown's avatar

    Kilby/Brian in STL – NYC CBS news Sunday night – neither of the two anchors knew when Groundhog day is nor that it is a fixed date holiday and does not vary year to year!

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  24. Unknown's avatar

    Local Art Cinema was having a “Groundhog Day” – festival Saturday night in their sort of multi-purpose room (as opposed to one of their movie theaters). We were going to go to one of the movies in the theaters, but decided that parking would be impossible and did not go.

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  26. Unknown's avatar

    Full disclosure- my good friend grew up in Punxsutawney, so I became well-acquainted with the ins and outs of Groundhog Day. I even got to see Phil in his off-season residence..

    I find it interesting that Germans were not aware of the Candlemas tradition. According to folk historians, German settlers brought the tradition to AMerica that if a hedgehog saw its shadow on Candlemas day, there would be an extended winter. SInce there were no hedgehogs in the Americas, the settlers substituted the very common Groundhog.

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  27. Unknown's avatar

    Andréa, Having that feeling about Bill Murray may make this film more enjoyable for you than for people who like him in everything he does. True, I (and many others) left the theater after seeing it for the first time thinking “eh..” (translate: “meh..”); ..then I woke up the next day. I made watching it a yearly tradition and I think I’ve seen it through about 6 times.

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  28. Unknown's avatar

    If you’d have asked me a few months ago when it was, I wouldn’t have known. I’d probably have guessed later in Feb.

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  31. Unknown's avatar

    When we go to a couple of Pennsyvania “Dutch’ (German) festivals there is a table from the GRUNDSAU LADSCH or Groundhog Lodge – which is a club with various lodges of same as member lodges.

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  32. Unknown's avatar

    Oh, have I been missing this idea. We have been going through a Groundhog Day like situation since the start of November. Not the same day every day, but constantly having to do things over again. From trying to file tax forms online – which can only be filed online – and constantly getting a message which says that the site is under construction (three times and I decided it was due to the shutdown, even though the site should run on its own) to something as small as having to recook soup for dinner as the can of soup used was bad.

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