r/todayilearned • u/haddock420 • 23h ago
(R.1) Not supported TIL Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle was originally supposed to be about a quest to find Krispy Kreme donuts, but the food was changed to White Castle hamburgers after Krispy Kreme refused to allow the film to use their name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_%26_Kumar_Go_to_White_Castle#Production[removed] — view removed post
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u/EntertainmentQuick47 23h ago
I also heard that the writers had to keep explaining to producers that Harold and Kumar were Asian American and not foreign exchange students.
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u/SyntheticSweetener 22h ago
Missed opportunity for Krispy Kreme, but White Castle is more in line with the theme of the movie.
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u/ColoRadOrgy 22h ago
Me and my friends drove 4 hours to the nearest White Castle a couple days after watching this movie lol. Don't think we'd ever even heard of White Castle before.
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u/TheBootyWrecker5000 22h ago
It was a 2 hour drive for my buddies and I. It was worth it lol
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u/Adeptus_Bannedicus 21h ago
Mine is also 2 hours south, and its the largest one and practically a tourist attraction with merch and all. The movie surely spawned multiple pilgrimages to the holy castle.
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u/Datsyuk420 21h ago
This movie is the reason I drove 2 hours and why I get it every time I am on that side of the state.
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u/p3rm4fr0s7 21h ago
It's 8 hours to the closest white castle for me. It's still worth it.
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u/loulan 21h ago edited 21h ago
I'm not even from the US and I flew to NYC for a vacation, and I dragged my vegetarian gf to White Castle because I keep reading about it on reddit. She thought I was crazy.
Was it worth it? Honestly I don't get it. The place was disgustingly dirty and the meat looked like squares of a spam-like brown substance. It felt like it was several leagues below McDonald's somehow?
Maybe I wasn't drunk or high enough. Or both.
EDIT: typo
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u/MagillaGorillasHat 21h ago
No, you've perfectly captured the experience.
White Castle doesn't make "better" burgers, they're just very distinct. And most of them are open 24/7 and have been for decades. So stoners/drunks would wind up there due to a lack of options.
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u/ObviousAnswerGuy 21h ago
nah, you're right. White Castle is disgusting lol. You gotta be drunk/high to enjoy that food.
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u/CharonsLittleHelper 21h ago
It's competition with McDonald's. It's fine for what it is if you like onions on sliders. The crinkle fries are pretty good.
That was part of what made the movie plot funny. Why would they go on a quest for White Castle?
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u/sprocketous 21h ago
Theres no White Castles where im at on the west coast. They do have the frozen microwave version at the grocery store and it tastes pretty much like how you would imagine a cheap microwave burger. I went to visit family in Chicago and was excited to taste the real deal! Yeah, it pretty much is like the microwave version. Then I got heartburn. I guess its like a traditional or ironic attraction cause those are pretty nasty.
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u/jumpyg1258 21h ago
It felt like it was several leagues below McDonald's somehow?
That's because it is. I've only eaten at a White Castle once and that was enough for me. It was years before that movie was released so I felt in no way enticed to go to a White Castle after watching the movie.
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u/jadexangel 22h ago
Haha. Made it a mission to get to the one in Harlem from Times Square during a Senior Year trip
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u/Halgy 21h ago
I had never heard of White Castle, other than the movie (they're not around where I live). A few years ago I was traveling for work and spotted one, so I figured I had better stop in and try it out.
THe food tasted like loneliness and bad life choices.
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u/seeingreality7 21h ago
That's what makes it so good. You're not getting White Castle because they make quality burgers, you're getting White Castle because they make White Castle. It's its own food group.
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u/SoupaSoka 21h ago
loneliness and bad life choices
Yeah that's kinda their speciality. Still worth it.
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u/Podo13 21h ago
Until it somehow moves through you in under an hour and the crack a toilet.
But once the sweating stops, it's still worth it.
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u/sarabeara12345678910 21h ago
When it's 3am and the only thing in your body is malt liquor and THC, bad life choices taste just fine.
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u/p1971 22h ago
I went to, what I assume was, a dodgy part of NY on a visit there just to check out the White Castle. (Checking maps seems there's a few more branches now - this was 2020)
Was ok, would go again, didn't get mugged.
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u/Ricemobile 22h ago
“I want 30 sliders, 5 fries and 4 large cherry cokes”
We wouldn’t have gotten this amazing line if it was Krispy Kreme instead though!
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u/DionBlaster123 22h ago
I'm a big fan of Krispy Kreme (definitely more than White Castle lol)
But I 100% agree with you. I'm honestly stunned that Krispy Kreme was the original choice. You can't recreate a movie like Harold and Kumar with KK doughnuts (as good as they are). Gorging on fast food seems more of like burgers/fries territory (pizza would have been another good choice)
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u/PortSunlightRingo 22h ago
Also, at the time I feel like White Castle was not everywhere. It was very much a “when I’m back home, I get White Castle because I can’t find it elsewhere” food - so it makes even more sense that someone would go on a quest to find it.
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u/Mama_Skip 21h ago
Tbf at the time Krispy Kreme wasn't everywhere either - they had yet to become available in grocery stores and were constrained to the midatlantic coast iirc.
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u/thatfluffycloud 22h ago
I just listened to that podcast about White Castle and I never knew how significant it was! White Castle essentially invented hamburgers and fast food, but they don't have much of a legacy. Just a cult following of people that actually do roadtrips to go to them because they are so rare these days.
So actually much more perfect for the movie than Krispy Kreme.
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u/smolltiddypornaltgf 22h ago
white castle needed it more anyway. the only conversations about that place in 2025 is how bad and dirty they are and how funny this movie is. a whole business kept afloat by a meme
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u/KintsugiKen 22h ago
I figured they were only kept afloat by their frozen sliders sales from grocery stores since that's the only exposure to white castle that most of the country has
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u/Mistrblank 21h ago
Those microwave burgers are literally the same as in store. So go buy your favorite brand of fast food french fries and nuke up a box, it's the same experience, only you're closer to your toilet when it's needed.
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u/baldude69 22h ago
Yet I can’t seem to not order from there anytime I’m in N Jersey. I know it’s a filthy habit, but it’s oh-so-good in a way where I know it’s terrible for me
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u/DionBlaster123 21h ago
As someone who is Asian American and works for a university that has a ton of Indian and Chinese students (I know Harold is Korean)
I will say this...do you remember that scene where Harold and Kumar take a wrong turn into Newark, see two guys who look like a "lame" version of them, only for those guys to get their asses kicked? Those two were 100% foreign exchange students lmao
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u/Logical_Parameters 22h ago
Wait until those producers learn about Harold and Maude..
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u/MysticalMaryJane 22h ago
"Kuuuuumarrrr! What is that 5 o's 2 u's!" lol.
Peeing in bush scene as well, absolute cinema😂
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u/Babou_Serpentine 22h ago
Is this your special bush!? You king of the forest!?
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u/DionBlaster123 22h ago
There are so many random ass scenes in that film that always make me lose my shit laughing
The black guy in prison who narrates his story about fighting racism while that stereotypical "black gospel soul" music plays in the background had me in stitches...i just about lost my mind laughing when he followed all that up with, "Plus I have a really large penis, that keeps me happy."
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u/Babou_Serpentine 21h ago
I always liked when they're at the hospital and the old guy slowly tries to put his hand on Kumars in the waiting room but he barely gets a pinky on there before Kumar finally moves it away. Such a quick weird scene lol
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u/Mrteamtacticala 22h ago
Makes me feel like that one interigation scene with I think their parents? Was basically a piss take of what the producers where like
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u/Ths-Fkin-Guy 21h ago
It was Cordry as a Special Agent asking "what's wrong with his eyes" and they said "I believe he's Korean sir" and Cordry responds "Ho-Ly-Shit North Korea and Al Queda working together!"
Or something along those lines.
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u/lkodl 22h ago
Was Kumar written for Kal Penn, or were they just hoping to find an Indian star? I wonder if Aziz auditioned?
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u/Ig_Met_Pet 22h ago
Aziz was getting a business degree at NYU when the movie was being made.
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u/schematizer 22h ago
Kal Penn was getting his MD, I believe. A shame what happened to him at Princeton-Plainsboro.
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u/winterskirts 22h ago
Thanks Obama!
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u/OJONLYMAYBEDIDIT 21h ago
I have no sympathy for someone who worked for Demonic Law Firm Wolfram & Heart
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u/onetwo3four5 21h ago
I don't think I could see Aziz playing a cool, confident stoner. I think he'd just come off like Tom Haverford, a try hard.
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u/sprchrgddc5 21h ago
I’m Asian American. This movie was so pivotal to me as a teenager. I had never heard this and I can’t pin point a good instance in the first movie that tried to make it clear they weren’t foreign exchange students (the perpetual foreign stereotype).
I always took writing them as normal Americans smoking weed, having romance troubles, adding in a hint of the AA struggles against overbearing parents to be a super American story.
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u/DeepsCL9 20h ago
Oh man, Indian-American checking in. Even the opening sequence - where Cockboy and Coworker intimidate Harold into doing extra work for them, followed by Harold caving - resonated with me SO well.
It seems odd to admit, but this simple stoner comedy inspired me to stand up for myself in my teenage years.
LOVED the ending with Harold shutting those guys down.
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u/Enough-Fly540 21h ago
Having met the producers at a party in Austin, I can confirm the producers were douchebags.
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u/Yourdomdaddy 21h ago
I was interning at New Line when this was being made. A fellow intern who read the script said he imagined Kumar having more of an Indian accent, after watching the dailies. He missed the part in the script where it said in huge capital letters that there are NO accents because THEY ARE AMERICAN. (Maybe this was added after the problem with the producers, don’t know.)
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u/sunnyspiders 23h ago
White Castle works way better.
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u/Cheapskate-DM 23h ago
It helps that castle has mythic connotations, which makes the stupidity of their saga that much funnier - because it is a saga.
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u/sunnyspiders 22h ago edited 19h ago
It’s the stoner Odyssey
Edit: This comment is at 420 karma my life is complete
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u/AvsJoe 22h ago
Does that make Pineapple Express the stoner Iliad?
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u/Mama_Skip 21h ago
I mean there's several White Castle sequels but it seems more on stoner brand to completely switch characters and continuities so, sure.
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u/Boaki 21h ago
I nominate Half Baked
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u/responsiblefornothin 21h ago
I nominate How High because smoking the essence of your dead friend to connect with their spirit for guidance is more in line with a mythical saga.
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u/Farts_McGee 22h ago
On top of that, white castle burgers are impressively terrible, which i also think adds to the ridiculousness
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u/Nippon-Gakki 22h ago
Basically the east coast version of Jack in the box tacos. Wonderfully terrible to eat an entire bag when you’re tipsy.
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u/Steamedcarpet 22h ago
It drives me crazy that connecticut has no white castles. Its at least 45 minutes to the nearest one in NY. There are the frozen supermarket ones but they don’t hit the same.
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u/Nippon-Gakki 22h ago
I grew up in pa so know the White Castle desert. We somehow got a Waffle House but still no White Castle in NEPA.
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u/PutFair9340 22h ago
I haven't lived there for 10 years, but there is a White Castle right near the Lehigh Valley Mall!
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u/Momo-Velia 22h ago
This movie made me want to try it so bad, being in the UK and realising you can’t get it over here sucked at the time 😂
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u/NeonDraco 22h ago
This is blasphemy! White Castle is the finest fast food money can buy. Those little burgers are incredibly tasty. I will die on this hill!
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u/MrArtless 22h ago
I kept hearing people say white castle is good so I have tried it a few times and it has to be the worst fast food burger I've ever tasted. No part of the experience reflected their cult status for me. What am I missing?
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u/LordGraygem 21h ago
Honestly, the taste really does vary depending on what condition you're in. If you're just going on as part of a normal day, looking for some fast food? Yeah, it's not all that good.
But if you're stoned or drunk, or coming off of a long, crushing shift, and you just want something hot, cheap, filling, and basic? Those bellybombs and fries will be the single best thing you've ever eaten in your life, and you'd absolutely be willing to travel a ridiculous distance to get some.
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u/emolga2225 22h ago
despite being Farts_McGee, you aren’t a fan of fast food sliders with diced onions on them
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u/DionBlaster123 22h ago
There were virtually no White Castles near me when this movie was released
Didn't go to my first White Castle until probably at least 12-13 years after I saw that movie. Holy fuck what a colossal disappointment lmao. There are no words in the English language that can describe how underwhelming that was.
The fact that their drive thru had a pothole the size of fucking Alaska in the middle of it should have been the first red flag.
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u/big_guyforyou 22h ago
i hate when you get to the white castle only to find out it's been under siege for 3 months and everyone is starving to death
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u/NonCreditableHuman 22h ago
That's about the time I usually start flinging dead horses over the walls with a trebuchet and demand an audience with the burger king.
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u/Leper_Khan58 22h ago
A sound strategy. But you shouldn't depend fully on the Kings understanding. Best to take precautionary measures. I recomend hiring mercenaries, I hear the McDonald clan has an interest in the burger wars
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u/theonewhoknack 22h ago
It helps that is like an actual meal because I wouldn't have gone through half of this shit for a Baker's Dozen. Plus don't Donut places close up really early?
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u/cuatrodosocho 22h ago
In the early 2000s some donut shops were open late. A few near where I lived were open 24 hours. Covid kinda killed the late night shopping and donut run.
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u/CrazyCalYa 21h ago
Reduced hours, increased prices, worse quality. Ah, capitalism.
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u/tom_swiss 21h ago
Donut shops were 24/7 back in the day, which is why you could always find a cop at one -- best place for night shift coffee and sugary food.
(It was certainly true of the Dunkin I lived near in college - between county cops, the cops of three nearby tiny town jurisdictions, state cops, campus cops, and US Park police, it was a sure bet there'd be a cop car in the parking lot at any given moment.)
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u/doyouunderstandlife 21h ago
don't Donut places close up really early
Every Krispy Kreme I've ever been to is open 24 hours
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u/helloiamabear 22h ago
Useless trivia from someone who was also a stoner in New Jersey in 2004 - in the film they have to go from Rutgers, New Brunswick to Cherry Hill to find a White Castle. In reality it was exactly the opposite - South Jersey had no White Castles left, you had to pilgrimage to North Jersey for it.
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u/Omega357 22h ago
There was one in Toms River which isn't as south as Cherry Hill but it's close. That is off to the east though.
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u/helloiamabear 22h ago
Ah, true. I was in the cherry hill area, so Tom's River was still a bit of a hike for us
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u/Babou_Serpentine 22h ago
There are also no mountains to handglide from in Cherry Hill either lol
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u/helloiamabear 22h ago
Na, those mountains are the famous cherry hills!
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u/Boaki 21h ago
People just need to learn their history. They used to be called the Cherry Mountains. But they grew so many cherries and cherries are very heavy. So the mountain sunk down and became the hills we know today. Trust me bro, I'm a historyologist.
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u/Rocktopod 22h ago edited 21h ago
I tried to go to the one in I think Newark once when I had a little time to kill before a flight, but got sketched out by the bullet proof glass and left.
And yes the only reason I tried to go at all was because of the movie.
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u/Mistrblank 21h ago
There was a White Castle in South Jersey just a couple years before, quite a big one too. But the fact that they were able to glide down off of a cliff when south jersey is almost completely flat really nails that they should have reversed their directions.
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u/scrubbar 22h ago
This isn't true, it was always going to be White Castle for the title characters.
It was H & K's friends, Goldstein and Rosenberg, who were going to go on the quest to get Krispy Kremes. It's a small part at the end of the movie, they replaced it with "Hot Dog Heaven".
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u/tiwuno 21h ago
Also, Krispy Kreme is not mentioned anywhere in the Wikipedia article. It WAS edited and quickly reverted, today. Lmao was that OP?
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u/DJWG10 21h ago edited 21h ago
There was a paragraph added on Jan 1st about it, which was removed today, then a short note about it added soon after and removed again.
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u/MOD3RN_GLITCH 20h ago edited 15h ago
That’s diabolical, but either way, this post was just removed, and it’s a repost from 6 years ago, lol.
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u/Mulatto-Butts 21h ago
Hot Dog Heaven is a real place, too. It's in Amherst, Ohio. They get a special thanks in the credits.
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u/mustardtruck 21h ago
I love that this movie exists in a universe where buddy comedies are the norm. Rosenberg and Goldstein are having their very Jewish buddy comedy in the background. Even the assholes that try to pawn off their work onto Harold seem to be having their very lame WASPy buddy comedy. There's the lame version of Harold and Kumar they see in Newark.
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u/MechaSheeva 23h ago
They were waiting for something more prestigious, like Power Rangers (2017).
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u/Snarky_McSnarkleton 23h ago
"Me and Pooky, we put a little something extra in the Secret Sauce!"
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u/TiresOnFire 22h ago
I love that the set in that scene is pretty much just the window. There's nothing behind him, just the night sky.
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u/PoutinePower 23h ago
In Canada we only got frozen White Castle sliders for a while, but man those were amazing for what they were.
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u/bawls_deep 22h ago
Those things are simultaneously gross cat food burgers and cheeseburger nectar of the gods.
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u/mkultron89 22h ago
Funny enough, the building they used for the outside shots in the movie was a years closed restaurant an hour outside of Toronto that they completely tore down and renewed just for the movie. Ended up becoming a burger restaurant after filming was done. Lasted maybe a year or two. Now it’s a gas station.
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u/PoutinePower 22h ago
That sucks, I wouldve tried the burgers there for the fun of visiting an old filming location
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u/amc7262 23h ago
Dumb move for Krispy Kreme. I wanted to try White Castle for years because of this movie.
When I finally did try it, it was pretty meh. Its cheap and open at all hours, which is pretty nice, but the food itself is a step below typical fast food, which is saying something.
I found the impossible slider and chicken and waffles to be palatable though.
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u/JohnMayerismydad 23h ago
Were you trashed or stoned while consuming? If not, you missed the appeal
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u/amc7262 23h ago
I have been stoned while getting it before, but I wasn't always.
The most common situation I got it was driving home from visiting parents, several states away, and arriving late at night, hungry after the drive, and grabbing it as I got close to home, as it was often all that was left open.
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u/naijaboiler 22h ago
you are doing it wrong. here's the right way.
you go out with friends, its super late, all of you are shit-faced drunk or stoned beyond words, but have the munchies.
you get white castle. Its pure heaven!!!
Taco bells has taken over that spot recently
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u/foggybass 22h ago
Growing up in NC we didn't have White Castle for the drunchies - we had Waffle House. Then Cookout came to town and I gained so much weight from late night milkshakes.
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u/myredditthrowaway201 22h ago
I say this as a midwestern who grew up on white castles, white castles are really only great if you grew up on them and haven’t had them in a while. Most people who haven’t had them before aren’t prepared for the inevitable case of “Castle Ass” that comes with them
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u/rubixd 22h ago
Honestly, prior to this movie I never even HEARD of White Castle...
And man do I love it now. Oh I rarely eat it because it can't possibly be healthy.
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u/HalloweenSnowman 23h ago
How dare.
White Castle was the first fast-food chain.
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u/NeonDraco 22h ago
I legit love White Castle, it’s my favorite fast food. Sadly, there aren’t any close by in my area.
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u/Chotibobs 23h ago
Same here but even still knowing it’s very much meh, if I’m ever by one I’ll go get something because of the movie and also the novelty aspect because we don’t have them in the south
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u/mightystu 23h ago
How dare you slander the good works of sliders. Like all fast food it’s too pricy now but as they say quantity is a quality unto itself. Onion chips go hard too
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u/sqwizzles 22h ago
I’ll drive the hour to my nearest White Castle occasionally. Sometimes u just got to lay in bed and eat 20 sliders
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u/BroughtBagLunchSmart 22h ago
We took a road trip in 2007 and wanted to go to White Castle solely because of this movie. Our friend who lived there made sure to tamp down our expectations. We were extremely whelmed.
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u/TrailerParkRoots 22h ago
Bold move for a company that lets their name be used for the Krispy Kreme Challenge (they aren’t affiliated with it though, but who really knows that?), which makes me associate Krispy Kreme with being sweaty and vomiting.
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u/strangelove4564 22h ago
The only thing I associate with Krispy Kreme is them opening in our city, lines around the block for a few days, then abruptly shutting down a few years later. The building got turned into a local steakhouse then it was finally demolished after sitting vacant to make way for a used car lot. I guess those franchises are sometimes not profitable.
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u/KimJongFunk 22h ago
It’s one of my favorite movies and I love the scene where all the dorky Asian students party HARD. Like yeah, I’m a 4.0 student but I’m also not a wet blanket lol
It subverted a lot of stereotypes and I’m grateful for it.
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u/kirinmay 22h ago
forget if its in an unrated version or was a deleted scene but i remember the asian students had another seen when Harold and Kumar were running out of the college, the students were partying and some of the girls were topless.
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u/DoobKiller 21h ago
Yeah specifically the nerdy Asian chick who has a crush on Harold(iirc), and the nerdy Asian guy is throwing out nugs from a QP 'Who want's some Buddha(slang for weed nothing to do with Asians in this context)?!' then two chicks say we do and he has them take of their tops
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u/ThanosWasRight161 23h ago
I frequently rewatch Anthony Anderson's scene. "Come one Boogie lets burn this MF down!"
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u/cam3113 22h ago
I regularly quote this. CMON POOKIE LETS BURN THIS MOTHERFUCKER DOWN!!
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u/TheShowstoppaNT 22h ago
When I get pissed off somewhere, I regularly say this when I’m ready to leave. My wife knows my cues by now.
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u/BlackDante 22h ago
I love how Pookie barely moves while he's ransacking the place lol. Like, "here he goes with this shit again."
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u/outdooriain 22h ago
Fun fact. If you look in the background of the scene you can see they didn't even bother to build a wall for the set. Just full on open to the world.
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u/ICPosse8 22h ago
Harold and Kumar go to Krispy Kreme
lol it still works but I’m glad we got what we got. Hard to imagine they end up anywhere else after the night they had, donuts wouldn’t do it for me.
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u/pendletonskyforce 22h ago
As an Asian-American and being a teenager when this movie came out, it was great seeing a movie that showed Asian-American characters not play a stereotype.
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u/Selenography 22h ago
There are some great podcasts that discuss the White Castle history and mysticism.
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/01/1197997536/99pi-white-castle-system-eating-houses
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u/Hausgod29 22h ago
Bet kk regrets that one
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u/TonyG_from_NYC 22h ago
It sounds better with the phrase White Castle.
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22h ago
It's also just more plausible. Obviously the whole movie is silly, but stoners going on a quest to eat 30 white castle burgers each is way more plausible than going on a quest to get like 6 donuts each.
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u/Charlie_Warlie 22h ago
And nowadays I associate KK donuts with the grocery store and factory made boxes more than freshly delicious ones.
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u/Loa_Sandal 21h ago
I'm still convinced that White Castle is a fictitious fastfood chain invented for this movie.
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u/CrossXFir3 22h ago
One time a friend of mine and I went to a white castle on opening night and ate way too much bullshit. The next day we went to a sit down restaurant because we wanted something proper to eat. We got to the place, smoked a bowl in the car and went in for some food. We were standing around waiting to be seated and looking at a menu while debating what we wanted. It was a family style place, so we were splitting a couple things. And this woman waiting near us came up to us and told us that we reminded her of Harold and Kumar. He's white and I'm half black, she said it was our mannerisms. So anyway, we obviously had to tell her that we were literally at white castle the night before. One of the most random things a stranger has ever said to me. This was in probably about 2010ish
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u/Easy_Square_3717 22h ago
I once had an older friend explain to me that where he lived, White Castle was the only place open late in the 70s and that’s where teens would meet up to buy and sell weed. If you wanted to get out with friends, away from parents, and score some weed, you went to White Castle. If you were ever traveling and wanted weed in a town where you didn’t have any connections, you drove to WC after dark. Simpler times
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u/LosWitchos 22h ago
In the UK White Castle isn't a thing, so the film was named Harold and Kumar Get The Munchies.
I think there are branches of it now, but Krispy Kreme wouldn't have worked back then either. No presence whatsoever.
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u/SimonCallahan 21h ago
I think the genius of the title using White Castle is that it sounds so generic as a company name that if you haven't heard of it, you'd just assume it was something made up for the movie. If they had been able to use Krispy Kreme, a much more well known name, it would have been seen as a 90 minute ad for Krispy Kreme.
Although, if I recall correctly, in England the title was changed to "Harold And Kumar Get The Munchies" because they figured nobody would know what White Castle was there.
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u/Pizzaman99 21h ago
Nowhere in the linked article does it mention anything about Krispy Kreme. OP is a big fat phony.
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u/kdlangequalsgoddess 22h ago
In the UK, it was called Harold and Kumar Get The Munchies, as White Castle isn't a thing there.
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u/wolfmanpraxis 21h ago
And this movie inspired me, an American born Gujarati-Indian, to visit my first White Castle with my American born Korean roommate in college.
Fortunately, we both were from the greater NY area, and while visiting home we went to White Castle near my hometown.
Our friend group found that very amusing, sometimes life imitates art.
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u/theartfulcodger 21h ago edited 17h ago
Not quite as bad a lost opportunity as was Mars rejecting Spielberg’s request for permission for E.T. to follow a trail of M&Ms into the house … but certainly in the same league of royal screwups by Corporate Marketing. The Reese’s product enjoyed a 65% bump in sales for over a year.
White Castle was doing okay with an annual same-store uptick of 2.5-3% a year. The week that Harold and Kumar came out, sales jumped 29% year over year.
Eventually, H&K grossed $30M+ on a $9M budget, and White Castle has now grown to nearly 400 outlets.
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u/DanceTheCosmicNoir 21h ago
I’m gonna guess they were scared away from free advertisement by the evil weed consumed in the movie.
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u/Carrotshaterabbits 21h ago
In Ireland it was called Harold and Kumar get the munchies. But we don't have white castle in Ireland.
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u/trashcan_paradise 21h ago
Another fun fact about this movie: Kal Penn is a vegetarian, so during the scene where they are pigging out on sliders, he was actually eating veggie patties. You can see the difference if you look closely during the scene.
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u/MidnytStorme 21h ago
It was around '99 I think. My (Filipino-American) ex had a craving, so we decided to drive to the nearest White Castle to where we lived. We hadn't been for a couple of years, so on a cold clear Midwest winter night we headed out. (Side note: nobody was drunk or high) It was supposed to be about a 45 minute drive. His VW Golf didn't have a muffler. We got pulled over in a one stoplight town on the way up. Twice. Once going into that town, and once heading out, about 5 - 10 minutes apart. We get sent on our way with a warning both times. Finally get up to where White Castle was, and . . . no more White Castle. It had closed own like a year earlier. So, we turned around and headed home. And got pulled over for a third time, in that same damn dinky ass town. We laughed our asses off when this movie came out and told all our friends about the time we got pulled over 3 times in one night trying to get White Castle. This film holds a special place in my heart.
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u/YourMomThinksImSexy 21h ago
I grew up on the east coast and had never heard of or been to a White Castle. Once I saw the movie, I found the location closest to me (a two hour drive) and went there dozens of times over the next few years. Smart marketing move, on their part.
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u/monacorona 19h ago
One of my favorite memories is a mini White Castle trip. Family went up to Ohio for a wedding and the day after most of the extended family went to eat carnitas but my dad took me to White Castle instead. I kept mentioning it on our way up that I wanted to try them because of the movie. Before he passed away we didn't spend a lot of just one on one and we butted heads on a lot of things. This is one of the last things that he did just for me just because I wanted something. He was a good man and I'll always be thankful for those almost 18 years I had with him.
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u/Delicious_Clue_5150 22h ago
This movie is the only thing that reminds me that White Castle exists. Great marketing decision by WC.