‘Big Fish’ Prop House Burns Down After Lightning Strike
Did you know that Tim Burton created an entire town to film the hit 2003 film Big Fish and that it still exists?
Surprisingly enough, the fictional town of Spectre is still semi-preserved on Jackson Lake Island, just outside of Millbrook, Alabama, complete with the dangling shoes at the entrance (and a ton of goats!). Now a tourist attraction of sorts, anyone can visit for a small fee. Since it has been 20 years since the set was originally constructed, many of the buildings are crumbling and covered in moss, and that is perhaps part of why, over the weekend, a house burned down after being struck by lightning.
To make it even crazier, it was the house where the witch lived. (What does it mean??)
It’s not the first time there has been an accident on this abandoned set. A fire set to clear debris got out of control and burned down a row of buildings once, and a flood took out another building. Only seven buildings, including the church, remain (as well as the spooky trees that surrounded the entrance to the town).
The island is a major tourist attraction not only for the set but also for being home to over 100 goats. You can also camp, hike and kayak there.
Thankfully none of the goats were hurt during the storm.
Based on the novel by Daniel Wallace, Big Fish is a magical drama starring Ewan McGregor as a young Ed Bloom, Albert Finney as the ailing senior version, and Billy Crudup as Will Bloom, his estranged son. Now starting his own family, Will hopes to make amends with his dying father and uncover what was true and what was fiction in all the tall tales he heard from him growing up — Spectre, the magical town; his friend the giant (Matthew McGrory); the witch living in a swamp (Helena Bonham Carter); and his life in the circus.
Columbia/courtesy Everett Collection
Spoiler alert (even though you’ve had two decades to watch this fantastic movie): At his father’s funeral, Will discovers that while most of these stories did actually happen in some capacity, they were just perhaps a tad embellished.
If you want to visit before the rest of the town burns down or crumbles, you can check out their Facebook page here!
Kid Stuff
June 2018
Unleash your inner child by reliving your favorite kids TV shows, cartoons, toys and more!
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