Name: The Philadelphia Zoo
Item: The Philadelphia Zoo
Author: ZipMundi Admin

“I was wonderin’ if you wouldn’t mind marryin’ me too much.”

Referred to as “America’s First Zoo”, the Philadelphia Zoo was featured in a very snowy Rocky II when Rocky finally took ‘er to da zoo.

After being released from the hospital following his first match with Apollo Creed, Rocky walked his girlfriend through the snow blanketed Philly Zoo, pausing in front of the tiger enclosure to ask her to marry him.

Filmed at the Zoo’s Carnivore House

Rocky’s proposal to Adrian was shot in front of the zoo’s Carnivore House on a very cold and snowy day in Philly.

“It’s kind of a unique sequence, because we had no plans of it,” Sylvester Stallone said while kicking around the snow at the zoo as the Rocky II film crew set up the scene. “This is a classical case where the weather dictates what you’re going to do. We were driving in, most of us were snowbound.”

Sly was captured in some behind the scenes video, dressed in character as Rocky Balboa but speaking as the film’s director continued, “I said – How interesting. Rocky has got to propose to her, but where? In a zoo, an empty zoo. When? In the middle of the snow. And I thought that would be really, really nice. And the fact that we have a crew that can gel so quickly and we’ve got a Tiger who’s cooperative.”

Incidentally, the gorgeous tiger seen pacing in the background of the proposal scene is a celebrity of his own.

How the Area Looks Today

Today this location looks quite different to the way it did in Rocky 2. It is now part of Bank of America’s ‘Big Cat Falls’ exhibit and the actual spot where Rocky proposed is no longer an open area but instead separated by thick glass. The tiger enclosure however still looks very similar.

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Writer: Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young
Year: 1979

Storyline:
Rocky struggles in family life after his bout with Apollo Creed, while the embarrassed champ insistently goads him to accept a challenge for a rematch.

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The Philadelphia Zoo

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The Philadelphia Zoo

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