Stephen King’s It 1990 Miniseries Filming Locations Then and Now | Jonathan Brandis John Ritter

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It (also known as Stephen King's It) is a 1990 American ABC two-part psychological horror drama miniseries directed by Tommy Lee Wallace and adapted by Lawrence D. Cohen from Stephen King's 1986 novel of the same name. The story revolves around a predatory monster which has the ability to transform itself into its prey's worst fears, allowing it to exploit the phobias of its victims. It mostly takes the humanoid form of Pennywise, a darkly comedic clown. The protagonists are The Lucky Seven, or The Losers Club, a group of outcast kids who discover Pennywise and vow to kill him by any means necessary. The series takes place over two different time periods, the first when the Losers first confront Pennywise as children in 1960, and the second when they return as adults in 1990 to defeat him a second time after he resurfaces.

A special of the November sweeps month of 1990, It was still a big risk for ABC due to horror's lack of popularity in television, declining network viewership decreasing the impact of big events like miniseries, while theatrical versions of King's work had been box office bombs. However, they chose to produce it due to the success of Stand by Me (1986) and other television programs based on long books. In order to increase likely viewership, the producers exaggerated the novel's more positive themes of loyalty and friendship and cast performers most well known outside the horror genre. These included Pennywise actor Tim Curry and Losers Club actors Richard Thomas, John Ritter, Annette O'Toole, Harry Anderson, Dennis Christopher, Tim Reid and Richard Masur. The miniseries' child cast includes early roles for Jonathan Brandis, Seth Green, Emily Perkins, Gabe Khouth, Laura Harris, and Chelan Simmons.

Produced by Green/Epstein Productions, It was filmed over a period of three months in New Westminster, British Columbia in mid-1990 with $12 million, double the usual television budget. The effects and the designs of the titular antagonist's forms, including Pennywise and the creature's true form of a humanoid spider, were produced on a 12-week deadline by Gene Warren's Fantasy II, who had a previous portfolio in theatrical work before working on It. Broadcast Standards and Practices constricted the amount of blood and gore it could show, resulting in an unusually psychologically-horrific and character-driven horror production for its time.
It was shot over a three-month summer period in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Green set the budget at $12 million, double the usual television film, to give It a major motion picture feel. Filming locations in Vancouver included Stanley Park, Beaver Lake and Saint Thomas Aquinas High School Convent in North Vancouver. The Buntzen Lake Hydro Plant, in particular, was used as the miniseries' sewer plant.

For the opening scene where Laurie Winterbarger is murdered by Pennywise, Simmons' shots were done while Curry wasn't on set; Wallace stood at the laundry area of the backyard giving her simple directions for emotions. However, she still met Curry via read-throughs and while in her trailer after the shot: "while walking down the sidewalk Tim walked by in the full clown costume—make up and all. He turned to me and said "Hi!" in a very friendly voice, but it still scared me half to death!" Similarly, the scene where Patti Uris finds her husband dead in the tub (done on the first shooting day) involved Uris not being on set for shots of Caitlin Hicks' reaction. The Captain Hanscom sequence in the first part was shot at the Lost Lagoon, which involved Makaj on a platform just below the water surface to give the illusion of the character standing on water. The shots of the captain's corpse were done when Crane wasn't on set.

Filming It was not without difficult sequences. The scene where the blood-filled balloon explodes in Beverly's bathroom required multiple takes due to how difficult it was to get the timing of the explosion right. The theater scene took many retakes and much waiting, so Curry went on the stage and entertained the child extras with singalongs, all unaware he was playing a monster character in the miniseries. Shooting the last sewer scene was tough for the adult actors, as they had to deal with walking in an area filled with rust likely infected with tetanus. The final scene with Bill and Audra Denbrough took days to rehearse, a library scene with all the adult actors involved some slight injuries due to the number of objects randomly flying around the place, while the photo album scene where Pennywise comes to life was the hardest scene to shoot for Wallace.