Amanda Brown published Legally Blonde in 2001 and was based on her real-life experiences as a blonde who attended Stanford Law School while she was obsessed with fashion and beauty, reading Elle magazine and frequently colliding with the personalities of her peers. In the film, Elle Woods gets her bachelor`s degree from a fictional college called CULA.[6] Harvard Law School`s admissions FAQ states that they consider applications from all bachelor`s degree holders, but prefer “broad college education” to specialized skill. Entertainment Weekly put Elle Woods on its end-of-decade best-of list, saying, “She`s blonde, bubbly and wears a little Chihuahua. But despite the inevitable comparisons between Paris Hilton, Reese Witherspoon`s Legally Blonde Dynamo managed to be taken seriously. Case closed! [8] Originally, the University of Southern California was supposed to be Elle`s undergraduate school, but they refused to use their name, but allowed some filming on their campus. Stanford University, the university she attends in Amanda Brown`s book, rejected both her name and filming. The University of California, Los Angeles also declined to use his name, but allowed filming on campus. UCLA and the CalTech campus were used for the filming of Elle`s fictional university, CULA. Since Elle was only at CULA at the beginning of the film, campuses were not needed for most of the filming.
Even the exterior shot of the restaurant where Warner takes Elle was recreated on the UCLA campus, the restaurant itself being Il Cielo in Beverly Hills. Delta Nu, Elle`s sisterhood, was filmed at a private girls` school in Alverno High School, California. “[The film`s producers] asked if they could play the film at USC, but the photos of her as a student and in a sorority. We felt like there were too many stereotypes,” says Elijah May, the film`s on-campus coordinator at USC. The University of Southern California and Stanford refused to allow the producers to use their academic names in the film. [23] “[The film`s producers] asked if they could play the film at USC, but photos of her as a student and in sisterhood. We felt like there were too many stereotypes,” says Elijah May, the film`s on-campus coordinator at USC. The production decided that Elle would go to a fictional college called CULA. The film originally ends at the courthouse, just after Woods wins the case, with Elle on the steps of the courthouse sharing a kiss of victory with Emmett, then cutting a year into the future to see her with a now-blonde Vivian form their own blonde legal defense club at law school.[23] After the test audience revealed that they didn`t like the ending, McCullah Lutz and Smith consulted Luketic, Platt and other members of the production team while they were still in the lobby of the theater, and they agreed that a new conclusion was needed.
“It was just a weak ending,” said screenwriter McCullah Lutz. “The kiss didn`t feel right to me because it`s not a romantic comedy – it wasn`t about their relationship. So the test viewers said, “We want to see what happens – we want her to succeed. That`s why we rewrote for graduation. Ubach and Jessica Cauffiel claim that the original ending also included Elle and Vivian drinking margaritas in Hawaii, implying that they were either best friends now or in love, although Smith and McCullah never wrote such an ending.[31] Other suggested endings for the film included a musical number in which She, the judge, the jury and everyone in the courthouse sang and danced. [13] Legal Blonde is one of the most popular comedies about fish out of water and although it was released two decades ago as of 2021, it is still frequently quoted and reviewed. The film is funny, inspiring and funny to watch and carries a message that is still important today. One aspect of the premise that was so clever was that the protagonist didn`t look like the guy who would study law: wouldn`t someone like Elle Woods, a Southern California blonde interested in fashion and partying, fail law school? That`s why people were wondering: Could someone like Elle actually enter Harvard law like she does in the movie? The outline of Legally Blonde grew out of Brown`s experiences as a blonde who went to Stanford Law School while obsessed with fashion and beauty, reading Elle magazine and frequently colliding with the personalities of her peers. In 2000, Brown met producer Marc Platt, who helped her develop her manuscript into a novel.
Platt hired screenwriters McCullah Lutz and Smith to adapt the book into a film. The project caught the attention of director Luketic, an Australian newcomer who came to Hollywood after the success of his first offbeat short film Titsiana Booberini. “I had been reading scripts for two years and couldn`t find anything to put my own personal imprint until Legally Blonde came along,” Luketic said. Producer Marc Platt was fascinated by the character of Elle Woods when he received a manuscript of an unpublished novel. [8] “What I liked about this story is that it`s hilarious, sexy and challenging at the same time,” says Platt. “The world looks at Her and sees someone who is blond and handsome, but no more. She, on the other hand, does not judge herself or anyone else. She thinks the world is great, she`s great, everyone is great, and nothing can change that. She truly is an irrepressible modern heroine. [8] The refusal of USC and UCLA to grant permission to use their names is perhaps understandable. The relatively short scenes with the Woods sister sisters hardly show an academic environment filled with the best and brightest.