Production Companies RV Camping Productions Ltd., Red Wagon Productions, IMF Internationale Medien und Film GmbH & Co. 3. Produktions KG, Intermedia Films, Relativity Media
The point in the film where the “flat” response became a true challenge for Hines was when the Munros had to listen to the Gornicke family perform their idiosyncratic rendition of “Never Ending Song of Love.” “I just couldn’t do it,” Hines confesses. “Barry said he wanted me to be deadpan. But here I was looking at Jeff and Kristin Chenoweth (who plays Daniels’ wife), and the kids singing their hearts out and it was impossible. I got yelled at because I couldn’t keep it together. So I thought maybe I should just look past them. But then there was Jeff with his harmonica and his little ‘doot-doot-doots.’ And my eyes would drift over to Kristin who was tapping her breasts with her tambourine. It was impossible.”
One of the real backbones of the RV script is Bob Munro’s relationship with his teenage daughter Cassie, according to Wick. “We looked at a lot of young women and the trick here was to find someone who could handle the comedy, be credible dramatically and hold her own against Robin Williams,” he says.
Sonnenfeld found that rare combination of attributes in teen recording star, Joanna “JoJo” Levesque. “She’s already a huge recording star and has played on stage in front of large audiences,” says Fisher. “So she has a kind of confidence you rarely find in a teenage girl.”
“She brings that confidence to her work,” adds Wick, “and when you’re playing opposite someone as charismatic and larger than life as Robin, that’s a lot to hold up against and she had that presence.”
Music was an element in the film that came as something of a surprise to everyone in the cast and crew. Besides the Gornickes’ rendition of “Never Ending Song of Love,” the movie concludes with both families singing, “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.” And throughout the movie there are other characters who sing. “When we started this, I thought I might need a little bit of singing, but the movie almost turned into a musical,” says Sonnenfeld.
Fortunately, the director had inadvertently hired a cast with musical chops. Daniels recently released his first CD. Joanna “JoJo” Levesque, who appears as Bob’s daughter Cassie, is an experienced pop singer and Chenoweth, who plays Mary Jo Gornicke, is a classically trained opera singer.
“When we talked about the part, one thing Barry asked me was ‘Can you yodel?’” laughs Chenoweth. “I couldn’t imagine why. But yes, as a matter of fact, I can yodel, though I never thought it would come in handy. I went to opera school for that? I sold out Carnegie Hall so that I could come up here and yodel? But in this film, I am given ample opportunity to show off my yodeling skills.”
But her expert yodeling ability was only one of the reasons Sonnenfeld cast Chenoweth. “For the Gornicke family, I was not only looking for the ‘nicest family on the planet,’ but people who could play big on screen. Kristin’s really small, about 4’ 11” and Southern, but she has this big personality. She’s a big wonderful gal — not in size, but in largesse of personality.”
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