“When you're down here with me, you'll float too!”
If a chill just ran down your spine perhaps you’ll be slightly more unnerved to learn that line was delivered here in Metro Vancouver. If you’ve so far been unfazed, the quote was delivered by Tim Curry in one of the best portrayals of the demonic, shape-shifting, child-munching clown Pennywise.
The scene where the line is delivered serves as the titular villain's introduction in the 1990s miniseries based on Stephen King’s It. As it turns out, Georgie Denbrough was chasing his paper boat down a river of rainwater which led to a storm drain on 3rd Street in New Westminster. It was at that drain, which has since been upgraded, where Georgie had his fatal meeting with the clown.
This and many other scenes from the miniseries have been well documented in videos uploaded to YouTube in the last few years. Shot over a three-month period, It's filming locations included Stanley Park, Beaver Lake and Saint Thomas Aquinas High School Convent in North Vancouver. The Buntzen Lake Hydro Plant was used as the miniseries' sewer plant.
The miniseries turns Metro Vancouver into the fictional town of Derry, Maine in the 1960s then once more when Pennywise returns in the 1990s. So, seeing as it's 2021, it would seem Vancouver is long due for another Pennywise feeding frenzy...
