25th anniversary of "Cocoon" filmed in St Petersburg Florida

The 25th anniversary celebration of the movie "Cocoon" in St Petersburg is scheduled for October 19 and 20 in St Petersburg. Tuesday night is a VIP Reception and Party at the Princess Martha Hotel and Wednesday is both a Tea Dance at the St Petersburg Coliseum and an Open House at the Mirror Lake Complex. The film won an Academy Award for special effects.

Not only do we remember the local scenes, but there was quite an array of start in the film: Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, Don Amece (who won an Oscar), Brian Dennehy, Wilford Brimley, Tyrone Power Jr and others. Barbara Harrington had helped recruit retirees as extras, and when the director saw them, he sent her out for older, more decrepit extras.

Hernando De Soto was looking for the Fountain of Youth in Florida back in the early 1500s ... so it made sense that in 1984 the retirement home residents were looking for the Fountain of Youth here, too.

Wouldn't it be nice if "Cocoon" was one of the movies being shown in the downtown St Petersburg parks this month!