Mr. Popper's Penguins at Tavern on the Green

While a decent portion of the movie takes place in Mr. Popper’s penthouse apartment turned arctic wonderland, this flick largely serves as a love letter to Tavern on the Green. Only recently reopened, Tavern, per the movie, is the kind of place a boy makes lasting memories with his dad, and that should only be in the hands of owners who fully respect it, like said boy once he’s grown up. A near-climactic scene is meant to take place on the other side of the park, at the Central Park Zoo (the actual shooting was over at the Staten Island Zoo, called instead the ‘New York Zoo’); the nearby Wollman Rink also figures prominently. Other attractions making cameos: the High Line, the Met and Jean Georges (well, Popper makes a reservation there that he doesn't actually keep); the Meatpacking District (made to look like the old Fulton Fish Market that used to be down by the South Street Seaport and is now up in the Bronx); the Flatiron (supposed location of Popper’s office); and the Empire State Building, of which Popper’s office has a view. One key scene takes place in the Guggenheim, allowing the penguins to belly-flop and fly their way into the atrium. (Don't try that particular trick, though it would be quite the original way to do a quick view of the art.) How'd they get all the shots? Conveniently, Mr. Popper’s Penguins was mostly filmed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard's Steiner Studios.
Fun fact: The grade of the ramp slope in the Guggenheim is 3 degrees. The average gentoo penguin weighs 12 pounds. The penguins spend approximately 5 seconds surfing a spilled ice-bucket before going airborne. Um, perhaps the math and physics experts out there can calculate how fast the birds would be moving as they takeoff?