Rocky Steps

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The front entrance and steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Rocky Steps are the front steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They are well known for the role they played in a famous scene in the film Rocky, and in four of its sequels, II, III, V and Balboa (all except for IV). Visitors to the museum can often be seen mimicking Rocky's famous run up the front steps. The steps represent the ability of an underdog, or an everyman, to rise to the occasion. A bronze statue of Rocky was briefly placed at the top of the steps for the filming of Rocky III.

The view from the top of the steps offers a commanding view of Eakins Oval, the Washington Monument, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the Philadelphia City Hall.

1 Philadelphia culture
2 Bronze statue
3 Trivia
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Philadelphia culture

Tourists and residents alike still make the run up the museum's front steps, the Rocky Steps, mimicking the famous scene where Rocky himself sprints up the steps at the end of his training run. Many people visit the steps, but never make it inside to see the museum.

Participants in Philadelphia's montly Critical Mass bicycle ride generally end the ride by cycling to the Rocky Steps, picking up their bicycles, running up the steps, and holding their bikes in their air above their heads once they reach the top of the steps. The motion is a reference to the training run scene in Rocky.

The famous scene of Rocky running up the steps to the museum has become a cultural icon. During E! Channel's 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment the scene was placed at number 13 on the list.^[1] During the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay, Philadelphia native Dawn Staley was chosen to run up the museum steps. The scene is also frequently parodied amongst the media, in the Simpsons episode "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can" Lisa Simpson runs a up a flight of stairs just as Stallone did in Rocky, during her training run, while wearing a similar tracksuit to the one worn by Rocky.^[2]

In an RBK campaign, Allen Iverson is shown running up the steps of the museum whilst dribbling a basketball. This is a reference to his team at the time, the Philadelphia 76ers. Other programs such as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air have also parodied it.

In 2004, Presidential candidate John Kerry ended his pre-convention campaign at the foot of the steps before going to Boston to accept his party's nomination for President. ^[3]

The steps are the backdrop each Fourth of July for the Independence Day celebration, and are also featured whenever a concert like Live 8 is held. The steps are featured again in Rocky Balboa.

The steps.

At the ceremony to rededicate the statue, Mayor John Street said that the steps were one of the biggest attractions to tourists visiting Philadelphia. He also pointed out that Sylvester Stallone was a native New Yorker, but that he had been gladly adopted by Philadelphia.

There is even a book about the Rocky steps phenomenon. In 2006, two journalists from the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote Rocky Stories: Tales of Love, Hope, and Happiness at America's Most Famous Steps. They spent a year hanging out on the steps recording the stories of all the people who come and run them.

[edit] Bronze statue

A bronze statue of Rocky, called "ROCKY", was commissioned by Sylvester Stallone and created by A. Thomas Schomberg in 1983.^[4] Three statues were created and one was placed on the top of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the filming of Rocky III.

The statue, situated just northeast of the steps, as seen on September 26, 2006.

After filming was complete, a furious debate erupted in Philadelphia between the Art Museum and the City's Art Commission over the meaning of "art." Claiming the statue was not "art" but rather a "movie prop" the city considered various alternate locations and settled upon the front of the Wachovia Spectrum in South Philadelphia.

It was later returned to the Art Museum where it was used in the filming of Rocky V, as well as Mannequin and Philadelphia. Afterward it was again moved to the front of the Spectrum. The statue was replaced with a simple set of footprints reading "Rocky." The Rocky statue is now back at the Art Museum. This time it has been placed on a pedestal in a grassy area off to the right of the Museum. The statue was returned to the foot of the steps on September 8, 2006, with an unveiling ceremony that included live music and a free showing of the first Rocky movie, which began with the debut of the first full trailer for Rocky Balboa.

[edit] Trivia

Dalí on the Steps

View of the Ben Franklin Parkway from the top of the steps

At the statue dedication in 2006, Stallone recounted the genesis of the now iconic scene. He recounted that since the shooting of the film was extremely low budget, the film crew was cruising around Philadelphia one night looking for places to shoot. He got the idea that it would be a good shot to get Rocky, carrying his large dog Butkus up the steps. The dog was too heavy for the scene to work, but when he got to the top of the steps he realized what a great view of the city there was and decided to shoot the scene again without the dog. He would later pick up Punchy, the dog Rocky adopts in Rocky Balboa, up on top of the steps while training in the sixth film.

The third of the three statues was listed on eBay with a starting bid of US$5,000,000 to raise funds for the International Institute for Sport and Olympic History. It failed to sell and was listed again for US$3 million; after receiving only one bid, which turned out to be fraudulent, it has been relisted several times for $1 million. ^[5] The statues weigh 2 tons each and stand about ten feet tall.