‘Cocoon’ turns 40: A look back at the movie some St. Petersburg officials didn’t want shot in the city

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - It’s been 40 years since the movie ‘Cocoon’ was shot in St. Petersburg but the memory of it lives on.   

In the movie ‘Cocoon’, a group of older folks discover the pool at their senior living place was turned into a fountain of youth by visiting aliens. 

The pool scenes were shot at a mansion on Park Street in St. Petersburg in 1984. Filming stretched across the city. 

American actors Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn and Don Ameche at the edge of a swimming pool acting in the film Cocoon. 1985 (Photo by Mondadori via Getty Images)

"There were cameras on tracks moving them up and down Central Avenue and people like us trying to get a peek at all the actors," explained Rui Farias, executive director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History. 

RELATED: St. Pete mansion featured in 1980s film ‘Cocoon’ up for sale for $11.5 million

As exciting as it was, Farias says some of the city's movers and shakers at the time weren't happy. 

"It depicted St. Petersburg as, again, that retiree image, and you can imagine the Chamber of Commerce and the city leaders going, 'Oh no,’" Fairas said. 

The swimming pool scenes in 'Cocoon' were shot in this St. Petersburg house. 

Their vision was more like St. Pete of 2024 with an ever-growing skyline and younger population. That hadn't happened when ‘Cocoon’ was filmed in 1984.

"St. Petersburg was the perfect setting for the movie not only because of the retirees, but the whole story of the Fountain of Youth," shared Farias.

That story is of one of St. Pete's early tourist attractions called The Fountain of Youth. A small part of it is still there on 1st Street near Al Lang Stadium, but the water doesn't contain what it did then. 

A Fountain of Youth was in St. Petersburg. Courtesy: Florida Memory Archive

"Everybody felt good. Then, they realized it was full of lithium," says Farias. 

The lithium is gone, but the theme of ‘Cocoon’ still fascinates us. 

In the movie, Wilford Brimley said, "We'll never get sick, never get any older, and we'll never die."

Most of the actors in the film have passed away. It was just a story after all, but the movie and the memories live on 40 years after ‘Cocoon’ was filmed in St. Pete. 

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