The 1989 Christmas movie “Prancer” was filmed mainly in the small-town region around Three Oaks, Michigan; New Carlisle and LaPorte, Indiana; and at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, Illinois.

Main filming locations

  • Three Oaks, Michigan – Used for the town exteriors and street scenes that represent the movie’s fictional Midwestern community.
  • New Carlisle, Indiana – Includes the Old Republic House, which appears on screen as Mrs. McFarland’s home.
  • LaPorte, Indiana – Features locations such as the Riggs family farm and the mall scenes.
  • Starved Rock State Park, Utica, Illinois – Used for the dramatic outdoor sequences near the end of the film.

Quick context

  • The story is set in Three Oaks, Michigan, which is why so many exteriors were shot there.
  • Surrounding Midwestern towns in Indiana and Illinois were chosen to capture a classic rural, snowy holiday atmosphere while keeping production clustered in one region.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.