Pop culture · October 19, 2026

Puzzle #11 answers

The five places from Where Was It? Pop culture #11, and the story behind each one.

1. 01

   Film

   The lion, zebra, giraffe and hippo of DreamWorks' Madagascar (2005) start out as residents of this small city zoo.

   Central Park Zoo, New York City, USA

   

   Madagascar (2005) follows four animals from the Central Park Zoo, a 6.5-acre zoo at the southeast corner of Central Park run by the Wildlife Conservation Society.

   40.768, -73.972

2. 02

   TV

   Rowan Atkinson's almost wordless sitcom character was filmed in this village on the edge of an English seaside city.

   Stanmer, Brighton and Hove, UK

   

   Stanmer is a village on the northern edge of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, used as a filming location for Mr. Bean, the sitcom created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis.

   50.869, -0.102

4. 03

   Books

   Paulo Coelho's shepherd Santiago crosses North Africa to reach these monuments after dreaming of treasure beside them.

   Giza pyramid complex, Egypt

   

   In The Alchemist (1988), Paulo Coelho's Santiago travels across North Africa to the Egyptian pyramids. The Giza complex holds the Great Pyramid, the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure, and the Sphinx.

   29.983, 31.133

5. 04

   Anime

   Neon Genesis Evangelion is set around a fortified city near Hakone. Pilgrims arrive by train at this hot-spring station.

   Hakone-Yumoto Station, Hakone, Japan

   

   Neon Genesis Evangelion, directed by Hideaki Anno, is set in and around Hakone in Kanagawa. Hakone-Yumoto Station on the Hakone Tozan Line is the gateway to the area.

   35.234, 139.104

6. 05

   Film

   Parts of Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) were filmed at this group of lakes in New Zealand's far south.

   Mavora Lakes, Southland, New Zealand

   

   The Mavora Lakes are a group of lakes in Southland, New Zealand, and one of the locations Peter Jackson used for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).

   -45.256, 168.168