Pop culture · October 21, 2026

Puzzle #13 answers

The five places from Where Was It? Pop culture #13, and the story behind each one.

1. 01

   Film

   Doc Brown's mansion in Back to the Future (1985) is really this 1909 Arts and Crafts landmark.

   Gamble House, Pasadena, California, USA

   

   The Gamble House in Pasadena was built in 1908–1909 by Greene and Greene for David B. Gamble of Procter & Gamble. It is a National Historic Landmark and appears in Back to the Future.

   34.152, -118.161

2. 02

   TV

   In Money Heist, the Professor's gang takes hostages and prints banknotes inside this national institution in Madrid.

   Royal Mint of Spain, Madrid, Spain

   

   Money Heist (La casa de papel), created by Álex Pina, opens with a heist on the Royal Mint of Spain, the national mint that produces Spain's coins, banknotes and stamps.

   40.420, -3.670

4. 03

   Books

   Captain Nemo takes the Nautilus to this point at the bottom of the world in Jules Verne's 1869 novel.

   South Pole, Antarctica

   

   In Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, Jules Verne sends the Nautilus to the South Pole, the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface.

   -90.000, 0.000

5. 04

   Film

   The desert planet Arrakis in Denis Villeneuve's Dune (2021) was partly filmed in the dunes around this oasis.

   Liwa Oasis, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

   

   The Liwa Oasis is a large oasis area in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi. Denis Villeneuve filmed desert scenes for Dune (2021) in the surrounding dunes.

   23.133, 53.783

6. 05

   Film

   Bruce Banner hides out in this hillside favela at the start of The Incredible Hulk (2008).

   Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

   

   Rocinha is a favela on a steep hillside in Rio de Janeiro's South Zone, between São Conrado and Gávea. The Incredible Hulk (2008), directed by Louis Leterrier, was filmed there.

   -22.989, -43.247