From neon crop tops and bright scrunchies to faded grunge jeans and snobby penny loafers, 90s fashion was a bit all over the place. But the decade brought Americans more than just mom jeans and Keds: some of the country’s most recognizable blockbusters first hit theaters before Y2K. 

During the decade, kids flocked to Disney animated giants such as The Lion King and Aladdin, while older audiences soaked up dramas like Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan. Did any of these 90s blockbusters stand the test of time? 

The team at FrontierBundles.com decided to answer that question in 2021. Using digital search data, we created a map of each state’s most googled 90s flick. If you happen to be getting a little deja vu, it’s not just in your head: our team published the first edition of this study back in 2018.

Want to see if your throwback fave made the list? Read on and find out!

Methodology

The team at FrontierBundles.com looked at the past year’s search volume (5/18/20 – 5/18/21) for the 20 highest grossing films* from the 1990s. From this data, we determined which 90s movies each state searched for the most.

*Note: Only 13 of the 20 movies made the list due to search volume.

Throwback Facts and Nostalgia Stats

Movie	Number of States with Most Search Volume
The Lion King	18
Mrs. Doubtfire	5
Ghost	5
Independence Day	4
Forrest Gump	3
Men in Black	3
Twister	3
Armageddon	2
Aladdin	2
Saving Private Ryan	2
Beauty and the Beast	2
Toy Story 2	1
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	1

King of the 90s

• The Lion King took the top prize as the most-searched 90s movie from last year. During its original release, The Lion King earned $422.78M. If we adjusted that number for inflation, the original movie would’ve earned an estimated $727M.

90s Movie Hipsters 

• North Dakota and Alaska were the only states to have the highest search results for their chosen movies: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Toy Story 2, respectively. Maybe it has something to do with population—North Dakota is the 47th least populated state in the US (762,000) and Alaska is the 48th (732,000).

Playing Favorites

• Ghost, starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, was filmed in Manhattan. That might be why it was New York’s most searched 90s flick (that, or because of the infamous pottery scene…)

Twisted Entertainment

• Twister was the most-searched 90s movie in Nebraska, Iowa, and Oklahoma from the past year’s search results. Residents might have a special interest in the film’s subject matter: all three states are inside—or border—the Tornado Alley region.

FrontierBundles.com is an online authorized seller of Frontier. Please direct all media inquiries to rosemary@frontierbundles.com.