It's been 25 years since "The Mask" hit theaters and capped off an amazingly successful year for Jim Carrey. Even now, we can look back on this kooky romantic comedy as one of the only good comic book movies of the '90s. Celebrate this big anniversary by learning more about the making of "The Mask" and why it's so different from the source material.

1. "The Mask" is loosely based on a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics. However, the source material is much darker, with the stories focusing on ordinary people who are transformed into a sadistic killer called Big Head.

2. One of the biggest differences between the comic and the movie is that Stanley Ipkiss is much less sympathetic in the former. in fact, he's eventually killed when his girlfriend steals the mask and murders him in his sleep.

3. Originally New Line intended "The Mask" to form the basis of a new horror franchise. One early pitch involved a mask maker who removes the faces of corpses and transplants them onto teenagers in order to transform them into zombie-like slaves.

4. Jim Carrey's distinctive yellow zoot suit was actually inspired by the suit he wore to his very first stand-up comedy set.

5. If the body shop where Stanley is getting ripped off by the mechanics seems familiar, that's because the scenes were shot in the unused firehouse that also doubled as the headquarters in 1984's "Ghostbusters."

6. Anna Nicole Smith was the studios original top choice to play Tina Carlyle. However, Cameron Diaz (who made her acting debut in "The Mask") got the part after being discovered at a modeling agency. Bullet dodged!

7. Vanessa Williams and Kristy Swanson were also considered to play Tina.

8. The movie was originally meant to end with Stanley's friend Charlie Schumaker inheriting the mask.

9. The DVD includes a deleted scene that sheds more light on the origins of the titular mask. It shows a group of Vikings burying the mask in what would later become New York City.

10. Carrey was nominated for both a Golden Globe and a Razzie Award for his performance.

11. While it was the third Jim Carrey movie released in 1994, "The Mask" was the first of the three to enter production. Because filming began before Carrey's explosion in popularity, he was paid a surprisingly modest $450,000 for the role.

12. At the time, "The Mask" was the second highest-grossing superhero movie ever, only topped by 1989's "Batman." However, both have since been eclipsed by the current wave of superhero movies.

13. The magazine Nintendo Power held a contest where the winner would receive a cameo role in the sequel movie. However, after Carrey dropped out of the sequel and the project became trapped in development hell for years, Nintendo Power was forced to award the winner an equivalent cash prize instead.