Tracey Ullman appeared in the trailers as a bartender who is also Ernest's girlfriend. After filming what director Robert Zemeckis referred to as a "saccharine ending": Ernest and Ullman escaping to Europe, Zemeckis decided to opt for a darker ending, and Ullman's character was one of seven or eight actors with speaking roles that was cut.

The movie was heavily edited for theatrical release after test screenings. The two major changes are the ending, which was originally a bit less bleak but still disappointed test audiences, and an entire subplot involving Tracey Ullman as a bartender who befriends the Bruce Willis character. Also, many scenes were shortened, including a lengthy sequence the day after Meryl Streep's character is released from the hospital with a broken neck. Also, character scenes by supporting players such as Jonathan Silverman as Meryl Streep's agent were cut to the point of becoming cameos, and a couple of scenes with Isabella Rosselini's character were also shortened. The reason for most of the changes was due to Zemeckis' desire to liven the pace, as well as cutting extraneous jokes that didn't further the plot or character. The reason for the deletion of the entire Tracey Ullman subplot had to do with the removal of the original ending. In it, Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn are outfoxed by Bruce Willis and Ullman, who escape with the potion. Flash forward 27 years, and Streep and Hawn bump into a now-happily retired couple, Ullman and Willis. Though Streep and Hawn remain beautiful, they lack the love and life that Willis and Ullman created without the use of any magical youth potions. Hence the moral of the story was the same, but apparently, Zemeckis and the test audiences didn't feel the payoff was rewarding enough. When it was changed to the current ending (where the Streep and Hawn literally fall to pieces), the entire Ullman subplot seemed extraneous, so was cut. In all, quite a few minutes of deletions were made, and this test audience version was never released theatrically or on home video.

"Do you remember where you parked the car?"