Oh yeah, and most of it was filmed on location or on set. That may have something to do with it.
The whole prequel thing just makes me really sad, because there are a million different directions the PT could have gone in that would have been so much better than what we got. I still think that the love story should've happened on the side while still advancing the plot, like Empire and Temple of Doom. The female lead is along for the ride. There was absolutely no reason to waste half of AOTC just going to Naboo and riding giant ticks in the grass. That's lousy filmmaking. The dialogue just topped it off as sheer crap.