Wayne's World (film)
| Wayne's World | |
|---|---|
| File:Wayne's world.jpg Wayne's World movie poster | |
| Directed by | Penelope Spheeris |
| Written by | Mike Myers Bonnie Turner Terry Turner |
| Produced by | Hawk Koch Lorne Michaels |
| Starring | Mike Myers Dana Carvey Rob Lowe Tia Carrere |
| Cinematography | Theo van de Sande |
| Edited by | Malcolm Campbell |
| Music by | J. Peter Robinson |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates | February 14, 1990 |
Running time | 95 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20,000,000 |
Wayne's World is a 1990 comedy film starring Mike Myers as Wayne Campbell and Dana Carvey as Garth Algar, hosts of a cable access television show (called Wayne's World) from Aurora, Illinois. The movie was adapted from a popular sketch of the same name on NBC's Saturday Night Live. The film grossed US$121.6 million in its theatrical run, placing it as the eighth highest grossing film of 1990 and easily the highest grossing movie ever based on a Saturday Night Live skit. It was directed by Penelope Spheeris with Myers co-writing the script.
Wayne's World also featured Rob Lowe, Tia Carrere, and Lara Flynn Boyle. Other appearances include Brian Doyle-Murray, Robert Patrick (spoofing his role in Terminator 2: Judgment Day), Ed O'Neill, Ione Skye, Chris Farley (his first film role), Meat Loaf, and Alice Cooper.
Wayne's World received mostly positive reviews upon release and was commercially successful (unlike many Saturday Night Live-based films). It was followed by Wayne's World 2. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Wayne's World the 41st greatest comedy film of all time. The success of the film and its sequel led a street in Draper, Utah, to be named "Wayne's World Drive." Draper is approximately 20 minutes south of Salt Lake City.
Plot
Wayne and Garth's hobbies included playing street hockey, hanging out at Stan Mikita's doughnut shop (an in-joke on Tim Hortons, a popular Canadian doughnut shop and fast food restaurant also named after a hockey player), avoiding Wayne's ex-girlfriend Stacy, (whom he refers to as a "psycho hose beast"), and watching local bands perform at "Gas Works", an Aurora hard rock club. (Gas Works was also a Canadian in-joke; it was the name of a real Toronto live music nightclub in the late 1970s and early 1980s which primarily booked hard rock bands.)
The movie was filled with pop culture references and also started a few catch phrases like "Not!", "Party on!", and Schwing,. It augmented the slacker language of Generation X much like Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure had done previously. The movie was also one of the most prominent films featuring a dubiously styled baby blue AMC Pacer with flames and non-matching wheels from the 1970s, which they dub the "Mirth Mobile".[1]
The film frequently breaks the fourth wall, with Wayne, Garth, and in one occasion, Glenn, the manager of Stan Mikita's Doughnuts, speaking directly to the audience. Indeed much of the story is carried by Wayne's narration to the camera, in which he offers his thoughts on what's happening in the film. Despite Wayne, Garth, and Glenn addressing the viewer, no one else seems aware that they are in a film.
The plot involves a scheming businessman named Benjamin (Rob Lowe) and his attempt to buy out the cable access program Wayne's World. When the show is bought out, it is quickly "reinvented", and the changes to the show, as well as Wayne's blossoming relationship with vocalist Cassandra, whose career Benjamin has also taken an interest in, leads to a rift forming between Wayne and Garth.
Wayne's World has multiple endings and anti-plot (the ridicule of common plot techniques). The movie provides two "alternate" endings - a "sad ending" and a "Scooby-Doo ending". These two endings are an alternative to the "Mega-Happy Ending". The sequel makes it clear that the "Mega-Happy Ending" is what actually occurred.
Video game
A video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis game called Wayne's World was created. Wayne and Garth are playable characters. Different games were also made for NES and Game Boy. As is often the case with games based on movies, none were particularly well received[citation needed].
Cultural references and trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (June 2007) |
- At one point in the film, Wayne is pulled over by a motorcycle cop who turns out to be the T-1000 from the Terminator series. He asks Wayne if he has seen John Connor, causing Wayne to scream and drive off in a panic.
- Wayne began to play "Stairway to Heaven" on the Stratocaster in the music store in the original theatrical release. However, the producers had not secured the rights to the song, mistakenly believing that using only the first few opening notes would be permissible. All subsequent versions of Wayne's World have not included the beginning of the song, instead used the ending riff of Queen's "We Will Rock You," which the producers were able to secure the rights to. Despite the change, Wayne still famously exclaims "No Stairway!...Denied!" in all versions.
- A Wayne's World theme park attraction was built and featured at the formerly-Paramount-owned theme parks Kings Dominion and Carowinds. The Wayne's World-themed roller coaster, Hurler, remains at both parks, but the Wayne's World section of Carowinds has been re-themed Thrill Zone, and the Wayne's World section of Kings Dominion has been merged into another area of the park known as The Grove.
- The use of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the film propelled the song to #2 in Billboard singles charts nearly 20 years after its first release (a year earlier, it had also gone to number one in the UK for the second time after the death of Freddie Mercury). The soundtrack album reached number one in the Billboard album charts.
- Downtown Aurora was actually shot in downtown Covina, California.
- The opening scenes of the film feature TV ads for Menards, the Chia Pet, The Clapper and Empire Carpets--all commonly seen on cable television in Chicago in the early 1990s. Also, the Victory Auto Wreckers ad ("That old car might be worth money!") is shown in Mr. Bigge's limo.
- The scene where Wayne and Garth first arrive in Milwaukee is a parody of the opening to Laverne & Shirley.
- Rob Lowe's character introduces himself as Benjamin Caine, but is listed in the credits as Benjamin Oliver. It is a little known fact that this is not a continuity error but, instead a tribute to producer Bernie Brillstein's son Michael's seventh grade best friend, Oliver Benjamin.
- In the scene where Russell and Benjamin visit the Channel 10 building, there's a Commodore PET Model 4032 sitting in the background in the office.
- The commercial for Noah's Arcade that opens the film contains footage of Sonic the Hedgehog playing in the background, which is a Sega Genesis game, not an arcade game.
- The statue of cars on a large spike (shown while Wayne, Garth, and crew are driving) is named "Spindle" and is located in Berwyn, Illinois.
- Various films and TV shows are referenced in the jokes, including Bugs Bunny, Stay tuned, Star Trek, Scooby Doo, Love Boat, Terminator 2, Scanners, James Bond, Lassie, and The Twilight Zone. In addition, one sequence consists of a series of parodies of well known television commercials aired in the years leading up to the film, including Pepsi, Nuprin, and Pizza Hut. The Nuprin reference immitates their "little, yellow, different, better" slogan, but leaves out the word "better," likely for legal reasons (the producers would not want to be liable for endorsing a medication).
Notes
See also
- Wayne's World the sketch
- Wayne's World 2
- Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches
- List of Films about Television
External links
