The Mighty Ducks films
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mighty Ducks is a series of three live-action films released in the 1990s by Walt Disney Pictures.
The movies revolve around a Twin Cities hockey team, composed of young players that stick together throughout various challenges. Despite its predictable plot and negative reviews by movie critics, the trilogy's commercial success paved the way for the creation of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL team, as well as an unrelated animated series, also called Mighty Ducks.
Basil McRae, Mike Modano, Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Chris Chelios, Cam Neely and Paul Kariya have made cameo appearances in all three movies.
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[edit] Plot Synopses
| The Mighty Ducks (1992) | |
|---|---|
| Director | Stephen Herek |
| Screenplay | Steven Brill (written by) |
| Producer | Jon Avnet, Jordan Kerner |
| Release Date | October 2, 1992 |
| MPAA rating | PG |
| Color/B&W | Color |
| Aspect ratio | 1.85 : 1 |
| Runtime | 100 minutes, |
| Alternate Titles | Losers (US), Mighty Ducks Are The Champions (UK) |
| D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994) | |
| Director | Sam Weisman |
| Screenplay | Steven Brill (characters) (written by) |
| Producer | Jon Avnet, Jordan Kerner |
| Release Date | March 25, 1994 |
| MPAA rating | PG |
| Color/B&W | Color |
| Aspect ratio | 1.85 : 1 |
| Runtime | 106 minutes |
| Alternate Titles | The Mighty Ducks 2 |
| D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996) | |
| Director | Robert Leiberman |
| Screenplay | Steven Brill (characters) (screenplay), Kenneth Johnson (story), Jim Burnstein (screenplay, and) (story, and) |
| Producer | Jon Avnet, Jordan Kerner |
| Release Date | October 4, 1996 |
| MPAA rating | PG |
| Color/B&W | Color |
| Runtime | 104 minutes |
[edit] The Mighty Ducks
After being charged with drunk driving, a lawyer named Gordon Bombay(Emilio Estevez) is sentenced to community service, coaching hockey, a sport he claimed to hate. There, he meets the District 5 peewee hockey team, a team of perennial losers who finish at the bottom of the league standings year after year, and are shut out at every game by at least five goals. The players learn that Bombay was once a player for the Hawks, an elite team in the same league, but left hockey because of the embarrassment that followed after he failed a shot in the shootout that cost the Hawks a peewee championship. With the help of Coach Bombay, and a desperately needed infusion of cash and equipment, the players learn the fundamentals of the game. Soon enough, the District 5 team (now christened the Ducks, after Bombay's employer, Mr. Ducksworth) start winning games and manage to make the playoffs, eventually reaching the finals. Bombay faces the Hawks, the team he grew up playing for, still led by Jack Reilly (Lane Smith), the same coach Bombay played for. Fittingly, the Ducks win the title game on a penalty shot by Bombay's own protege, Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson).
[edit] D2: The Mighty Ducks
Inspired by his own players, Bombay decides to try out in the minor leagues. After a career-ending injury to the knee, he is offered a chance to coach a team representing the United States in the Junior Goodwill Games. For this, he reunites his Ducks and introduces them to five new players from across the country to form Team USA. However, the lure of celebrity becomes a distraction to both Bombay and the players, and reality kicks in when they lose against Team Iceland in an embarrassing defeat. Frustrated, Bombay drives his players even harder, yet Team USA continues to suffer, until they come across a street hockey team who teaches them how to play like "the real Team USA." (Here, a new player emerges, Russ Tyler (Kenan Thompson), who earlier mocked Team USA during its matches). Bombay realizes that the most important thing is to have fun. After a change in attitude, the Ducks redeem themselves by working up the playoffs ladder to once again meet Team Iceland in the finals. This time Team USA proves to be a match for Iceland, but the game ends in a tie, resulting in a shootout, which the Ducks win.
[edit] D3: The Mighty Ducks
The movie shifts focus from Bombay to his protége, Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson). Charlie and his teammates are awarded scholarships to Eden Hall Academy (a fictitious name from crossing Southwestern suburb Eden Prairie, Cretin-Derham Hall, and the numerous "Academies" in the area), a prestigious Minnesota prep school that Bombay attended. Their arrival is met with hostility from the varsity team (mainly consisting of white players who are members of rich families, whose younger siblings were not accepted to the academy to make room for the Ducks), as well as Bombay's hand-picked successor, coach Ted Orion (Jeffrey Nordling), whose emphasis on defensive two-way hockey irks Charlie. Not wanting to be on a team led by Orion, who he believes to be a washed-up former professional player, Charlie leaves the team, but rejoins as he learns the truth about Orion from Bombay: Orion was once a player for the Minnesota North Stars, but stayed in Minnesota when the North Stars moved to Dallas in order to take care of his paraplegic daughter. Charlie and Orion quickly bonded in time for the JV-Varsity Showdown, and thanks in large part to the work of Charlie, the Ducks win on a shorthanded goal in the dying seconds of the game from unlikely goal scorer Greg Goldberg (who had converted from goalie to defenseman).
[edit] Common threads
All three films cast an opposing hockey team that represents the various obstacles to the team. This team mainly consists of large players of a single ethnic or social background, of which the Ducks, a team with smaller players of different races and genders, must overcome. In the end to each movie, the Ducks prevail over them by a single goal.
Many of the goals that the Ducks score are artistic or gimmicky in nature. This is also known as Duck "trickery." One of their gimmicks is the Flying V, which involves all five skaters skating down the ice in much the same manner as a flock of ducks, and the puck being under the control of the player at the head of the V. Also, a common theme emanates from the fact that all three of the "big bad teams", The Hawks, Team Iceland, and The Varsity Warriors, wear black uniforms.
[edit] Duck Trickery Moves / Talents
- Charlie Conway - Triple Deke
- Fulton Reed - Shotgun Slap Shot
- Russ Tyler - knuckle puck
- Luis Mendoza - Speed
- Dwayne Robertson - Stickhandling
- Dean Portman & Fulton Reed - Enforcers ("The Bash Brothers")
- Julie Gaffney - Goaltending ("The Cat")
- Jesse Hall, Guy Germaine, Terry Hall - "The Oreo Line", led the "Flying V"*
- Tammy Duncan & Ken Wu - Figure Skating in D1 & D2, respectively
- Greg Goldberg & Les Averman- Comic Relief
- The "Flying V" was officially led by Jesse Hall in the first two films (as part of the "Oreo Line" in the first film specifically). However, due to Jesse's absence in the third film, Charlie Conway would lead the formation in his place.
[edit] Roster
The following is a roster of all the players for the Ducks, along with their jersey numbers, playing positions, and appearances in the three films (marked by XX). Seven of the players appear in all three films (Germaine, Averman, Moreau, Goldberg, Reed, Conway, and Banks). Their coaches are Gordon Bombay (Estevez, D1 and D2) and Ted Orion (Nordling, D3).
| No. | Player | Position | D1 | D2 | D3 | Actor/Actress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | Guy Germaine | F | XX | XX | XX | Garette Ratliff Henson |
| 1 | Terry Hall | F | XX | Jussie Smollett | ||
| 2 | Tommy Duncan | XX | Danny Tamberelli | |||
| 4 | Lester Averman | F | XX | XX | XX | Matt Doherty |
| 5 | Tammy Duncan | XX | Jane Plank | |||
| 6 | Julie Gaffney | G | XX | XX | Colombe Jacobsen-Derstine | |
| 7 | Dwayne Robertson | F | XX | XX | Ty O'Neal | |
| 9 | Jesse Hall | F | XX | XX | Brandon Quintin Adams | |
| 11 | Dave Karp | XX | Aaron Schwartz | |||
| 16 | Ken Wu | XX | XX | Justin Wong | ||
| 18 | Connie Moreau | XX | XX | XX | Marguerite Moreau | |
| 21 | Dean Portman | F | XX | XX | Aaron Lohr | |
| 22 | Luis Mendoza | F | XX | XX | Mike Vitar | |
| 33 | Greg Goldberg | G/D | XX | XX | XX | Shaun Weiss |
| 24 | Peter Mark | XX | J.D. Daniels | |||
| 44 | Fulton Reed | D | XX | XX | XX | Elden Henson |
| 56 | Russ Tyler | XX | XX | Kenan Thompson | ||
| 96 | Charlie Conway | F | XX | XX | XX | Joshua Jackson |
| 99* | Adam Banks | F | XX | XX | XX | Vincent Larusso |
[edit] Trivia
- In the first film, Averman's first name is Dave (as announced by Bombay when he reads the team roster). However, for the rest of the trilogy, his first name is Lester (though he refers to himself as "Les" when the Ducks announce their names and places of origin in D2).
- Unlike most conclusions to film trilogies, D3 makes many references to the very first film, including: the alley-way where Fulton was first recruited; Fulton's tendency to practice his slap-shop towards the street, rather than the back of the alley; Goldberg's puzzlement as to why he is always shot at; the appearance of the Ducks' former principal (now a teacher at Eden Hall); Charlie's use of the triple deke; and Bombay's own recount of how he ended up coaching the Ducks in the first place (his DUI charge). References to D2 are more about reminding the audience where the story had left off (ie. "The Winners of the Junior Goodwill Games."). The only exception to this is Bombay's speech to Charlie near the end of the film. Whereas, Bombay was reminded by Jan that he was the "Minnesota Miracle Man" in the 2nd film, Bombay proudly proclaims Charlie as the "Real Minnesota Miracle Man" in D3. Even this allusion to D2 makes a reference to the first film, for it is Charlie who consistently has faith in Bombay and pleads for him to remain as the coach.
- In the first film, when the ultimatum is given to either play for Bombay or not, only Charlie and Fulton support their coach, while the others decline, forcing a forfeit. In the third film, a similar ultimatum is given by the new coach, Orion. However, the rest of the team accepts, while Charlie and Fulton decline.
- In both the first and third films, Adam Banks takes the initial face-off in each of the final games. In both cases, the Ducks are playing against a team whom Banks formerly played for (the Hawks in the first film, the Varisty Warriors in the third film).
- Banks's number was 9 while he was on the Hawks in the first movie as was Bombay's when he played for The Hawks when he was younger.
- Actor Jack White was featured in all three movies, but in two different roles: in the first two movies, he played a referee in the final game featured in each film; in D3, he played the coach of the varsity team.
- Scott Whyte was featured in the later two movies, also in two different roles: in D2, he played Iceland star Gunner Stahl; in D3, he played the varsity squad's starting goalie.
- Bob Miller, who played himself as the play-by-play announcer for TBS at Junior Goodwill Games in D2, and the announcer for the district championship game in the first film, works as the voice of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings in real life, where he called Wayne Gretzky's breakings of both the all-time NHL goals scored record, and the all-time NHL points record. On November 13, 2000, Miller was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The press box at the Staples Center is named for him.
- In an episode of Dawson's Creek entitled 'Detention', the unfortunate fates of once-famous actors languishing in television obscurity are discussed by the main characters, and Emilio Estevez is mentioned by name. One of the characters, Pacey Witter enthusiastically protests in Estevez's defence by saying: "No way, Emilio Estevez was in those Duck movies, remember?" This remark is largely self-referential since the character Pacey Witter was played by Joshua Jackson -- the very same child actor who starred in The Mighty Ducks trilogy some 5 years previously.
- The movie A Night at the Roxbury, references Emilio Estevez as "The Mighty Ducks man himself"
- Kenan Thompson plays Russ Tyler, a child that has an unstoppable "knucklepuck" in D2. It is so unstoppable that the Ducks have to disguise him in goalie gear to get him the puck in the finals of the Jr Goodwill Games. However, the Ducks decide to leave him out of the 5 shooters in the shootout and insert Dwayne Robertson instead.
- In D3, it is mentioned that Charlie Conway "has been captain of this team since they played in District Five." However, Charlie was never officially named the captain, despite the aforementioned claim and Goldberg's own admission that "Bombay gave him that C." In D2, the announcer during the Ducks' initial game against Iceland names Adam Banks as the captain. The only mention of Charlie's position is by Gunner Stahl at the end of D2 when he calls him, "Captain Duck." This apparent "retcon" was probably done to reinforce Charlie's position as Bombay's protege and unofficial leader and conscience of the team.
- Charlie seems to be the main character in all 3 of the trilogy's movies, yet does not appear on the artwork/poster for any of the movies.
- In D2, the uniforms Team USA comes out wearing in the 3rd period of the championship game were in reality the very uniforms of the professional Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. In the summer of 2006, however, the franchise debuted a new logo and set of jerseys, as well as a new name, the Anaheim Ducks.
- In a clip from Tourette's Guy, the voice of Tourette's Guy is dubbed over clips from the Lion King. During the scene where Simba's father talks to Simba from the afterlife, Tourette's Guy says that he "has to take a piss." When he would get back, he says they would talk about the Mighty Ducks movies.
- In 2006, Emilio Estevez (Gordon Bombay) and Joshua Jackson (Charlie Conway) would appear in the Estevez-directed film, "Bobby."
- In D1, there is one very noticible goof in the flim, when the scene of the playoffs opens to the frist PO game, just after the romantic scene with Bombay and Chalie's mother, Adam Banks, as his number on his jersey impiles, is seen going on to score a goal in the game, however the scene stiffs back to the bench before that, where one seens Adam cheering himself (same jersey) on just before the scene goes back to him as he scores the goal.
