Talk:Gidget
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This is currently flagged as a disambiguation, but it has the potential to be a very interesting article. See
http://www.californiaauthors.com/essay_stillman.shtml
for some interesting stuff.
Gidget has for example the distinction of being, as (arguably) the same character, (natural) blonde when originally played by Sandra Dee in the 1959 film, redhead when played by Deborah Walley in a sequel film Gidget Goes Hawaian, and of course brunette when played by Sally Field. A bit like James Bond or Doctor Who in the continuity department.
IMDB says there were several forgettable sequels of the 1959 film, and that seems to be true, as they don't name any of them. Nor does Deanne Stillman mention them in the external link above. They seem (wait for it) forgotten.
Ah, but they reckoned without Wikipedia...! Two are listed on Amazon!
As Stillman notes, the information is not all that easily found. Or that's her experience, and, so far, mine. This is clearly a job for... WikiMan! Andrewa 20:53, 2 September 2005 (UTC)
Done. I haven't marked it as a stub, as I think it has some integrity and completeness already, and we don't seem to have a suitable stub category anyway.
The most fascinating thing is how many sources have some of the facts wrong. The original article now at Gidget (film) stated that Sally Fields was the first non-blonde Gidget. This is repeated in some other accounts, but it's not true. Several otherwise reliable web pages say or imply that Sandra Dee played Gidget in the two sequel films, possibly that's the source of the rumour that Gidget was blonde until Sally. And many otherwise authoritative sources don't say how many film sequels there were, or what they were called. I hope I now have it sorted out!
There are two collections of episodes from the 1965 sitcom currently available on video, Beach Blanket Gidget and Gidget-a-go-go. Possibly these are the source of the doubts as to how many film sequels there were. But information on these IMO belongs in a separate Gidget (sitcom) article, not this one.
The other interesting thing is that Wikipedia seems to have almost nothing on surf culture generally. I would have expected a whole category of articles, but we don't even seem to have an article... yet. Andrewa 21:04, 3 September 2005 (UTC)
Hmmm, the major outstanding is that some sources say there were three telemovies. I've only found two as of yet. Maybe the animation is confusing some people. Nobody actually lists three telemovies, not that I've seen yet. But nobody even lists the two I've got, either. Andrewa 09:27, 5 September 2005 (UTC)
I'm beginning to form a theory as to why people don't mention the telemovies explicitly. The only comment on IMDb about Gidget Grows Up gushes its praise, but my impression from the synopsis was that it was sufficiently dated and cliched to make even (perhaps especially) a Gidget fan nauseous. (I'm not one particularly, I just think it's an interesting phenomenon.) The style seems a far reach from the movies and the Sally Field/Caryn Richman incarnation. If Mad Magazine were to parody it, Gidget Throws Up would be too obvious... perhaps they have?
Perhaps this is why fansites tend not to list both telemovies? Andrewa 19:30, 5 September 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Who is the real Gidget
I thought Maureen Drummy was the actual real life Gidget. At least that's the claim made in "Step into Liquid" by Dana Brown. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.148.248.157 (talk • contribs) 19:33, June 26, 2006 (UTC)
- Um, no. The article is pretty self explanitory, and you can find a lot of info on Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman, the real life Gidget. But, "Step into Liquid" doesn't make the claim that Maureen Drummy is the real life Gidget--at least not from what I can tell. From doing a little Googling, I've been able to find that Maureen Drummy only appeared in "Step into Liquid" in the DVD extras (at least that's my guess, as she's not listed under the cast at IMB or anywhere else). She's in one segment and there is an interview with here. This is all I've really found in the interviews in re Gidget:
-
Steve Pezman: . . . when the movie “Gidget” came out, and the whole thing got commodified. ....
<Kathy Koda on surfboard>
+++ Tape #1972 1:35:55 +++
Dana Brown: And neither has Gidget. Kathy Koda was given that nickname back in the ’50s .... Her father was inspired to write a novel ....link to transcript (pdf)
- I'm assuming that this is a reference to Kathy Kohner. Besides, I can't find anyone named Kathy Koda--nothing big shows up.
- I have found one person who attributed the title of Gidget inspiration to Maureen Drummy. Geoff Carter who wrote a review of "Step into Liquid" for Las Vegas Weekly, incorrectly dubbed Maureen Drummy "Gidget inspiration" here. But I cannot find anything that suggests that "Step into Liquid" does this. "Step into Liquid" does note that "Layne Beachley earned the nickname “Gidget” early in her career" Step_into_Liquid_notes_8-04-03.doc. TStein 10:43, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
