If you truly want to get nerdy about the 1980s, you have to dig around for some lesser known facts. The movies, musical formats, such as CDs (remember them…?!), and fashion that came out of this decade were nothing short of ingenious.
Maybe it’s true that we’ll never reclaim that level of creative abandon again, but there are some obscure facts you should know – ones that show us just how much was going on behind the scenes of our favorite pop culture relics at the time. Here is some stuff that we ‘80s kids were oblivious to, probably because we were too busy wondering how Skeletor got his insane physique.
Labyrinth could have been very, very different
No, I’m not talking about Jareth’s intentional trouser bulge. The movie’s heroine, Sarah, was played by Jennifer Connelly. But a number of now-famous actresses also auditioned for the part. Helena Bonham Carter might have given Sarah a little bit of an edge, if she had been cast. But she was turned down for not being American enough. And Sarah Jessica Parker could have added a certain je-ne-sais-quoi had she not been overlooked. Luckily for her, Jim Henson gave her a part in Sesame Street.
Uncle Phil’s no-so-secret identity
When Will in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air got in trouble, there was one thing you could depend on, Uncle Phil’s booming voice. But did you know that the same actor also did the voice-overs for some of the most bad-ass 80s cartoon characters?
James Avery was the voice of Shredder in the 1987 cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and just in case you needed any more reason to respect the man, he also starred as the voice of Turbo in the 1986 cartoon Rambo: the Voice of Freedom.
The Karate Kid almost had a different sensei
Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, the guy who played Arnold in Happy Days, was originally rejected for the role of Mr. Miyagi. He was initially turned down because the producers thought he was too recognizable as Arnold. Thankfully the producers saw sense in the end – the movie wouldn’t have been the same without the real Miyagi on board.
Michael Keaton was not the favorite for Batman
When Keaton got the role of Bruce Wayne, Warner Bros is rumored to have received around 50,000 letters from outraged fans. The main reason for the animosity was that Keaton usually played comedy roles and fans worried that his presence would detract from the serious tone of the films.
According to Vulture, a number of other actors were in the running to play the hero, including Tom Selleck, Pierce Brosnan, Mel Gibson and Kevin Costner.
So, there you go. Who knew there was so much going on behind the scenes of our favourite movies and TV shows?
