The Mighty Ducks

For the NHL team, see Anaheim Ducks. For the AHL team, see Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. For the animated series, see Mighty Ducks (TV series).

The Mighty Ducks
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Stephen Herek
Produced by	Jon Avnet Jordan Kerner
Written by	Steven Brill
Starring	Emilio Estevez Joss Ackland Lane Smith Heidi Kling Josef Sommer Joshua Jackson Elden Henson Shaun Weiss
Music by	David Newman
Cinematography	Thomas Del Ruth
Editing by	Larry Brock John F. Link
Studio	Avnet-Kerner Productions
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)	October 2, 1992 (1992-10-02) (Premiere)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10,000,000
Box office	$50,752,337

The Mighty Ducks is the first film in The Mighty Ducks trilogy, produced by Avnet–Kerner Productions and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and originally released on October 2, 1992. In the UK and Australia, the film was titled Champions. UK video/DVD releases are now titled The Mighty Ducks Are the Champions, reflecting both titles.

Plot

Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) is a successful Minneapolis defense attorney, whose truculent courtroom antics have earned him no respect among his peers. After being arrested for drunken driving, Bombay is sentenced to community service by coaching the local "District 5" PeeWee hockey team. Bombay has a history with the sport, although his memories are far from pleasant: he blew a penalty shot, costing his team the title and disappointing his hyper-competitive coach, Jack Reilly (Lane Smith). In fact, the movie later shows Reilly with Bombay looking at his string of championship banners and disgustingly saying that the runner-up banner should be taken down.

When Bombay meets the team, he realizes the kids have no practice facility, equipment or ability to go with it. The team's first game with Bombay at the helm is against Bombay's old team: the Hawks, the team from the snooty suburb of Edina. Reilly is still head coach and remains bitter about Gordon's shortcoming in that fateful game. District 5 gets pummeled and after Bombay berates the team for not listening to him the players challenge his authority. Meanwhile, Bombay discovers his old mentor and family friend Hans (Joss Ackland) who owns a nearby sporting goods store was in attendance. While visiting him, Bombay recalls that he quit playing hockey after losing his father four months before the championship game. Hans encourages him to rekindle his childhood passion.

Bombay approaches his boss, Gerald Ducksworth (Josef Sommer) to sponsor the team, which Ducksworth reluctantly agrees. The result is a complete makeover for the team, both in look (as they can now buy professional equipment) and in skill (as Bombay has more time to teach the kids hockey fundamentals). Now playing as the "Ducks", they fight to a tie in the next game and recruit three new players: figure-skating siblings Tommy (Danny Tamberelli) and Tammy Duncan (Jane Plank) and slap shot specialist and enforcer Fulton Reed (Elden Henson). The potential of Ducks player Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson) catches Bombay's eye and he takes him under his wing.

Bombay learns that star player for the Hawks, Adam Banks (Vincent Larusso), actually resides in the Ducks' district boundaries and threatens Reilly into transferring Banks to the Ducks. After hearing an out of context quote about them, the Ducks players lose faith in Bombay and revert to their old habits.

Ducksworth makes a deal with Reilly about the Hawks keeping Banks, however Bombay refuses since it would be against fair-play, which Ducksworth berated him about when he started his community service. Left with either the choice of letting his team down or get fired from his job, Bombay takes the latter.

Bombay manages to win back the Ducks' trust and Adam Banks proves to be a valuable asset. The Ducks manage to make it to the championship against the Hawks. Despite the Hawks' heavy attacks taking Banks out of the game, the Ducks manage to score a tie and earn a penalty shot in the final seconds of the game. Bombay encourages Charlie to take the shot, reassuring him that even if he fails it will be allright. Charlie manages to score a goal using a technique Gordon taught him.

The movie ends with Bombay boarding a bus headed to a minor-league tryout. Although he seems daunted at the prospect of going up against younger players, he receives the same words of encouragement and advice from the Ducks he had given them, promising he will return next season to defend their title.

Cast

• Emilio Estevez as Gordon Bombay
• Joss Ackland as Hans
• Lane Smith as Coach Jack Reilly
• Heidi Kling as Casey Conway
• Josef Sommer as Mr. Gerald Ducksworth
• Joshua Jackson as Charlie Conway
• Elden Henson as Fulton Reed
• Shaun Weiss as Greg Goldberg
• M.C. Gainey as Lewis
• Matt Doherty as Les Averman
• Brandon Adams as Jesse Hall
• J.D. Daniels as Peter Mark
• Aaron Schwartz as Dave Karp
• Garette Ratliff Henson as Guy Germaine
• Marguerite Moreau as Connie Moreau
• Danny Tamberelli as Tommy Duncan
• Jane Plank as Tammy Duncan
• Jussie Smollett as Terry Hall
• Vincent A. Larusso as Adam Banks
• Michael Ooms as McGill
• Casey Garven as Larson
• Hal Fort Atkinson III as Phillip Banks
• Basil McRae as Himself
• Mike Modano as Himself
• John Beasley as Mr. Hall
• Brock Pierce as Gordon Bombay - 10 years old
• Robert Pall as Gordon's Father
• John Paul Gamoke as Mr. Tolbert
• Steven Brill as Frank Huddy

Reception

While reviews from critics were very mixed, the film became a surprising success.^[1][2][3][4]

It grossed $50,752,337 in the U.S. alone (not counting inflation). The film's success inspired two sequels, an animated TV series, and an NHL team was named after the first film.^[5] While both sequels box-office totals didn't match the first movie, they were still financially successful.

References

1. ^ Fox, David J. (1992-10-13). "Weekend Box Office A Bang-Up Opening for `Under Siege'". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1992-10-13/entertainment/ca-32_1_opening-weekend. Retrieved 2010-12-01. 
2. ^ Maslin, Janet (1992-10-02). "Review/Film; Hockey That Transcends Mere Winning". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/02/movies/review-film-hockey-that-transcends-mere-winning.html?scp=212&sq=ser&st=nyt. Retrieved 2010-10-09. 
3. ^ "The Mighty Ducks". Washington Post. 1992-10-02. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/themightyduckspghowe_a0af0d.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-09. 
4. ^ "Review/Film; Hockey That Transcends Mere Winning". Chicago Sun Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19921002/REVIEWS/210020305. Retrieved 2010-10-09. 
5. ^ Lowery, Steven (1996-04-10). "Disney and NHL Hope Young Fans Will Be Drawn to Hockey Via Animated Series". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1996-04-10/news/ls-56973_1_mighty-ducks. Retrieved 2010-10-10. 

External links

• The Mighty Ducks at the Internet Movie Database
• The Mighty Ducks at AllRovi
• The Mighty Ducks at Box Office Mojo
• The Mighty Ducks at Rotten Tomatoes