'''''The Karate Kid''''' is a 1984 American [[martial arts film|martial arts]] [[sports film|sports]] [[drama (film and television)|drama film]] written by [[Robert Mark Kamen]] and directed by [[John G. Avildsen]]. It is the first installment in the ''[[The Karate Kid (franchise)|Karate Kid]]'' franchise, and stars [[Ralph Macchio]], [[Pat Morita]], [[Elisabeth Shue]], and [[William Zabka]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Karate Kid |work=[[AllMovie]] |publisher=[[Rovi Corporation]] |url=https://www.allmovie.com/work/26948 |access-date=April 28, 2011 |archive-date=December 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091214115234/http://www.allmovie.com/work/26948 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Karate Kid (1984) |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/26948/The-Karate-Kid/overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113040008/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/26948/The-Karate-Kid/overview |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 13, 2007 |access-date=April 28, 2011 |first=Janet |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |author-link=Janet Maslin |date=2007 |last=Maslin}}</ref> ''The Karate Kid'' follows the story of [[Daniel LaRusso]] (Macchio), an [[Italian Americans|Italian-American]] teenager from New Jersey who moves with his [[widow]]ed mother to the [[Reseda, Los Angeles|Reseda]] neighborhood of [[Los Angeles]]. There, LaRusso encounters harassment from his new bullies, one of whom is [[Johnny Lawrence (character)|Johnny Lawrence]] (Zabka), the ex-boyfriend of LaRusso's love interest, [[Ali Mills (character)|Ali Mills]] (Shue). LaRusso is taught [[karate]] by a [[handyman]] and [[Veteran|war veteran]] named [[Mr. Miyagi]] (Morita) to help LaRusso defend himself and compete in a karate tournament against his bullies.
Kamen was approached by [[Columbia Pictures]] to compose a film similar to Avildsen's previous success ''[[Rocky]]'' (1976), after Columbia signed the director. Kamen drew inspiration from the real-life events of an eight-year-old Tum Pai student's story in Hawaii when writing the film.<ref name=oralhistory/> As a result, he maintained strong opinions regarding cast, and petitioned heavily for Morita's inclusion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Karate Kid Q&A W/Director John G Avildsen & Cast Part 1 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWGxoAFhK1g |website=YouTube | date=December 4, 2015 |publisher=H Dellamorte |time=11:47|access-date=March 4, 2017|archive-date=April 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406071247/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWGxoAFhK1g|url-status=live}}</ref> Preparations for the film began immediately after the final edit of the script was complete, and casting took place between April and June 1983. Principal photography began on October 31, 1983, in [[Los Angeles]] and was completed by December 16. The film was Macchio's second major film role following ''[[The Outsiders (film)|The Outsiders]]'' (1983).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.biography.com/actor/ralph-macchio |title=Ralph Macchio |access-date=November 13, 2019 |date=August 16, 2019 |publisher=[[Biography (TV program)]]}}</ref>
