The Mighty Ducks (film)

For other uses, see Mighty Ducks (disambiguation).

The Mighty Ducks
File:Mightyducksposter.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Stephen Herek
Produced by	Jon Avnet Jordan Kerner
Written by	Steven Brill
Starring	Emilio Estevez Joss Ackland Lane Smith Jussie Smollett
Music by	David Newman
Cinematography	Thomas Del Ruth
Edited by	Larry Brock John F. Link
Production company	Walt Disney Pictures Avnet–Kerner Productions Touchwood Pacific Partners
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates	October 2, 1992 (1992-10-02)
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$14 million
Box office	$50.8 million

The Mighty Ducks (also known as D1: The Mighty Ducks and in the UK and Australia as Champions) is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film about a youth league hockey team, directed by Stephen Herek and starring Emilio Estevez. It was produced by The Kerner Entertainment Company and Avnet–Kerner Productions and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the first film in The Mighty Ducks film series. In some countries, the home release copies were printed with the title as The Mighty Ducks Are the Champions to avoid confusion with the title of the sequel.

The year after the film's release, Disney founded a NHL hockey team, named the "Mighty Ducks of Anaheim" after the film.

Plot

Gordon Bombay, an arrogant Minneapolis defense attorney, is arrested for drunk driving and sentenced to community service by coaching the local "District 5" Pee-Wee hockey team. In his youth, Bombay was the star player for the Pee-Wee Hawks but missed a penalty shot at the end of the championship game, disappointing his coach Jack Reilly. Bombay meets the ragtag District 5 team, realizing they have no practice facility, safe equipment, or ability. In their first game with Bombay, they are soundly defeated by the Hawks, still coached by the hyper-competitive Reilly. Bombay resorts to teaching them to dive and draw penalties, angering the team and their parents, but player Charlie Conway refuses to cheat.

Visiting his mentor Hans, who owns a sporting goods store, Bombay recalls that he quit hockey after losing his father months before the championship, and because Reilly blamed him for losing the game. Hans encourages him to rekindle his passion for the sport by skating on the frozen pond from his childhood, where he realizes the error of his ways, and apologizes to Charlie and his mother Casey.

Bombay approaches his boss, Gerald Ducksworth, to sponsor the team, allowing them to purchase new equipment and rink time. As they learn hockey fundamentals, the team recruits three new players: figure skating siblings Tommy and Tammy Duncan, and slap shot specialist and enforcer Fulton Reed. Noticing Charlie’s potential, Bombay takes him under his wing and teaches him tactics he used with the Hawks. Renamed the Ducks – after Ducksworth – the team plays its next game to a tie.

Bombay learns that due to redistricting, the Hawks’ star player Adam Banks lives in District 5 and should be playing for the Ducks. Informing the Pee-Wee league, Bombay is confronted by Reilly and sarcastically agrees that the Ducks are “losers”; overhearing this, most of the team (besides Charlie and Fulton) walk out and forfeits their game. Considering leaving the team, Bombay is convinced to stay by Charlie. He goes to see Ducksworth, who reveals that his community service is over and has arranged a meeting with Reilly and Adam's father, who have made a deal with the league for Adam to remain on the Hawks, if Bombay withdraws his complaint. Reminding Ducksworth that coaching was meant to teach him fair play, Gordon remembers his father's guidance that a team is "something you have to earn." Told to drop his protest or be fired, Bombay chooses the latter, "quacking" at Ducksworth on his way out.

Visiting his players in school detention, Bombay regains their trust. Joined by Adam, they win a crucial match and qualify for the playoffs, and attend a Minnesota North Stars game together. With Charlie’s encouragement, Bombay begins a romance with Casey, and the Ducks win two more games, reaching the championship against the Hawks. Reilly orders his team to injure Banks, forcing him out of the game, but the Ducks manage to tie late in the final period. Charlie is tripped by a Hawks player as time expires, and prepares for the same game-deciding penalty shot Bombay himself faced. In stark contrast to Reilly – who told Bombay that if he missed, he would let everyone down – Bombay tells Charlie to take his best shot, but that he believes in him no matter what. Inspired, Charlie fakes out the goalie with a "triple-deke" Bombay taught him and scores, winning the state championship. The Ducks and their families race onto the ice in jubilation, where Bombay thanks Hans for believing in him.

Some days later, Bombay boards a bus to a minor-league tryout, secured for him by the NHL's Basil McRae, who played Pee-Wee hockey with him. He receives his own words of encouragement from the Ducks, promising to 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, #96
• Elden Henson as Fulton Reed, #44
• Shaun Weiss as Greg Goldberg, #33
• Brandon Adams as Jesse Hall, #9
• M. C. Gainey as Lewis
• Matt Doherty as Lester Averman, #4
• J. D. Daniels as Peter Mark, #24
• Aaron Schwartz as Dave Karp, #11
• Garette Ratliff Henson as Guy Germaine, #00
• Marguerite Moreau as Connie Moreau, #18
• Vincent Larusso as Adam Banks, #9 (Hawks), #99
• Jussie Smollett as Terry Hall, #1
• Danny Tamberelli as Tommy Duncan, #2
• Jane Plank as Tammy Duncan, #5
• Michael Ooms as McGill, #7
• Casey Garven as Larson, #33
• 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
• George Coe as Judge

Production

The film was written by Steve Brill, who later sued for royalties for the film. Jake Gyllenhaal turned down the role of Charlie Conway. Emilio Estevez was cast in 1991, after Herek was impressed by his performances in Brat Pack films, The Outsiders (1983), The Breakfast Club (1985) and St. Elmo's Fire (1985).

It was filmed in several locations in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $50,752,337 in the United States and Canada, becoming a surprising success with audiences, which in turn inspired two sequels and an animated TV series (the latter taking on a science fiction angle with actual anthropomorphic ducks). While neither sequel's box-office total matched that of the first movie, they were still financially successful. The Mighty Ducks made $54 million in home video rentals according to Video Week magazine in 1992.

Critical reception

The film holds a 23% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 30 reviews, with an average rating of 4/10. The site's consensus reads, "The Mighty Ducks has feel-good goals, but only scores a penalty shot for predictability". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert said the film was "sweet and innocent, and that at a certain level it might appeal to younger kids. I doubt if its ambitions reach much beyond that", and gave it a 2-star rating. Rita Kempley of The Washington Post described the film as 'Steven Brill, who has a small role in the film, constructed the screenplay much as one would put together some of those particleboard bookcases from Ikea.'

Emilio Estevez was surprised at the popularity of the movie series.

Accolades

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated
• 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
  • Nominated Sports Film

Home media

The film was released on DVD on April 11, 2000, and on Blu-ray Disc on May 23, 2017.

See also

• The Bad News Bears, an earlier film with a similar premise.

External links

• The Mighty Ducks at the American Film Institute Catalog
• The Mighty Ducks at AllMovie
• The Mighty Ducks at IMDb
• The Mighty Ducks at Box Office Mojo
• The Mighty Ducks at Rotten Tomatoes