Sky High (2005 film)
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Sky High is a film from Walt Disney Pictures that opened in the United States on July 29, 2005. It was directed by Mike Mitchell and was written by Paul Hernandez, Robert Schooley, and Mark McCorkle.
Plot summary
Sky High is the story of fourteen-year-old William Stronghold (Michael Angarano), the son of two famous superheroes: the incredibly strong, nearly-invincible Commander (Kurt Russell) and the flying Jetstream (Kelly Preston). He is facing his first day of high school, which is even more daunting since he will attend his parents' alma mater, a school for superheroes called Sky High. When it turns out that Will does not have any superpowers, he is relegated to the school's "sidekick program" (or, as it is called, "Hero Support").It is as a Sidekick that Will meets Warren Peace (Steven Strait), whose father was put in prison by The Commander, and it's obvious Warren isn't Will's biggest fan. After a fiery confrontation, Will discovers his power for the first time, Super Strength, and manages to protect his friends from Warren. However, when Will receives his strength, he is moved to the Hero program and away from all his friends, including his longtime companion Layla. As he finds himself being pulled further and further away from his old friends, he finds himself attracted to high school beauty Gwen Grayson. Layla is jealous; she has never been without Will since they were in kindergarten. Comments by her friends and a sudden insecurity have led Layla to believe that she is in love with Will.
Not long afterward, Gwen reveals herself to be Commander's most passionate foe, the technopath Royal Pain, who plans to conquer Sky High and build from its students an army of her own. Will has to work together with Warren Peace, as well as his sidekick friends, to save the school. When all seems lost, he gains his mothers ability of flight, and manages to defeat Royal Pain. Layla confesses what she believes to be her true feelings for Will, and he kisses her romantically. Thereafter they are considered paramours.
Setting
The School
Sky High, the school in which the film is set, is a high school campus (complete with gymnasium and other buildings) that is placed on a flying island. The school's hull is equipped with anti-gravity technology that allows it to hover above the city, at an altitude above the cloud layer so it cannot be seen from the ground. The school keeps changing position, and the location is only known by few individuals, including the bus driver, Ron Wilson.Curriculum
The curriculum at Sky High is strictly for heroes and sidekicks. One's course path is determined by a test that all new students must take. Depending on powers, students are classed as heroes or sidekicks. Heroes take more action-oriented courses like "Foundations of Mad Science" while sidekicks take classes such as "Motorcycle Sidecar Basics" and "Grammar for Sidekicks". Heroes and sidekicks both attend the gym class, which resembles more of an American Gladiators deathmatch than a real gym class.
The school is biased toward the heroes, giving them nicer-looking classrooms higher up in the school, whereas the sidekicks' classrooms are apparently in the basement levels, with little light.
Sky High has extracurricular activities and clubs like regular schools (the yearbook shows that Gwen was a member of the science club).
Save the Citizen
"Save the Citizen" is a traditional match played with two heroes and two villains. Two are chosen to save a doll-citizen while the other two are to keep them from achieving the said goal. The doll-citizen is hung over a large machine that consists of a number of whirling serrated blades. The rope decends every five seconds for three minutes, at which point it will be destroyed by the machine. At one time, Mr. Medulla remembers, with a half-serious glee, the days when they used 'real citizens' for the contest.
Soundtrack
Sky High Original Soundtrack is composed of covers of songs from the 1980s.Track listing for the Sky High Original Soundtrack:
- "I Melt With You" - Bowling For Soup
- Originally by : Modern English
Links to Comic Roots
Though the heroes and villains in the film are original creations, there are some with very visible roots in many traditional comic characters. These homages include - but aren’t limited to - the following.
The Commander and Jetstream are a split of Superman. Jetstream has her speed and flight, while the Commander has his strength and invulnerability. They also both use glasses to (poorly) conceal their identities. The Commander even says (in the alternate beginning on the DVD) that he considered being a “mild-mannered cub reporter” for a cover.
Another note on the Commander; in the Secret Sanctum, he keeps trophies that he collects from defeated villains. This practice is also famously used by Batman.
All-American Boy has elements of Bucky (Captain America’s Sidekick) and the first two Robins (Batman’s ever-present sidekick). The red white and blue suit is much like Bucky’s costume; while the embarrassingly short shorts and cape were worn by both Dick Grayson and Jason Todd during their tenure as Robin (the current Robin Tim Drake wears a drastically different costume than the first two).
Much of the sidekick lectures contain references to the 1960s Adam West Batman. For example, in the class on Hero Support Grammar, Mr. Boy writes on the board "Holy ___, ___man!" This is a reference to Robin's (played by Burt Ward) lines in that series.
Will Stronghold resembles Superboy, the clone of Superman who was created after the Man of Steel was killed by Doomsday. He has powers of flight and strength, but like Superboy’s, they do not yet match those of his forebearers. The makeshift costume he wears during the Homecoming battle at the end of the film is much like Superboy’s. He wears a leather jacket with the Commander’s colors, over a t-shirt with Jetstream’s (Superboy wears a red leather jacket over a blue and red bodysuit with Superman’s “S” shield). His relationship to the Commander and Jetstream (he is their son) is similar to the one shared by Superman and Superboy. Superman adopted Superboy as a surrogate son, and even gave him a Kryptonian name (Kon-El). The story of a non-super child attending a superpowered school also has a striking resemblancce to the character Tyler Marlocke from the comic PS238.
Layla has ties to Batman villain Poison Ivy. In the comics (not the film Batman and Robin), Ivy can mentally control plants. Also like Ivy, Layla is a redhead, and in the final battle, she wears a deep green dress similar to Poison Ivy’s costume. In that scene, she raises her hands; her eyes glow and the plants rise up under her control. This mirrors Storm's (played by Halle Berry) attack on Toad in the X-Men film, although she officially states that she doesn't like to use her powers for violence.
Warren Peace has ties to many fire-related heroes and villains such as Pyro, Fire, Human Torch, Shego and Sunfire. He can make his arms come aflame and shoot fireballs from his hands (he must also have some enhanced durability, since he was smashed through a concrete wall without injury. Probably a psionic shield like Sunfire, which protects him from his fire, and also gives him some form of limited invulnerability). His name Warren Peace, much like the book "War & Peace" also seems to alude to his parents, one a hero and one a supervillian.
Lash is loosely based on elasticized heroes like Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four and Plastic Man. He can stretch his anatomy in much the same manner.
Speed can be based on any number of speedsters like DC’s Flash, Marvel’s Quicksilver, or Dash from another Disney movie, The Incredibles.
Ethan's liquification ability is loosely based off of Fathom. Though Ethan simply describes his powers as "melting."
Penny's power to self-replicate can easily be a reference to duplicating characters like Multiple Man and Triplicate Girl.
Royal Pain’s sidekick Stitches is a derivative of Batman villain Harley Quinn. Though male, Stitches wears a jester’s outfit and fawns over Pain in a love-hate relationship. Harley Quinn is the Joker’s girlfriend, and Stitches is Pain’s adoptive father.
Royal Pain herself has ties to two famous characters, the first being Fantastic Four villain Dr. Doom. She is a genius who was spurned for more favorable contemporaries and used her technical genius to extract revenge. However her suit resembles Marvel’s Iron Man. It flies, grants her enhanced strength, and has a variety of electronic weapons. There is also an homage to the Predator when she activates her final weapon and sends Sky High plummeting to the ground. A device on her gauntlet opens up, and several strange symbols are visible as it is triggered. Her costume also brings to mind the costumes used in Saban shows such as Power Rangers, Big Bad Beetleborgs and Masked Rider.
The adopted secret identity of Royal Pain is Gwen Grayson. This is a reference both to Gwen Stacy (Spider-Man's girlfriend, killed in Amazing Spider-Man #121 in 1973 by the Green Goblin and recently revived for the Ultimates series published by Marvel Comics) and Dick Grayson, or Richard John Grayson, the first Robin, who debuted in July 1940.
Magenta's shapeshifting-into-a-guinea-pig ability is something like Marvel's Wolfsbane or Teen Titan Beast Boy's, except on a very limited scale. Seeing as the guinea pig is the only thing she seems to be able to morph into, while Beast Boy can take the form of any animal he chooses. Plus, her attitude towards highschool life is very much like the animated Titan's Raven. Whether her powers may one day develop as verstile as Beast Boy's will remain unknown as she is still young. But, the fact that her magenta streaks remain in either human or rodent form is very similar to BB's colors remaining the same in either form as well.
In the power placement scene, one of the kids, Larry, transforms into a large rocky creature. The transformation is like that of the Hulk, while the creature itself physically resembles the Hulk villain, the Abomination. The creature’s rocky exterior is also reminiscent of the Thing of the Fantastic Four.
Coach Boomer shares abilities with former X-Man Banshee, whose voice can be amplified into a powerful sonic blast. However Banshee can fly, where Coach Boomer apparently cannot.
Mr. Medulla can be traced with some degree to Hulk’s nemesis The Leader. Though Mr. Medulla’s origin is unknown he shares The Leader’s enhanced cranial structure and disposition towards Mad Science (Mr. Medulla teaches it, The Leader uses it). The Leader has a moustache and green skin, but other than that, the characters are close.
Freeze Girl (who is only visible at the beginning of the film, and at the end when she joins Warren at the dance) has powers similar to Iceman of the X-Men.
The boy who zaps Freeze Girl’s behind uses a laser optic blast much like X-Man Cyclops. This is more visible later during the party at the Stronghold house where he uses his power to illuminate the crystal to create the red light effects.
Also in the party scene, one of the kids climbs up the wall in the stairwell like Spider-Man.
In the power placement scene, one of the kids has six arms. This is probably a reference to when Spider-Man mutated and grew four extra arms.
Notes
- Most superheroes and villains are born with their powers.
- Jetstream's maiden name is Josie DeMarco (revealed in alternate opening).
- Domestic (U.S.) total gross = $63,946,815 / overseas total gross = $17,897,000 / worldwide total gross (domestic + overseas) = $81,843,815
- Warren's full name, Warren Peace, is both an obvious pun on War and Peace, a famous novel, as well as a reflection of Warren's split parentage (superhero and supervillain).
Cast
- Michael Angarano .... Will Stronghold
- Kurt Russell .... Steve Stronghold/The Commander
- Kelly Preston .... Josie Stronghold/Jetstream
- Danielle Panabaker .... Layla Williams
- Christopher Wynne .... News Anchor (as Chris Wynne)
- Kevin Heffernan .... Ron Wilson - Bus Driver
- Dee Jay Daniels .... Ethan (as Dee-Jay Daniels)
- Kelly Vitz .... Magenta
- Loren Berman .... Little Larry
- Nicholas Braun .... Zach
- Malika .... Penny
- Khadijah .... Penny
- Jake Sandvig .... Lash
- Will Harris .... Speed
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead .... Gwen Grayson
- Lynda Carter .... Principal Powers
- Bruce Campbell .... Coach Boomer
- Dustin Ingram .... Carbon Copy Kid
- Steven Strait .... Warren Peace
- Cloris Leachman .... Nurse Spex
- Jim Rash .... Mr. Grayson/Stitches
- Dave Foley .... Mr. Boy
- Kevin McDonald .... Mr. Medulla
- Amy Brown .... Twin
- Kimmy Brown .... Twin
- Lucille Soong .... Cook
- Zachry Rogers .... Young Commander
- Tom Kenny .... Mr. Timmerman
- Jill Talley .... Mrs. Timmerman
- Patrick Warburton .... Royal Pain (voice)
- Hans Hernke .... Laser Eyes Sidekick
- John Jantzen .... Laser Eyes
- Nicole Malgarini .... Freeze Girl
Trivia
- At the end of the movie, Principal Powers says to the supervillain group, "I'm not Wonder Woman, you know." The actress Lynda Carter playing the principal was indeed Wonder Woman in the 70s TV series. Cloris Leachman, who plays Nurse Spex, portrayed Wonder Woman's mother in the same series.
- Kurt Russel had previously played a super-strong character in one of his earliest film appearances, in another Disney movie called The Strongest Man in the World.
- Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald were castmembers of the Canadian sketch comedy show Kids in the Hall.
- Exterior shots of the Sky High school were filmed at the [Oviatt Library] at California State University in Northridge.
- In one scene, a poster of The Aquabats, a band where the members dress up as superheroes, can be seen hanging next to Will's desk.
- The comic book series PS238 explores the same premise at an elementary school, the comic book series Hero Camp explores it at a summer camp.
- It should also be noted that the 2000 Disney Channel Original Movie Up, Up, and Away has a strikingly similar plot and premise.
- The film was co-written by Bob Schooley & Mark McCorkle, who happen to be the co-creators of the Disney Channel Original Series Kim Possible.
- Near the end of an alternate opening, there are two superhero references made. One is an obvious reference to Superman, and another one is to Batman. Commander Stronghold says to Jetstream, "Real estate cover, huh? I work as a newspaper reporter myself. But I'm considering another fake job. Maybe as a millionare playboy. Or perhaps a real estate agent. Mind if I tag along?"
Goofs
Revealing mistakes: During the "Save the Citizen" scene, when Lash is blown into the air, you can see the line behind him that lifts him. (DVD Version)
Audio/visual unsynchronized: Warren's lips don't move in the over-the-shoulder shot of him talking to Layla in the Paper Lantern.
Continuity: At the Homecoming Dance, Mr. Boy offers Layla a drink. Lash reaches out and spills the drink on Mr. Boy's shirt, but there is still a good amount of liquid left in the cup. At the very next shot, however, when Layla is handing him a napkin, Mr. Boy's cup is completely empty.
Revealing mistakes: The Commander raises his arms, clenches his fists and grimaces in pain before the beam from the Pacifier hits him.
Crew or equipment visible: When Principal Powers disappears through the gym door, the stage light is visible beneath and behind Coach Boomer
Continuity: After Medulla says "Let's boogie!" and the group starts to dance, Freeze Girl can be seen dancing in the middle of the group. In the next shot, Freeze Girl is standing next to Warren.
Revealing mistakes: When Will is sent to the nurse, the nurse was wearing a stethoscope around her neck, but when she turned sideways to put the equipment back, she turned to face Will again, and the stethoscope was gone.
Revealing mistakes: Will doesn't actually step on Medulla's foot in the mad science laboratory.
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Will gets to go into the Sanctum for his first time he goes to the right pole but Will's Dad Tells him to use his mom's pole on the right. When they get to the Sanctum Will is on the left pole and Will's Dad is on the right.
Continuity: When Will Stronghold and the Commander in the kitchen, the dad slams on the counter and the knives stay perfectly straight. In the next shot they are tilted for no reason.
Factual errors: Whenever Warren Peace's arms flame up, his clothes do not catch fire. (It´s worth mentioning that it also doesn´t happen with almost every fire user in comics)
External links
- [Disney's official Sky High site]
- [Sky High at Box Office Mojo site]
- [Sky Hype! - A Sky High RPG forum.]
- [- The Sky High fanlisting]
- [Another Sky High RPG (IPB)(Under Construction)]
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