The Mighty Ducks (film)

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.

For other uses, see Mighty Ducks (disambiguation).

The Mighty Ducks
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStephen Herek
Written bySteven Brill
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyThomas Del Ruth
Edited by
Music byDavid Newman
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures
Release date
  • October 2, 1992 (1992-10-02)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$14 million[1]
Box office$50.8 million[2]

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, he 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

Production

The film was written by Steve Brill, who later sued for royalties for the film.[3] Jake Gyllenhaal turned down the role of Charlie Conway.[4] 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.[1]

In March 2021, ahead of the premiere of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, Disney+ and ESPN collaborated on a 30 for 30 promotional featurette in partnership with Cheerios titled The Legend of the Flying V on the championship game between the original Ducks and the Hawks, shown in the film's climactic scene. Among those who provide commentary are Fulton, Averman, and Connie – all played by their original actors ahead of their return in Game Changers – along with Sofi Hanson-Bhatt (Swayam Bhatia) and Evan Morrow (Brady Noon) from Game Changers protagonist team the Don't Bothers, United States women's hockey forward and Olympic gold medalist Meghan Duggan and ESPN hockey analysts and SportsCenter anchors Linda Cohn, John Buccigross and Steve Levy.[5]

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $50,752,337 in the United States and Canada,[2] 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.[6] The Mighty Ducks made $54 million in home video rentals according to Video Week magazine in 1992.[7]

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".[8] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[9]

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.[10] 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.'[11]

Emilio Estevez was surprised at the popularity of the movie series.[12]

Accolades

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

Home media

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

See also

References
  1. The Mighty Ducks at the American Film Institute Catalog
  2. The Mighty Ducks at Box Office Mojo
  3. "The 'Mighty Ducks' Trilogy: An Oral History". Time.com. June 9, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  4. Peters, Chris (July 27, 2015). "Jake Gyllenhaal recalls how his parents cost him 'Mighty Ducks' role". CBSSports.com. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  5. "30 for 30: The Legend of the Flying V". Disney+/ESPN. March 21, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  6. Fox, David J. (October 13, 1992). "Weekend Box Office A Bang-Up Opening for 'Under Siege'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 1, 2010.
  7. Malinowski, Erik (November 25, 2015). "How Mighty Ducks the Movie Became Mighty Ducks the NHL Team". Esquire. Hearst Communications. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  8. "The Mighty Ducks". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  9. "Home - Cinemascore". CinemaScore. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  10. Ebert, Roger (October 2, 1992). "The Mighty Ducks". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  11. Kempley, Rita (October 5, 1992). "'The Mighty Ducks' (PG)". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  12. "Emilio Estevez on the Success of Mighty Ducks Video". NHL VideoCenter. National Hockey League. October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
  13. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  14. "AFI's 10 Top 10 Nominees" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
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