A Good Year!
In 1993, President George H.W. Bush signed the Second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with then Russian president, Boris Yeltsin on January 3rd. On January 20th, William “Bill” Jefferson Clinton was officially sworn in as the 42nd President of the United States. On February 10th, the World Trade Center was bombed, killing six people and injuring over 1,000. On April 10th, Chris Hani, who was an African National Congress Activist was tragically assassinated at the age of 50 in South Africa. And on May 28th, the countries of Eritrea and Monaco officially became part of the United Nations. But, 1993 was also a quite remarkable year for movies.
It was the year that Steven Spielberg welcomed us all to Jurassic Park and won the Best Picture Oscar of Schindler’s List. Tom Hanks reunited with good friend/frequent co-star Meg Ryan in Nora Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle and won his first Oscar in the category of Best Actor for Philadelphia. ’93 was also the year that Disney released two special Halloween-themed films: The Nightmare Before Christmas and Hocus Pocus. It was also the year 20th Century Fox hit a “home run” when they released The Sandlot. In this blog, I have a list of films that came out in 1993, and and I’d like to tell you something about each of them. (Please feel free to comment if you’d like!)
Jurassic Park-The T-rex’s in the film had roars that were a combination of dog, penguin, tiger, alligator, and elephant noises. The T-rex would also often malfunction due to rain. The film’s producer Kathleen Kennedy explained: “The T. Rex went into the heebie-jeebies sometimes. Scared the crap out of us! We'd be, like, eating lunch, and all of a sudden a T. Rex would come alive. At first we didn't know what was happening, and then we realized it was the rain. You'd hear people start screaming.”
Schindler’s List-Caroline Goodall, who who plays Oskar Schindler’s wife Emilie, in this film, previously appeared under Steven Spielberg’s direction as Moira Banning, wife of Peter Pan/Banning (played by Robin Williams) in Hook, two years earlier in 1991. Steven Spielberg later invited Robin Williams to the set of this film to tell jokes and perform comedy sketches to lighten up the depressing and gloomy filming atmosphere.
Sleepless in Seattle-Dennis Quaid was originally considered for the role of Sam Baldwin in this movie—highly ironic, considering his then-wife, Meg Ryan ultimately landed the role of Annie Reid, after that role had been offered to the likes of Julia Roberts, Kim Basinger, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Jodie Foster. Tom Hank’s real wife, Rita Wilson appears opposite her husband in the movie, though as his sister.
Philadelphia-Tom Hanks had to lose 26 pounds to play Andrew Beckett in this movie while Denzel Washington was asked to gain some pounds for his role as Joe Miller. To the dismay of Hanks, Washington often ate chocolate bars in front of him.
The Nightmare Before Christmas-Danny Elfman wrote the music for this film and also provided the singing voice of the character of Jack Skellington, as well as the voices of the characters of Barrel and the Clown with the Tear Away Face. Although Elfman is Tim Burton’s frequent collaborator, he and Burton and Elfman experienced “creative difference clashes” during the filming of “Nightmare.” As a result, Burton hired Howard Shore to compose the music for his next film, Ed Wood (1994).
Hocus Pocus-On an interview that she did for the British Broadcasting Company show “Breakfast,” in Feburary of 2008, Bette Midler specifically staid that this film was her favorite of all of her own movies. She later acknowledged in her autobiography, Bette Midler: Still Divine, that her other favorite film role was doing the voice of Georgette the Poodle in Oliver & Company (1988). Both “Hocus Pocus,” and “Oliver & Company,” coincidentally were produced by Disney.
The Sandlot-David Mickey Evans wrote and directed this baseball classic and provided the narration for this film as the voice of the adult Scotty “Smalls.” He later wrote and directed a direct-to-video sequel, The Sandlot 2 (2005), which takes place ten years later. Evans again provided the voice-over narration, though this time as Scotty “Smalls’” younger brother, Johnnie Smalls.
Dave-This film was a reunion for several members of its cast and crew. Kevin Kilne had previously appeared with Kevin Dunn in the movie Chaplin (1992) just the year prior and Sigourney Weaver had also worked with Kevin Dunn and Frank Langella in Ridley Scott’s 1492: Conquest of Paradise (also released in ’92). Weaver appeared under Ivan Reitman’s direction in Ghostbusters (1984) and its sequel Ghostbusters 2 (1989). “Dave,” was also released on May 7th, 1993, and Bill Clinton, who was a huge fan of the movie, had been sworn in as the U.S. President just four months earlier.
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey-This Disney film was actually a remake of a film produced by Disney three decades earlier. The Incredible Journey (1963) which told the same story about two dogs and one cat that go on a journey to find their way back home and featured narration by Rex Allen instead of the animals having voices themselves. The film spawned a sequel Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco in 1996, though Don Ameche, who originated the voice of Shadow the golden retriever, tragically passed away not long after the release of the first film, and Disney then hired Ralph Waite, known for having played John Walton Sr. on The Waltons (1972-1981) to be Shadow’s new voice.
Grumpy Old Men-This film was Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau’s sixth collaboration. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were both seriously considered for the roles of Max and John in the film, but Martin had to decline for health reasons, and passed away on Christmas Day of 1995, just three days after this movie’s sequel, Grumpier Old Men, came to theaters.
One wouldn’t easily think today that it has been a quarter of a century since these ten films have been released. Some of these films have actual accolades while others are simply famous for having gained cult status over the years. Overall, ’93 undoubtedly was an unforgettable year for the movies!
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