Sky High

Remember in the 60s & 70s when Disneyland screened on our (sole) TV channel every Sunday afternoon?

You never knew if it was going to be an item from Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Tall Tales & True from the Legendary Past, or er... whatever the other branches of Disneyland were called. So, essentially, you might be sitting down for a heartwarming nature documentary, a Donald Duck & Goofy cartoon adventure, or one of those really cheesy movies featuring either avuncular has beens (Fred McMurray in um... something about flying rubber, bear with me here folks), or cute as a button kids, animals or teenagers doing (family friendly) whacky things, or some charming mix of both cute & true (Grey Friars' Bobby).

But I'm thinking about the teenagers doing whacky, yet family friendly films often starring none other than a youthful goober of a guy called Kurt Russell.

Who can forget, The Monkey's Uncle (actually a chimpanzee), or "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes"?

Well actually, I had, until this weekend, on a recommendation from Berardinelli, we took in a recent Disney movie, about teenagers doing whacky (yet family friendly) things called Sky High. Not only is Kurt Russell in this movie, but in one scene, when he reminisces over his old high school year book, we see a picture of him from the earlier era, complete with goober haircut.

Ah nostalgia. Luckily they don't make them like that anymore, and I'm pleased to report that The Computer Who Wore Tennis Shoes' return to the Disney fold is a cheesy, utterly predictable (we were guessing each plot development approximately 2 minutes beforehand throughout), yet thoroughly entertaining cross between X-Men, the Incredibles, Batman & Spy Kids, with a few nods to Harry Potter.

Will Stronghold is a pretty average American kid. Except that his parents (Russell & Kelly Preston) are not just the most successful real estate agents in town, when they take off their spectacles & change into their spandex suits & capes, they're the most famous superheroes in the world, Commander & Jetstream!

Will, and his best friend Layla are about to start at Sky High, the high school for the children of superheroes. While Layla has the power to control plants, Will appears to have no superpowers at all, a fact he is ashamed of & has concealed from his proud parents.

The first day of school goes disastrously, when it turns out Coach Boomer "You may have heard of me as Sonic Boom! Or not." (Bruce Campbell) has no love for the offspring of Commander, and consigns Will, along with the less, or more eccentrically powered (the shapeshifter who can only turn into a guinea pig, and the nerdy kid who can melt into a puddle of goo...) to the "Sidekicks" class (way lower in the school pecking order than the "Heroes" class). To make matters worse, Will also gains his "arch enemy", a kid called "Warren Peace" who can shoot flame balls from his arms, and whose father was defeated by Commander some years ago.

Will later manages to alienate Layla, and the other sidekicks, by falling for the very cute & powerful "technopath" Gwen...

So what have we here... a riff on the class system that forms the average American High School, a coming of age story, and of course, the tale of underdogs triumphing over adversity. The Revenge of the Sidekicks.

Cheesy, but a whole lot of fun. Look out for Lynda Carter even, exclaiming "Who do you think I am? Wonder Woman?"

And in supporting roles, Kurt Russell & Kelly Preston look pretty darned heroic in their spandex suits.

Well worth checking out. And as expected from a Disneyland movie featuring Kurt Russell, family friendly.

Correction for the trainspotters:

The Monkey's Uncle did not star Kurt Russell, it starred Annette Funicello, herself a Mouseketeer, so it probably had something to do with Uncle Walt.

I was thinking of The Barefoot Executive. I didn't check to see if the same chimp appeared in both.