Wayne's World
The release of Wayne's World in 1992 marked the dawn of a new era of deliberately "dumb" comedies, and insured the production, if not the success, of a slew of other movies based on popular characters from the television show Saturday Night Live. Wayne's World was significant not only for its surprising popularity—it grossed over $180 million worldwide—but also because its witty, self-conscious script and deliberately ludicrous jargon set a new standard for comedies aimed at a youth market in the 1990s.
Wayne's World was the first skit to be expanded from Saturday Night Live into a full-length feature since the very successful cult film Blues Brothers was released in 1980, and became something of a cult film itself. Like Blues Brothers, the chemistry in Wayne's World lay in the rapport between two characters, Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar, played by Saturday Night Live alumni Mike Myers and Dana Carvey. Myers developed the original characters, and shared writing credits with Bonnie Turner for the final movie script, with Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels retaining his duties for the film. A less likely member of the production team was director Penelope Spheeris who, although well-respected, had built her reputation via a rather different take on youth culture with underground hits such as the dark Suburbia (1983) and The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988), a documentary on the rise of heavy metal bands in the early 1980s.
Beyond the good-natured simplicity of its plot, Wayne's World influenced the marketing strategies of future comedies. The promotional team took the unprecedented step of pouring the majority of their relatively small budget into buying advertising time on the youth-oriented cable music channel, MTV, including sponsorship of an hour-long special on the film, and the bet paid off with huge boxoffice sales to the targeted youth audience. Cannily, the films had recognized that teenagers in the 1990s were increasingly cynical about exactly such marketing, and the plot of the film depicted a naive Wayne and Garth tempted by an unscrupulous television producer to include key products in their popular public access TV show. In a memorable scene, Wayne and Garth balk at the suggestion that they "sell out"; standing in front of a loaded buffet table, the producer (played by Rob Lowe) tells them they have no choice. With a grin that lets audiences in on the spoof, Wayne responds by picking up a Pepsi and replying that, in fact, he does have a choice—and it is "the choice of a New Generation," Pepsi's current tag-line. Similar overt references to other products are found throughout the movie, including spoofs on the campaigns for Doritos and Grey Poupon mustard.
In an ironic gesture befitting the movie, Wayne's World spun off a galaxy of commercial tie-ins, including a VCR board game, a Nintendo game, a book (Wayne's World: Extreme Close Up) co-written by Myers and his then-girlfriend, actress Robin Ruzan, as well as the usual coffee mugs, t-shirts, and action figures. Perhaps the most unusual tie-in was a planned Wayne's World -themed amusement park, to be opened in April of 1994 at Paramount King's Dominion in Virginia, where patrons could ride "The Hurler" rollercoaster and pose next to Garth's "Mirthmobile," a powder blue Pacer. The popularity of Wayne's World guaranteed a sequel, Wayne's World II, released in 1993. Although both Myers and Carvey returned and the film was a commercial success, it received mediocre reviews. Regardless, the Wayne's World movies are widely credited for leading the way for a new wave of comedy features starring television comics, such as Jim Carrey's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1993), Adam Sandler's Billy Madison (1994), and Chris Farley's Tommy Boy (1995).
Mike Myers (left) and Dana Carvey in a scene from the film Wayne's World. Further Reading:
Myers, Mike, and Robin Ruzan. Wayne's World: Extreme Close Up. New York, Cader Books, 1992.
The Postmodern Presence: Readings on Postmodernism. Walnut Creek, California, Altamira Press, 1998.
This is the complete article, containing 654 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
