RW454 - Wayne's World Rewatch

 

In this episode of the Wayne's World Rewatch, Cory and Nathan are not worthy and may hurl as they discuss the original "Wayne's World."

Trailer:

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Wayne's World was green-lit by Paramount Pictures in 1991. It was the second film based on a Saturday Night Live sketch, following The Blues Brothers in 1980. Producer Lorne Michaels hired Penelope Spheeris to direct, who had directed several music documentaries. Spheeris said, "I had been just struggling as a female director in this business for many years. I was 45 years old when I got that job. I just kept hanging in there. And Wayne's World happened, and it sort of flipped my life around."

Mike Myers originally didn't want to share the limelight with Dana Carvey. Myers had originally developed the Wayne character as a solo character while performing with Second City. The character of Garth was added for Saturday Night Live. At the time, Carvey was arguably the bigger star.

Spheeris clashed with Myers during filming. She told Entertainment Weekly that Myers was "emotionally needy and got more difficult as the shoot went along. You should have heard him bitching when I was trying to do that 'Bohemian Rhapsody' scene: 'I can't move my neck like that! Why do we have to do this so many times? No one is going to laugh at that!'" She said she attempted to assuage Myers by having her daughter provide him snacks, and on one occasion he stormed off the set, upset that there was no margarine for his bagel. Myers and Spheeris argued over the final cut, causing Myers to prevent Spheeris from directing Wayne's World 2.

The studio originally wanted to use a Guns N' Roses song for the head banging scene, but Myers demanded "Bohemian Rhapsody", even threatening to quit the production unless it was used. Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, died of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS a few months before the film's release. However, Mercury saw the head banging scene before his death, found it hilarious and approved the song for the film's use.

Tia Carrere sang her own vocals on the songs she performed in the film, as well as cover songs such as Sweet's "The Ballroom Blitz", which were included on the film's soundtrack album.

Dana Carvey did his own drum-playing for the music shop scene.

Alice Cooper came to the set under the impression that he would be performing musically for the film, with one line. Upon arrival, he was surprised to be handed an entire monologue to memorize and shoot with a small amount of time to do so. However, Cooper is known to be a history buff outside of his music career.

Chris Farley's big screen debut was as the security guard at the Alice Cooper concert. Farley would also appear in Wayne's World 2 (1993), playing a different character.

Robin Ruzan, who played a waitress at Stan Mikita's Donuts, was married to Mike Myers from 1993 until 2006.

When Wayne and Garth are on the hood of the car watching airplanes fly over, Garth asks Wayne if he ever thought Bugs Bunny was attractive in women's clothing. The comment was an ad-lib by Dana Carvey made while waiting for an incoming plane to finally come into the scene. Mike Myers was laughing at something else Dana said at another time during the same scene, and the director decided to edit Mike's laugh after the Bugs Bunny joke, because it looked better than a fake laugh.

In the early '70s, some British music shops banned or fined patrons for playing Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" because it was played so often. Hence the sign: "No 'Stairway to Heaven'" when Wayne plays the guitar in the store.

A teaser trailer for the film was released in November 1991 preceding The Addams Family (1991), where Wayne and Garth sing the Addams Family theme song in the grave-yard set of that movie.

The film was a box office success, debuting at number one. The film's final domestic gross was $121,697,323, making it the eighth-highest-grossing film of 1992 and the highest-grossing of the 11 films based on Saturday Night Live skits.

What's Up Next?

Wayne's World hit big, so a sequel was inevitable. Next week we discuss Wayne's World 2

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