July 22, 1994
In this retrospective so far we’ve discussed movies based on a radio show from the ‘30s (THE SHADOW), a cartoon from the ‘60s (THE FLINTSTONES), a western TV show from the ‘60s (MAVERICK) and a real guy who many knew from western TV shows of the ‘60s (WYATT EARP). Here’s another one to add to the list: a movie about Lassie, a character likely unknown to the kids who would be its primary audience, but maybe their parents would be expected to have warm feelings. First introduced in an 1859 short story, then a novel and series of movies in the ‘40s, the heroic collie was known to boomers from a TV series that ran from 1954-1973. People my age knew it mainly from parodies, though I remember seeing parts of the show on Nick at Nite or something.
Despite coming from Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels (between WAYNE’S WORLD 2 and TOMMY BOY), the 1994 LASSIE movie is a very sincere drama for families, with a bit of a meta set up. At the beginning little Jennifer Turner (Brittany Boyd) is watching an old Lassie episode on TV but her older brother Matt (Tom Guiry, THE SANDLOT) says “Thought I told you not to watch this crap” and changes the channel to the video for “Breaking the Girl” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. (read the rest of this shit…)
