Dinglehoppers, The Batmobile & Giant Pancakes: A Look At The Films Of 1989

If you were alive in the 80s, you know that this decade brought the ultimate in pop culture. What many remember from back then is that greed was good, the music was loud, and the hair was big. It’s hard to believe that the crop of films that were released to close out this memorable decade are celebrating 30 years! I was a spirited, plucky 12-year-old back in 1989, and while it would be a couple of years before I really got into film appreciation and history, I like to think that these movies provided me with quite a foundation.

Without further ado, let’s tease our hair and spray it with half a can of Aqua Net, throw some Madonna into the tape deck, and put on our airbrushed denim jackets. We’re going back to 1989!

J’aime Les Poissons

Disney’s resurgence officially began with The Little Mermaid, an animated adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of a mermaid who was so much in love with a human that she was willing to become one to land him. Easily the most comical villain of the pantheon (and reportedly modeled after drag performer Divine), the villainous Ursula (voice of Pat Carroll) gave Ariel (voice of Jodi Benson) probably the most dead-on flirting advice when she visited her, “never underestimate the importance of body language.” Unlike the previous ingénues later labeled as the “Disney Princesses”, Ariel was noticeably different. She was the first redhead, the first to truly assert her independence, and the first one to go behind her father’s back to get what she wants.

Like most fairy tales, the storyline of The Little Mermaid was intended to be cautionary, yet was packed with action and drama, and romance, which was enjoyed by kids, teens, and adults. Whether it’s combing your hair with a fork, dancing to the music by a calypso-singing crab (voice of Samuel E. Wright), or taking in the wisdom of a seagull with a thick New York accent (voice of Buddy Hackett), even if Ariel didn’t get her “happy ever after”, we will always want to be part of that world.

I Got Those Magnolias From Your Tree

Soft like flowers, tough like metal, never has an all-female ensemble cast meshed so well than in Steel Magnolias. Based on the stage play by Robert Harling (which he wrote in tribute to his late sister),  Steel may be classified as a “chick flick”, but you run through the gamut of emotions throughout the entire film. You laugh, you cry. You laugh after you cry.

Taking place in the fictional Louisiana parish of Chinquapin, the entire plot line takes place over an entire year, with every major holiday marking an important plot point. The ladies at the core of the story are M’Lynn (Sally Field) and Shelby Eatenton (Julia Roberts), and the movie begins with Shelby’s impending Spring wedding. They and the rest of their tight-knit group of friends (Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Shirley MacLaine) provide ample quips and tear-jerking moments over and over, but the the bon mots slung by MacLaine and Dukakis were worthy of a film all their own.

Did he Really Flip Pancakes With a Shovel?

I’m probably not the only one who has continued to be in awe of the sheer brilliance that was John Candy. Throughout the ’80s, his unconventional comedic delivery was always a welcome addition to the movies he was in, and as the cigar-smoking title character in Uncle Buck, he hit the motherload.

Buck Russell is the slovenly uncle who does not fit with his brother’s suburban, white picket fence life. He lives in a Chicago apartment, and drives around in an old jalopy that emits more fumes than a nail polish factory, but if you have to run out of town in the middle of the night to go tend to a sick relative and need someone to watch your children, he will have to do. Even though his methods were unconventional, he imparted his street smarts to rein in his charges: two nieces (Jean Louisa Kelly and Gaby Hoffman) and a nephew (Macaulay Culkin).

Where Did He Get that Car?

While Wonder Woman has been my all-time favorite superhero since I was little, Batman comes in second. The campy ’60s television show that starred Adam West, Burt Ward, and a revolving door of guest actors was a definite product of its time. Reimagined by Tim Burton, gone were the garish colors and somewhat hokey lines of the beloved show. Burton traded them in for a darker, sexier, almost Gothic sensibility for our fair Gotham City. Add in the phenomenal soundtrack by Prince, and you now have a brand new Batman for the ages.

Michael Keaton was the first in a long line of cinematic Bruce Waynes, and to me, he still stands as the best. No one could pull off brooding like him. Jack Nicholson’s performance as the psychotic Joker has been copied by the subsequent actors who took up the part. There was no denying it, they embody those roles.

If you want to keep looking back at 1989, a word to the wise, be sure not to bury Fido in a certain place because you may have to contend with a cute old lady and her chauffeur, a fedora-sporting archaeologist, girls who sell cookies on Rodeo Drive, a cousin emptying his chemical toilet into a sewer, a snobby romance novelist, and the damages of a teen clique.

What movie memories do you have of 1989? Does one stick out more to you than the others?