Thirty years ago this weekend, the first Police Academy movie opened in theaters. It was such a commercial success that it spawned six sequels. Six. If you’ve seen more than one of them, it may be difficult to tell them apart, but the original film was the best. It’s been a long time, but reading through this list of movie trivia brought it all back for me. Here’s a sample:
1. Hooks’ voice was inspired by Michael Jackson. Actress Marion Ramsey developed Hooks’ unique voice after meeting the king of pop. In the movie’s DVD commentary she described the moment where her character stands up for herself yelling, “don’t move, dirtbag!” as catching the sound tech off-guard who was accustomed to Hooks’ much meeker voice.
6. The character Larvell Jones wasn’t in the first draft of the script. It’s difficult to imagine Police Academy without Michael Winslow, but his character wasn’t even in the first version of the script. Casting directors insisted that his character be written in after seeing him open for Count Basie.
Read the rest at Uproxx.
(Image credit: Warner Brothers)