Movies - Teen Wolf

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	Movies - Teen Wolf

Teen Wolf (first released on August 23, 1985 by Atlantic Releasing Corporation) is a United States film starring Michael J. Fox as Scott Howard, a high school student who discovers that his family has an unusual heritage when he finds himself transforming into a wolfman. He subsequently uses his "curse" to gain popularity at school, becoming the star basketball player.

The film was directed by Rod Daniel based on a script co-written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman.

Although Teen Wolf was filmed before Robert Zemeckis' picture Back to the Future
, it wasn't released until after the Universal blockbuster. By the time Fox finished Teen Wolf, Eric Stoltz had been released from the Zemeckis film and Fox was hired in his place. With this huge success for Fox, there were rumors that Teen Wolf would not be released at all, however, ARC won out and the film was released about two months later and actually made a profit. For its Italian release, Fox's character name was even changed from Scott to Marty in order to capitalize on the success of the Universal film. (With the success of a major production like Back to the Future, American audiences were puzzled to see Fox 'follow up' by doing such a cheap film as Teen Wolf.)

The movie was followed by a cartoon spin-off in 1986, and a sequel in 1987 titled, Teen Wolf Too
, with Jason Bateman starring as Todd Howard, the cousin of Teen Wolf 's Scott Howard.

Trivia: In the film release, rumors spread about an extra in the final scene of the film who had exposed himself for extra attention during filming. The rumors turned out to be true, and the shot even remains in the DVD, starting at 1:28:48. The "actor" in question is in the top left of the screen, wearing a red sweater and jeans.

Cartoon Spin-off

Townsend Coleman provided Scott Howard's voice for the 1986 cartoon spin-off of the same name. While generally keeping true to the main ideas, this version made some changes from their live action predecessors.

In this version, Howard and his family now lived in the fictional town of Wolverton, and his grandparents were also werewolves who frequently longed for the 'old country'---Transylvania. A younger sister named Lupe ironically longs to be a werewolf.

Scott's friends Boof and Stiles (voiced by Happy Days's Don Most) provide a small but dedicated support network. The Howard family also contends with a nosy neighbor named Mrs. Seslick who is always convinced there is something 'weird' over at their house.

Despite the youth audience, the cartoon series delivered very powerful critiques of disability-as-civil rights.

Freely invoking an asthma attack or seizure the episodes of this series centered on how Scott felt 'weird immediately before and during his werewolf transformation. Although he never hurt anybody while he was a werewolf, Scott was conscious of his 'difference' from other teenagers and had to make accommodations for himself. He also expressed frustration that the residents of this town had stereotyped 'his people'. A jock named Mick constantly picks on Scott for being the 'outsider' at Wolverton High.

Precursor

The basic premise for Teen Wolf was inspired by the 1957 Michael Landon cult movie I Was a Teenage Werewolf
. Michael Landon played a teenager with an uncontrollable temper that lead him into the hands of a devious doctor (Whit Bissell) out to make a name for himself. The doctor uses Tony for an experiment and gives him a shot that regresses him so far back in time that he turns into a werewolf. The idea of an adult human turning into a beast was nothing new, of course, but in 1957, the idea of a teenager doing just that was considered avante garde and even shocking. The film was a huge hit for the studio that made it, and immediately became a classic of pop culture history. Today the film is regarded by most critics as a cult classic, a source of camp humour, and, unlike Teen Wolf, far more entertaining. The trend continued in the sitcom Big Wolf on Campus.

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Movies - Teen Wolf

Cartoon Spin-off

Precursor

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