![]() The inaugural Ducks were 33-46-5, after having just seven months to assemble not only a roster but a front office, scouting staff and the rest before opening night. What can I do?”Ī look through the old column archives reminds that he also predicted a Disneyland parade for the new team “after we win 38 or 39 games our first season,” and his team came closer than we thought. Eisner then confirmed that the team name would indeed be the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, shrugging as he said, “It’s Disney. The documentary includes footage of the introductory press conference in March of 1993, at which Eisner, newly-installed NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and then-Kings owner Bruce McNall (who got half of the Ducks’ $50 million expansion fee in exchange for waiving the Kings’ territorial rights) blew duck calls on stage. ![]() “There’s a line – I think it was in the third movie – that they snuck in there where Joshua Jackson (who portrayed Charlie Conway) said, ‘You know, they named a real-life NHL team after us,’” said documentary co-producer/director Scott Cikowski in a phone conversation this week. A modestly budgeted flick at $12 million, “ The Mighty Ducks” was released in 1992, grossed more than $100 million and inspired two sequels (1994 and ’96), two TV series (one animated) … and the idea, in the head of then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner, of bidding for an honest-to-goodness NHL expansion team. Screenwriter Steven Brill, inspired by watching kids playing hockey at a local rink where he skated, wrote a script about a rag-tag kids’ hockey team in Minnesota and sold it to Disney. The story begins with a guy writing a script on an electric typewriter in an apartment in Hollywood. For a Ducks fan base that has dealt with some dreary recent seasons, maybe it will be another reminder that there’s always hope. “Once Upon A Time in Anaheim” debuts Sunday morning at 8 on ESPN, and then will be available on demand on ESPN+. They were established 30 years ago as the outgrowth of a Disney kids’ movie, improbably reached a Stanley Cup Final 20 years ago this spring, and used that experience as a jumping off point to win California’s first Cup four seasons later.Īn ESPN-60 documentary – or maybe we should call it a Duck-umentary – examines that origin story this weekend. It is, in fact, the origin story of the team that we now know as the Anaheim Ducks. “The following,” the graphic said, “is a true story … based on a fictional story.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |