Parent Trap III & Parent Trap Hawaiian: Honeymoon

Parent Trap III & Parent Trap: Hawaiian Honeymoon

Most people are familiar with the classic film The Parent Trap, starring Haley Mills. Mills plays twins Susan and Sharon, who are reunited at summer camp after having been separated from each other their whole lives.  In the 1980s, Disney produced three made-for-television sequels to the film, with Mills reprising both of her roles from the original.  Parent Trap II is largely forgettable, but Parent Trap III and Parent Trap Hawaiian Honeymoon are forgotten gold.

ParentTrap III introduces us to a new family: Jeffrey, a single dad (played by The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s Barry Bostwick), living with his three teenage triplet daughters, Lisa, Jessie, and Megan (played by real life triplets Monica, Leanna, and Joy Creel—no trick photography required).  Jeffrey surprises his girls with the news that he has fallen in love and gotten engaged to Cassie, a well-meaning but vapid woman (played by Home Improvement’s Patricia Richardson).  After the girls decide they don’t like her, they meet Susan (Mills), an interior decorator who has been hired to redecorate the girls’ home.  After the girls witness some sparks flying between Susan and Jeffrey, they begin to set their own parent trap.

ParentTrap: Hawaiian Honeymoon picks up where Parent Trap III leaves off.  Jeffrey and Susan have gotten married, and after Jeffrey inherits a legendary hotel in Hawaii, the clan decides to take a visit.  Upon arrival, they discover that the once glorious hotel has become extremely rundown and dilapidated.  Jeffrey faces pressure from an old friend and rival, who approaches him about buying the hotel.  Meanwhile, Lisa, Megan, and Jessie figure out that if they can make things run smoothly around the hotel, then Jeffrey and Susan will leave for their honeymoon, thus leaving them unchaperoned in paradise.

Made for television movies often get a bad rap for their low production values and hackneyed dialogue, but Parent Trap III and Parent Trap Hawaiian Honeymoon prove an exception to the rule.  Both films are extremely well crafted and acted, and feature delightful 1980s kitsch.

Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller

Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveler, directed by Michael Rubbo

Another 80s Canadian film, Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveler is an unusual film with a strange concept: magical stamps that can transport people all over the world.  Ralph is a timid, stuttering, pre-teen boy, whose paralyzing awkwardness prevents him from making many friends.  When the school prankster, the eponymous Tommy Tricker, tricks Ralph into trading him a valuable stamp from Ralph’s father’s prized collection, Ralph and his sister go on a quest to replace the stamp.  They learn of a magical stamp that can take literally pull a person into the stamp’s picture, which will transport the traveler when the stamp is placed on an envelope and mailed.  Ralph travels to Australia and China in search of a rare stamp collection, which he believes contains another copy of the very stamp which he traded.

This film has the distinction of showcasing the very first recording of lauded Canadian singer-songwriter RufusWainwright, son of legendary folk musicians Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle.  Early in the film, Ralph is pursued by a school bully through a mall.  During the chase, Rufus and his band are seen performing a song “I’m Running,” a very literal accompaniment to the chase montage.

Little Spies

Little Spies, Directed by Greg Beeman

Part of Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, Little Spies is a film about the strength of chosen family.  Having recently lost his dog to a careless driver, Jason, a suburban teenage boy, takes in a stray dog that is being pursued by a band of ruthless dog-nappers, who work for the local pound.  Jason and his friends, including Jason’s crush Kristi, bond with the dog, and initiate him into their secret club.  After the evil dog catchers kidnap the dog from Jason’s home, the club finds an unusual mentor in a local recluse (played by the legendary Mickey Rooney), who takes them through rigorous paramilitary training, with a goal of breaking into the pound to steal back their beloved pet.

Little Spies, while primarily an action/comedy film, has several tender moments, and expertly captures not only the love between boy and dog, but also the purity of budding teen romance.  The film gets bonus points for having a wacky aerobics montage, set to The GoGo’s classic “We Got The Beat.”  The film stars some familiar faces, namely Candace Cameron, of Full House fame, James Tolkan, the hardened school principle from Back to the Future, as well as Jason Hervey, best known for playing Wayne Arnold on The Wonder Years.

The Peanut Butter Solution

The Peanut Butter Solution, directed by Michael Rubbo

This forgotten favorite comes from an intersection of place and time that we hold very close to our hearts: Cananda in the 1980s.  ThePeanut Butter Solution is essentially a ghost story.  Michael, an odd young boy, is frightened half to death after seeing something terrifying in a derelict apartment.  Though he is not able to remember what he saw, his body reacts in an unusual way: he loses all of his hair.  After trying to cope with his sudden baldness, he is visited by a pair of elderly specters, who give him a recipe for a concoction that will restore his hair, the most important ingredient of which is peanut butter, though they warn him not to add too much.  Michael does not heed their advice, which causes his hair to grow uncontrollably.  After a convoluted series of events, Michael is kidnapped by a demented art teacher, who is hellbent on harvesting Michael’s luxurious locks to make bristles for paint brushes.

The film blends comedy, action, and light horror, and is laden with cancer metaphors (which is most likely lost on younger viewers).

Stream PART ONE of the film here.