Reinventing "Follow That Bird" (1985)

[BigBirdABCDEFGH]

What would you folks think of the landmark 1985 movie, Follow That Bird, if it had different cast members and vehicles?

Here is my take:
Cast Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi (The Blues Brothers) as the Sleaze Brothers. Why? Both Aykroyd and Belushi were one time members of SCTV along with the two actors who did play the Sleazes, Dave Thomas and Joe Flaherty respectively. Both the two leading men (Aykroyd and Belushi) of that 1980 movie were on Saturday Night Live, along with John Candy (the State Trooper, and as Det. Burton Mercer in The Blues Brothers) and Chevy Chase (the newscaster).

Cast Carrie Fisher as the voice of Miss Finch, instead of Sally Kellerman. Why? At one point in the movie, Miss Finch's grunt is reminiscent of that of the Mystery Woman's (Carrie Fisher's role in The Blues Brothers) grunting in her final scene where our two leading men are heading "106 miles to Chicago."

Cast Courtney Wagner, the only true love child of Natalie Wood (1938-1981) and Robert Wagner, as the rescue girl, instead of Tawny Richard (speaking of her, I wonder what she is up to now?).

And, a more far-fetched change: cast Donny and Marie Osmond themselves as the two namesake dodo children.

~Ben (BigBirdABCDEFGH)

 

[minor muppetz]

Here is my take:
Cast Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi (The Blues Brothers) as the Sleaze Brothers. Why? Both Aykroyd and Belushi were one time members of SCTV along with the two actors who did play the Sleazes, Dave Thomas and Joe Flaherty respectively.

No, they were members of the Second City, not SCTV. Most of the SCTV cast members and many SNL cast members were from Second City before becomming part of those variety shows.

 

[Drtooth]

What would you folks think of the landmark 1985 movie, Follow That Bird, if it had different cast members and vehicles?

Here is my take:
Cast Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi (The Blues Brothers) as the Sleaze Brothers. Why? Both Aykroyd and Belushi were one time members of SCTV along with the two actors who did play the Sleazes, Dave Thomas and Joe Flaherty respectively. Both the two leading men (Aykroyd and Belushi) of that 1980 movie were on Saturday Night Live, along with John Candy (the State Trooper, and as Det. Burton Mercer in The Blues Brothers) and Chevy Chase (the newscaster).

Would you believe there was an obscure UK comic book called The Sleaze Brothers where the heroes are parody caricatures OF Dan and John?

As for casting John.... NO DICE! John was no fan of the Muppets during their brief run in SNL.... Dan later let bygones be bygones and had Big Bird on his short lived sitcom... but other than that, I don't think either would have been interested.

 

[BigBirdABCDEFGH]

What other casting changes would you have suggested for FTB?

I also wanted to make mention of Frank Oz (the guy who did the voices for Muppets like Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal and Sam the Eagle as well as Sesame Street's Bert, Grover and Cookie Monster), who in The Blues Brothers played the part of a prison warden (he reprised this role in the 1998 follow-up Blues Brothers 2000).

~Ben