Harry and the Hendersons

Harry and the Hendersons is a 1987 American fantasy comedy film directed and produced by William Dear and starring John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Don Ameche, David Suchet, Margaret Langrick, Joshua Rudoy, Lainie Kazan and Kevin Peter Hall. Steven Spielberg served as its uncredited executive producer, while Rick Baker provided the makeup and the creature designs for Harry. It is the story of a Seattle family's encounter with the cryptozoological creature Bigfoot, partially inspired by the numerous claims of sightings in the Pacific Northwest, California, and other parts of both the United States and Canada over three centuries. The film won an Oscar for Best Makeup, and inspired a follow-up.[4] In the United Kingdom, the film was originally released as Bigfoot and the Hendersons, though the television series retained the American title. The DVD and all current showings of the movie in the United Kingdom now refer to the movie by its original title.

Harry and the Hendersons
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam Dear
Produced byWilliam Dear
Richard Vane
Written byWilliam Dear
William E. Martin
Ezra D. Rappaport
Starring
Music byBruce Broughton
CinematographyAllen Daviau
Edited byDonn Cambern
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures[1]
Release date
  • June 5, 1987 (1987-06-05) (United States)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million[2]
Box office$50 million[3]

In conjunction with the film's setting, shooting took place at several locations in the Cascade Range of Washington state near I-90 and the town of Index near US 2,[5] as well as Seattle's Wallingford, Ballard and Beacon Hill neighborhoods and other locations in or around Seattle. The film grossed $50 million worldwide.

Plot

Following a camping trip in the nearby Cascade mountains, George Henderson drives home to suburban Seattle with his family when he hits a large, hairy creature in the road with his station wagon. George discovers, to his horror and awe, that they have hit a Sasquatch. Believing it to be dead and the key to fame and fortune, the family straps the creature to the roof of their car. A lone hunter tracking the creature discovers the Hendersons' license plate, which fell off when they hit the creature.

That night, George goes to the garage to examine the creature and discovers it was not dead and has escaped. He finds the creature in the kitchen, having knocked over the refrigerator while looking for food. After a few mishaps involving the Sasquatch breaking things in the house and the family's dog, Little Bob, barking at the Sasquatch causing it to become upset; the family realizes the creature is intelligent and overall friendly. The family bonds with the Sasquatch and George has a change of heart, and instead of planning to make money from the creature, he decides to return him to the wilderness. Naming the Sasquatch "Harry", George tries to lure him into the station wagon with food, but Harry sees through the deception and disappears into the city.

Saddened, the family resume their normal lives, but sightings of Harry become more frequent as media fervor heightens. George tries to find Harry, and visits the "North American Museum of Anthropology" to speak with Dr. Wallace Wrightwood, a supposed expert on Sasquatch, but is disheartened by its dilapidated state. Giving his phone number to the museum clerk, George resumes his search. The legendary hunter turned Sasquatch tracker, Jacques LaFleur, finds the Henderson household. At work, George's father George Sr. asks him to make a poster of a violent Sasquatch to drum up gun sales, but George throws the picture away, replacing it with a proper depiction of Harry. His father in turn alters it to make him look vicious resulting in George quitting his job at the gun store. George soon follows a Sasquatch sighting into the city while the police deal with "Bigfoot mania" by apprehending multiple vigilante Sasquatch hunters, believing the sightings are due to a costumed prankster. The terrified and confused Harry meanwhile continues to evade hunters as he attempts to find safety. After a car chase involving a garbage truck, George (albeit inadvertently) saves Harry from LaFleur, who is arrested.

The following day, George invites Dr. Wrightwood to dinner. The museum clerk arrives, revealing he is Dr. Wrightwood. He urges the Hendersons to give up on Sasquatch, as it has destroyed his life. He then meets Harry, restoring his enthusiasm. Bailed out of jail, LaFleur heads to the Henderson house. George and Harry escape with Dr. Wrightwood in his truck, and LaFleur gives chase. Fleeing back to the mountains, George tries to force Harry to leave, going so far as to punch him in the face. Confused and upset, Harry departs but the family does not leave when they realize LaFleur can track Harry's footprints in the snow. LaFleur catches up to the Hendersons and throws Little Bob. Harry saves the dog and captures LaFleur, but George intervenes when LaFleur attempts to escape and Harry stops George from beating LaFleur up. Through Harry's kindness and George's faith, LaFleur changes his mind and decides that Harry deserves to live peacefully.

As the family says goodbye, George thanks Harry and the two embrace in a hug. George tells him to take care of himself, to which Harry replies, "Okay" – revealing he has the ability to learn language. As Harry leaves, several other Sasquatches, including an infant, suddenly appear and then quickly disappear into the wilderness together. When Dr. Wrightwood asks LaFleur what he will do next, LaFleur replies, "I don't know. There's always Loch Ness." They laugh, as the Hendersons wave goodbye to Harry.

Cast

Reception

Box office

Harry and the Hendersons opened third behind Beverly Hills Cop II and The Untouchables.[6] It went on to gross $29.8 million at the North American box office and $20.2 million internationally for a total of $50 million worldwide.[3]

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 43% based on reviews from 21 critics.[7][8] [9]

Awards

Music

Bruce Broughton composed the film's original score, and co-wrote "Love Lives On" with Barry Mann (music), Cynthia Weil (lyrics) and Will Jennings (lyrics), performed by Joe Cocker over the end credits (in place of Broughton's planned end title cue); the soundtrack version of "Love Lives On" has a saxophone solo on a single and was later released as a single. MCA Records released a soundtrack album on record and cassette; in 2007, Intrada Records issued an expanded album, marking the music's premiere CD release, with the exceptions of the original album version of "Love Lives On" and "Your Feet's Too Big".

1987 MCA soundtrack album

Side 1:

  1. Love Lives On - Joe Cocker [3:49]
  2. Main Title [3:05]
  3. Some Dumb Thing [2:28]
  4. Irene! [1:26]
  5. Harry in the House [4:20]
  6. Harry Takes Off [3:20]

Side 2:

  1. Your Feet's Too Big - Jimmy Walker; arr. Chris Boardman [3:15]
  2. Drawing Harry [1:49]
  3. Taking Harry Home [2:57]
  4. Foot Prints [4:19]
  5. Goodbyes [4:07]
  6. "Harry and the Hendersons" [3:28]

2007 Intrada album

The album begins with the film version of "Love Lives On", which has a flute solo, rather than the guitar heard on the single and on the 1987 soundtrack album.

  1. Love Lives On - Joe Cocker [3:51]
  2. Main Title [5:41]
  3. Taking Harry Home [4:33]
  4. Harry in the House [6:22]
  5. Night Prowler [1:01]
  6. Some Dumb Thing [3:16]
  7. Irene! [1:26]
  8. Eye to Eye [0:54]
  9. Our Little Pet [1:36]
  10. Tracking Harry [1:37]
  11. Harry Takes Off [3:19]
  12. Big Freeway [1:39]
  13. Sasquatch [1:01]
  14. The Great Outdoors [1:55]
  15. Bigfoot Museum [0:59]
  16. Planning the Hunt [2:03]
  17. Drawing Harry [1:48]
  18. Night Pursuit [9:52]
  19. First Things First [1:41]
  20. Wrightwood Meets Harry [1:29]
  21. Bed Pals [0:43]
  22. Traffic Jam! [7:14]
  23. Footprints [4:19]
  24. Goodbyes [4:06]
  25. Harry and the Hendersons [3:27]

Personnel
  • Joe Cocker - vocals (track 1)
  • Robbie Kilgore - keyboards (track 1)
  • David Beal - drums (track 1)
  • Kevin Totoian - bass guitar (track 1)
  • Phil Grannde - guitars (track 1)
  • Michael Brecker - saxophone (track 1)
  • Lawrence Feldman - saxophone (track 1)
  • Dan Hartman - additional keyboards (track 1)

Home media

The film was released in December 1987 on Laserdisc.[11] It was also released in January 2011 on DVD entitled Harry and the Hendersons Special Edition.[12] A single-disc Blu-ray of the film was released on March 4, 2014.

Television spin-off

The film had a television series spin-off, also called Harry and the Hendersons. Kevin Peter Hall reprised Harry until his death in 1991. After that, Harry was performed by Dawan Scott in 1991-1992 and by Brian Steele in 1992–1993. Harry's vocal effects were provided by Patrick Pinney. Leon Redbone's version of "Your Feet's Too Big" was used as its theme song.

References
  1. "Harry and the Hendersons (1987)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  2. http://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57637
  3. "Harry and the Hendersons". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  4. "Harry' Spinoff Is 'Alf' For The '90s". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  5. Jackie Varriano (October 22, 2019). "Leaving Seattle for a weekend adventure via Highway 2? Stop for elk burgers, milkshakes and Bigfoot lore". The Seattle Times.
  6. "Cop II Is First Again In Box Office Sales". New York Times. 1987-06-11. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  7. "Harry and the Hendersons". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
  8. Wilmington, Michael (1987-06-05). "MOVIE REVIEW BIGFOOT 'HARRY' TRAVELS A FAMILIAR, GOOEY TRAIL". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-12.
  9. Kehr, Dave (1987-06-05). "Harry And The Hendersons Takes Familiar Turns". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  10. "Academy Awards, USA: 1998". awardsdatabase.oscars.org. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  11. https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/02029/40677/Harry-and-the-Hendersons
  12. "Harry and the Hendersons". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
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