Are there any other franchises that encapsulate our childhoods like The Mighty Ducks movies and television show do? I vividly remember growing up and watching all three Mighty Ducks movies as they came out. I loved them so much that I begged my mom to buy me roller blades and hockey equipment so that I could emulate my favorite characters from the films. Well, I wasn’t good, but hey, neither were the Ducks at the beginning of the movie. And I had fun with my friends, which is what the movies are all about.
The Mighty Ducks movies were not planned to be the phenomenon that they ended up being. It was planned as a standalone Disney movie, and it didn’t get particularly good reviews when it debuted. But audiences flocked to the theaters in droves to see it, and over the years the franchise has turned into somewhat of a cult classic. It was so popular that it spawned two sequels and an animated television show (that not many people remember). We loved the movie because it was a perfect feel-good story, featuring sweet, funny, and innocent kids that we all felt represented us in a great way.
In this list, we will be looking at some of the behind-the-scenes secrets to the three movies, The Mighty Ducks, D2: The Mighty Ducks, and D3: The Mighty Ducks, as well as the animated television show, Mighty Ducks. Get ready to look at your favorite hockey film franchise in a totally new way.
25 A Different Main Character
Interestingly, Joshua Jackson was not the first choice to play Charlie Conway, the main character, in the first Mighty Ducks film. A small, unknown actor tried out for the role and was going to be cast. That unknown actor’s name was Jake Gyllenhaal. Unfortunately for the casting department, and fortunately for Joshua Jackson, Jake’s parents would not let him do the movie, so they producers cast Jackson instead!
Can you imagine how different the movie would be without Joshua Jackson as Charlie Conway? Joshua Jackson embodied the role of Charlie Conway so perfectly that it’s almost impossible to imagine another actor taking the part. But that’s exactly what could have happened. I wonder if Gyllenhaal’s or Jackson’s careers would be any different if this had come to fruition.
24 The Anaheim Ducks
In 1993 when the Anaheim Ducks (as they’re known now) were added to the National Hockey League as an expansion team, they were called the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. They were named after the team from the movie. This is because the team was owned by Disney, and what better name for a hockey team than one that will make people associate them with a Disney movie? The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim also had one of my all-time favorite hockey logos.
Unfortunately, the team was sold in 2005 to Henry and Susan Samueli, who changed the name of the team to the Anaheim Ducks, and changed the logo to, in my opinion, one of the worst sports logos I have ever seen. The Anaheim Ducks just doesn’t have the same ring to it as The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
23 I Can Play Hockey…
One of the main requirements from the casting directors of the first Mighty Ducks film was that the actors and actresses knew how to ice skate and how to play the sport of hockey. This is understandable, as basically the entire movie is based around ice skating and hockey! Many of the actors claimed when they auditioned that they knew how to play hockey perfectly.
These actors did not know how to play hockey perfectly. In fact, many of the actors in the film did not know how to play hockey at all, and thus they had to be trained how to skate and play the sport before the movie could be filmed. Luckily, they were such good actors that the casting director didn’t just fire them and hire new ones!
22 The Courtroom
Many of the scenes in The Mighty Ducks were dressed up a bit to give them a more “hockey” feel to them. This is especially true in the scenes that take place outside of the hockey rink. A good example of this is during the courtroom scenes in the movie with Gordon Bombay, the producers added small black circles on the ceiling to give the viewers the impressions of hockey pucks. This is a great way of subtly designing the set of the movie.
However, instead of taking down the black circles after they were done filming, the producers left the black circles up on the ceiling. Nobody ever took them down, in honor of how successful the movie was, and the small black circles still remain on the ceiling of the courthouse in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where the scenes were filmed!
21 Cake Eater!
The film The Mighty Ducks introduced a new insult to the vocabulary of many kids who watched it, to the chagrin of parents everywhere. This famous insult is, of course, the term Cake Eater. Adam Banks is called a cake eater many times throughout the film, and I have to admit, it entered my lexicon and annoyed my parents to no end.
“Cake eater” was the perfect insult. It wasn’t vulgar, it was just good clean fun. The term is actually a well-known insult in the city of Edina, a small suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It refers to Marie Antoinette’s famous quote, “let them eat cake.” I’m really glad they added it to the movie, and some of my friends even still use the classic insult to this day.
20 What’s In A Name?
Ironically, for how very kid-friendly The Mighty Ducks is, one of the characters is named after something that is not so kid-friendly. Gordon Bombay is actually named after alcohol! More specifically, he is named after gin. There are two pretty famous brands called Gordon’s and Bombay.
The writer of the movie put the two together and ended up with Gordon Bombay.
It’s funny that in such a kid-friendly movie, one of the main characters featured the most is named after something as adult as this. I wonder that if this had happened in today’s society, there would have been an uproar from parents about it. Luckily, this movie came out in the early 90s, and it seems nobody really noticed!
19 This Isn’t The Titanic
Not only was Jake Gyllenhaal considered for the role of Charlie Conway, but another massively famous young actor was considered as well. Leonardo DiCaprio tried out for the main role but lost the part to Joshua Jackson. Unlike Gyllenhaal, who was originally picked for the movie but couldn’t do it, DiCaprio straight up lost the role to Jackson.
That’s not the only famous actor who tried out for a role in the movie, either. Famous actress Juliette Lewis tried out for the role of Connie but lost out on it to Marguerite Moreau. The writers even named the character Connie Moreau, after the actress. I would say that Juliette Lewis went on to be a little bit more famous than Moreau, so she may not have missed out on much.
18 Making Things More Family-Friendly
Another surprising secret about The Mighty Ducks is that the first movie was originally intended to be much, much darker in tone and plot than what it ended up being. The original script called for Gordon Bombay to be a recovering ex-NHL player who wants revenge on his coach, so he starts coaching the team opposite him.
Disney bought the rights to the movie and changed a lot of what was originally intended. They changed Bombay to a lawyer instead of an ex-NHL player and also downplayed the whole recovering-from-a-problem angle. Bombay had to start coaching the pee-wee team due to risky driving, but it was not the focus of the film. I’m glad they changed angles into a more family-friendly movie, and the movie is better off for it.
17 Who Is The Team Captain?
Did you know that the first Mighty Ducks film is the only film in the franchise where none of the players are referred to as the team captain? That seems weird as Charlie Conway has always seemed like he was the team captain from the very start, and it was actually surprising to me to learn this little fact! Nobody is referred to as the team captain until the second movie.
In the second movie, D2: The Mighty Ducks, Adam Banks is mistakenly referred to as the team captain, and then later in the film, Charlie is also referred to as the team captain. In the third movie, D3: The Mighty Ducks, Charlie is correctly referred to as the team captain. He is then stripped of the title, and then given it back again.
16 Miracle On Ice
An interesting tidbit about the second film, D2: The Mighty Ducks, is that the scene where the team does sprints on the ice after their game with Iceland is actually based on a real-life event. The 1980 USA Olympic Men’s Hockey Team, coached by Herb Brooks, did sprints on the ice for over an hour after they tied the Norwegian Hockey Team!
This real-life event is portrayed in another Disney hockey movie as well.
The scene is portrayed in the movie, Miracle, which was also produced by Disney based on the famed Miracle on Ice. It makes sense that the writers of D2: The Mighty Ducks would include such a famous event in USA Hockey history, and it gave the movie a more real-life feel to it as well.
15 It’s A Great Day For Hockey!
In D2: The Mighty Ducks, the sequel to the first film, a new character is introduced named Dwayne Robertson. Dwayne Robertson is from Texas and is a very good hockey puck handler. When he is introduced, he says the following line: “It’s a great day for hockey!” This line was a tribute to “Badger” Bob Johnson.
Badger Bob Johnson was a former hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames, a former coach for the Wisconsin Badgers, and a former USA Hockey executive. Badger Bob died in 1991 before he could fully become the USA Hockey coach, and this line was how he greeted his players every day. It was a subtle tribute to a man who was very big in the hockey world.
14 From All Over The USA
In D2: The Mighty Ducks, one of the main plot points is that the team needs to recruit new players from around the USA. The movie is set in Minnesota, in the Twin Cities Metro area, so it makes sense that many of the players are from there. In fact, seven out of the fourteen players are from that area. Charlie, Connie, and Jesse are all from Minneapolis; Guy is from St. Paul; Adam, Averman, and Fulton are all from suburbs surrounding Minneapolis.
But that’s not the only area that players on the team are from.
The other states represented on the team in the film are Texas (Dwayne Robertson), California (Ken and Russ), Pennsylvania (Goldberg), Florida (Luis), Illinois (Dean), and Maine (Julie). That’s a pretty diverse cast.
13 Pick And Choose
Here’s a fun fact that might win you a bet against your friends. Do you know which Mighty Ducks film is the only film where Adam Banks doesn’t have to pick and choose what team he wants to play for? That’s right, it’s D2: The Mighty Ducks. In this film, Adam Banks is securely on Team USA, unlike the other two films in the franchise.
Adam Banks is generally seen as the best player on the Mighty Ducks squad, which makes him highly desirable. In the first film, The Mighty Ducks, Banks has to decide whether or not to play for the Mighty Ducks or the Hawks. In the third film, D3: The Mighty Ducks, Banks has to choose whether or not to play for the JV squad or the Varsity squad at their prep school.
12 A Special Cameo
We all love cameos. But did you know that the writer of all three Mighty Ducks movies, Steven Brill, makes a cameo in each movie? In the first movie, The Mighty Ducks, he plays Gordon Bombay’s rival lawyer. In the second film, D2: The Mighty Ducks, he plays a party guest who talks to Gordon Bombay about Pat Riley. And in the third film, D3: The Mighty Ducks, he plays a game attendant at the Mall of America.
The writer is not the only one who is in all three movies.
Other actors who make appearances in all three films include Emilio Estevez, Joshua Jackson, Shaun Weiss, Matt Doherty, Elden Henson, Vincent Larusso, Garette Ratliff Henson, and Marguerite Moreau. These are the only people to appear in all three films.
11 Way Too Old To Play Hockey
In the third film in the franchise, D3: The Mighty Ducks, the varsity team in the prep school that the Mighty Ducks attend is seen as a bunch of bullies. One of the players who is a pretty big bully during the film, is named Cole. Cole is played by actor Michael Cudlitz.
Michael Cudlitz is only two years younger than Emilio Estevez, who plays Gordon Bombay. Cudlitz is also about 12 to 15 years older than most of the other hockey players in the film! That’s quite the age gap. You also may know Michael Cudlitz from his time on the super popular television show, The Walking Dead, based on a comic book series. I bet you didn’t know he was in a Mighty Ducks movie!
10 Same Set As A Famous Movie
Here’s a fun fact that will definitely make you want to go back and watch the third film, D3: The Mighty Ducks. The main plotline in D3: The Mighty Ducks is that the team gets accepted to a prep school with a prestigious hockey team. However, this angers players already on the hockey team because they believe the Ducks haven’t earned their spot.
The film is mainly set in the dorms of the prep school.
These dorms are actually the same dorms that were used in the film Dead Poets Society, featuring Robin Williams. That movie is also set in a prestigious prep school and features Robin Williams portraying a radical new teacher at the school. I definitely want to go back and watch the movie now to see if I recognize the dorms!
9 An Interesting Theory…
An interesting theory that is not explicitly stated in any of the movies is that Charlie Conway’s mom got divorced between the second film in the series, D2: The Mighty Ducks, and the third film, D3: The Mighty Ducks. In D2, Hans’ brother Jan states that Charlie’s mom got married between the first and second movies, but in D3 there is no mention of this and Charlie’s mom can even be seen not wearing a wedding ring throughout the movie. Why did the producers of the movie change this aspect of the character? Did they mean to change it? Was it just a mistake? Or was it added as a subtle character development for Charlie and Charlie’s mom? Any way you look at it, it’s an interesting secret to the movies.
8 A New Direction
Joshua Jackson, who portrays the main character Charlie Conway throughout the three Mighty Ducks movies, has actually stated in later interviews that he absolutely did not want to do another Mighty Ducks film when it came time to do D3: The Mighty Ducks. He felt he was transitioning as an actor into more adult roles and The Mighty Ducks was too kid-friendly. However, he decided to take the role.
Charlie was written as a much more moody character in D3: The Mighty Ducks, so Jackson channeled his frustrated feelings into the role to make the character seem more believable. I have to say, I think it worked brilliantly! Charlie is definitely a much different character than he was in the previous two movies, which made it a more realistic portrayal of a teenager.
7 Back To The Future
Did you know one of the characters that we have already talked about on this list was modeled after another movie character? Can you guess which one? If you guessed Cole, played by Michael Cudlitz, then you are correct! The character of Cole was largely modeled after the character of Biff Tannen from the Back to the Future franchise.
Go back and watch the movie and you can definitely see the similarities.
Biff Tannen is a huge, pompous jerk throughout the entire Back to the Future franchise and it makes sense that Cole was modeled after him. Cole is a bully in D3: The Mighty Ducks and you can easily see how he would be modeled after the big time jerk character of Biff Tannen.
6 All About The Hockey
Here’s another fun fact that will probably win you some bets with your friends. D3: The Mighty Ducks is the movie where the least amount of hockey is shown. The Mighty Ducks are only shown playing hockey three times in this sequel. That seems a bit surprising seeing as how the entire movie is based around playing hockey! The team is shown playing hockey much more in the other films.
The only times the Mighty Ducks are shown playing hockey is the game against the Blake Bears, and two games against the Varsity squad at the prep school, including the unofficial scrimmage game they had against each other. When you go back and watch the movie, there is really not a lot of hockey that is shown.
