Father's Day 2011

Do you ever think about how often it is in films where it is the father which has the most positive impact on a main character and thus spurs on the plot? (father figures are not included since the list would be freakishly long) 

• Luke Skywalker seeks to walk in his father’s Jedi shoes in “Star Wars” but then has doubts when he finds out who his daddy really is. Cue famous Skywalker family “NOOOOOOOO!”
• The first “Superman” movie had young Clark finally begin his hero journey once his foster-Pa inexplicably got a heart attack.
• Marty McFly in “Back to the Future,” while a bit ashamed of his father, is still willing to befriend the younger version of him and get him to try and fall in love with his not-yet-mother. Turns out he didn’t need that much help.
• The most famous line from “The Princess Bride” is when Inigo Montoya tells the six-fingered man who he is, what happened, and what the creep should prepare for.
• Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” showed us a girl who loved her dear stumpy little dad enough to spend (maybe) an eternity with a hideous beast and his castle full of sentient furniture. Would you do the same?
• Peter Pan finally gets his groove back in “Hook” when he realizes his new happy thoughts are his thoughts of his children and what he needs to do to protect them.
• The great Mufasa in “the Lion King” came back from the dead to roar some sense into his wayward son.
• Mel Gibson’s “Maverick” had the tendency to “misquote” his pappy when the situation arose. Not to mention that his dad plays a big part in the film itself.
• “Rush Hour 2” has Jackie Chan’s character trying to tie up his father’s last case…Chris Tucker kind of helps. ^~^
• Austin Powers in “Goldmember” is willing to put his daddy issues aside to try and find him again. When your dad is Michael Caine why wouldn’t you?
• Hooo boy. If you’ve seen the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, you’ll know the main three characters are all either inspired by, motivated by, seeking revenge for, or trying to save their fathers.
• “Finding Nemo” gave us a single father as the main character who, over the course of his journey, truly learns when to stop babying his son and so, grows as a father and a man (erm fish).
• “Kung-fu Panda” had the titular character find his true strength with wise words from his duck dad (the sequel has something to do with finding his true roots too).
• Liam Neeson in "Taken" shows us just how ferocious the paternal instinct can get.
• “Star Trek (2009)” gives us a young James Tiberius Kirk who was challenged to be better man than his father, which saved dozens of lives. He kind of succeeded with a little help from his new crew.
• Gru from "Despicable Me" finds out the joys of fatherhood from 3 lovable gals. And it is when those kiddos are threatened, that Gru shows us the audience why he's a dangerous man.
• “Tron Legacy” shows us the Dude’s kid seeking him out in cyberspace so he can bring him back home. Turns out Mr. Bridges’ exile there turned him into a pretty cool guy as well.
• “True Grit” revolves around the young daughter going to extreme lengths to execute justice for her departed dad.

So Hollywood likes to use dads as the an impetus for their stories to really take flight. Guess that makes them crazy about dads. I'm crazy about mine too. Happy Father's day!

Some sources say that Bruce got the idea of being a bat-man because he remembers his father dressing up as one for a Halloween party. Sadly no film recognizes this.