Tikis in films

One of my most favorite recent movies is The Big Bounce. It is not a great movie but being set on the north shore(at least most of it is, there are shots of Hawaii that are definitely not the north shore, but there are Tikis everywhere. Having lived in Hawaii twice (on the big Island and Oahu) it is strange, I never saw that many tikis. In fact the only ones I recal were at the Polynesian Cultural Center and I think International Market Place in Waikiki.

I just saw "closer" last night starring queen amidala/matilda, alphie, king arthur and "pretty woman".

anyway, in the London aquarium scene, julia roberts is sitting in front of a tank that has two giant moais under water.

can any of our london based TCer's confirm or disconfirm that those moais really are in the tank at the london aquarium? (or if it was really filmed there?)

pretty cool tank.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=1976&forum=1

Speaking of tikis in fish tanks, there is nothing like the ones in the dentist's office in Finding Nemo

check here:
http://us.imdb.com/find?q=tiki;tt=on;nm=on;mx=20
or do keyword search: tiki on the imdb website, and you will get a list of films and even actors with tiki in their name.

[ Edited by: RemyC 2005-07-08 00:56 ]

WOW, WOW, WOW!!!! HUBBA, HUBBA!!!! BOING, BOING!!!! Seriously though, "Curse of the Swamp Creature". The Tiki has a fairly prominent role. Don't you people ever watch "bad" films??

I saw 'His Majesty O'Keefe' yesterday with Burt Lancaster, quite a few Tiki sightings.

I watched the movie "A Guy Thing" an it is devoid of tiki except for the first 5 minutes. Those minutes are packed with tiki.

A band with a erupting volcano on the stage with them, tikis with glowing eyes. Luahula matting on all the walls, velvet paintings on the walls. My question is "is it all too good to be true?"

Is there a bar called the "Hula Lounge" in Seattle or is it a product of Hollywood. I live on the East coast so forgive me if it is some famous place everyone on the forum knows about.

There is a large Moai-like tiki statue in Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N., that looks like the ones in Tiki Gardens. IIRC, Dick van Dyke is launching rockets out of it's mouth to spook some natives.

And, of course, there is a fabulous Tiki restaurant in Blue Hawaii. I can't remember if there are actually tikis in the restaurant, but there are lots of references to mai tais in the film!

I watched "One night at McCools" the other night and it had the Bamboo/resin panels and lamps as seen at The lucky Tiki and I think afew other bars we visited whilst in LA.
Are these common? from OA?

A nice movie, lots of action to keep the kids entertained, at the end they end up in New Zealand at a Maori village. They show plenty of tikis, carvings and some Maori doing a challenge chant dance. Although the natives in Chile and New Zealand are made to look sort of boobish at the expense of some lame comic relief. Still worth checking out.

[ Edited by: DawnTiki 2005-10-19 09:52 ]

On 2005-06-12 04:46, nuimaleko wrote:
One of my most favorite recent movies is The Big Bounce. It is not a great movie but being set on the north shore(at least most of it is, there are shots of Hawaii that are definitely not the north shore, but there are Tikis everywhere.

One of the opening scenes has two enourmous tikis at the property line between the patio and the sand.

On 2005-06-12 04:46, nuimaleko wrote:
Having lived in Hawaii twice (on the big Island and Oahu) it is strange, I never saw that many tikis. In fact the only ones I recal were at the Polynesian Cultural Center and I think International Market Place in Waikiki.

There are enourmous tikis on a garden & gravel store, just past the canal, off the street to La Mariana.

Last night, I was in Oakland's only tiki bar... The Conga Lounge (http://www.congalounge). Behind the bar, they were playing a VHS collection of Tiki-esque movies (Barbarella, Jason and the Argonauts...) when I look up, I noticed a Moai Movie. The owners says he doesn't remember where he recorded it from. I'm hoping someone out there knows where to get this crazy short film. Here's a plot summary:

The Moai movie is about a Moai on Easter Island comes to life. He blows his nose and shows the camera pebbles in his tissue (cause he has this big Moai rock head). Next, a commercial airline flies overhead, so the Moai sticks out his thumb, and the plane stops on a rock and picks him up. The Maoi lands in some big city… maybe New York and he is wondering around like Crocodile Dundee when he spots a museum with sculptures. He goes in the museum and steals a Thai goddess sculpture… as if to marry her. But, then he gets hit by a car while carrying her across the street and her head breaks off when he drops her…. Distraught he walks into the ocean to return to Easter Island.

It was so bizarre and funny… I have to have this film.

I believe this is "The Secret of Easter Island" by our own Beach Bum Berry. I don't know if is available on video. I think there are copies floating around.

On 2005-10-12 18:18, PiPhiRho wrote:
I believe this is "The Secret of Easter Island" by our own Beach Bum Berry. I don't know if is available on video. I think there are copies floating around.

Okay so's I see's this posts and goes to Netflix, it returns with this.

http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?movieid=70024832&trkid=189530

Globe Trekker: Chile and Easter Island (2004)

Some incredible scenery awaits vacationers willing to take a trip to the exotic location of Chile. The Andes mountains are a prominent feature, are a vast array of terrain as the tail end of the country ventures almost as far as Antartica. This travel guide offers a comprehensive overview of the South American country, as well as a trip to the awesome surroundings of Easter Island.

Has anyone got a recommendation if I should rent this or not?

[ Edited by: El Bastardo 2005-10-12 20:58 ]

"The Secret of Easter Island" is available exclusively at tikibosko.com. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed our "Conga mix" by the way. We strive to have something interesting and wierd playing on our bar TV at all times. Who says bar TV's need to always play sports ??

It must have been Tiki night on UK TV last night, first of all a Tiki Hotel in the series "Invasion" followed by "Maid in Manhattan" which had a load of Moai in.

I just found (bought) an old VHS of Oingo Boingo "Skeletons in the Closet" (from 1989?) And while I was traipsing down memory lane and watching the "Nothing Bad Ever Happens To Me" video I noticed there are 2-3 large tikis on the set!!! I've always known the was cool.....Danny Boingo must be "tiki"!

Tonight I went to the Provincial Archives annual film night to see a feature-length travelog by Mel and Ethel Ross of Calgary, documenting their road trip from Calgary to the southernmost tip of Chile in 1961.

Mel built the camper for their truck, and they headed south from Calgary with their 16mm camera, supplies and a Spanish phrase book, and drove 17,000 miles over five months. In 1961, the Pan-American Highway could only be loosely termed a highway. In some areas it was just a trail carved into the dirt and rock, and in spots it disappeared completely.

I wondered if there would be any mention of Easter Island when they got to Chile, and indeed, in the beach resort city of Viña del Mar they took shots of this Moai, an actual Easter Island statue that stands in the garden of a museum.

Mel and Ethel were an amazing couple. Mel held only one "real" job in his life - which he hated. He stayed at it only long enough to finance the purchase of a general store... but that didn't suit their lifestyle either and they sold it. They built houses from the ground up, living in them until they were completed - then selling them for enough profit to finance their world travels (they've been to all seven continents).

Unfortunately Mel and Ethel couldn't be at the screening (they're still alive and thriving - in their 90's I think), but their grand-newphew was at the screening telling charming stories about them and narrating the film from Mel's script.

check out miss exotic world erochica bamboo as she performs her famous burlesque number "nylon jungle" (performed and written by the martini kings)
in the film camp burlesque.
http://www.campburlesque.com
so what about the tiki you say?
it is a giant bosko tiki we used in this scene.(actually i borrowed the bosko tiki from singer matthew sweet for this scene)

I just came across a movie last night that must've been mentioned before: "She Gods of Shark Reef" (1958), although there is only one sunken tiki, called Tangaroa.

I hope you all visit the Internet Movie Database, IMDb, and add the plot keyword "tiki" to any such films you find, for future reference for the public. That's what I've been doing, although I haven't gone through old posts here to try to catch up. You just click on the yellow "update" button at the bottom of any movie's keyword page (or even a movie's main summary page, too) and then type in the word "tiki". Currently there are only 2 such titles listed, which is a shame. It will take a few days for your new submissions to appear.

http://www.imdb.com/
http://www.imdb.com/keyword/tiki/

Here's some more additions:

A Guide for the Married Man (1967) starring Walter Matthau, is an AWESOME funny 60's sex-comedy with an all-star cast- it just came out on DVD, so go rent it at Netflix!!

anyway, in the film, Walter is trying to cheat on his wife and he takes his date to a seedy "hideaway" club that is some African/Tiki/Savage themed go-go bar with masks on the wall, leopard print booths and features a "native" go-go dancer- a great scene. The rest of the movie has that modernist/tiki vibe as well- there may be another tiki cameo in there somewhere

Paradise Hawaiian Style (Elvis) of course.. there's also another Elvis film where he gets in a bar brawl at some tiki joint, but I can't remember the name, but the scene is good. I think there was a part where a guy ducks a punch and the puncher lands his fist on a tiki instead

The Endless Summer has a tiki scene- a part where the boys go to Hawaii and some really cool looking 60's style tikis take center stage.

Rikki Tikki Tavi, the animated kid's film, doesnt have any tikis per se, but has instead "jungle buddha exotica" elements complete with a tropical creepy vibe- my kid loves that movie

DogTown and Z-boys has Tony Alva being interviewed in front of a backyard tiki.

On 2006-05-31 10:30, fatuhiva wrote:

.. there's also another Elvis film where he gets in a bar brawl at some tiki joint, but I can't remember the name, but the scene is good. I think there was a part where a guy ducks a punch and the puncher lands his fist on a tiki instead

That's "Girl Happy"(1965)-the fight follows a burlesque performance in a Tiki bar (yep, Tiki and burlesque operated side by side even then - a concept revived by Otto's Tiki Oasis)
There's also lots of Tikis in "Clambake" (1967)
Never start a fight with the King in a Tiki Bar...

First off, I do have to admit that I have seen the movie "Curse of the Erotic Tiki"....it's a pretty goofy soft porn movie, but the ending where everyone dances wildy after defeating the evil robot ("I knew he was a robot from the moment I saw him. He told me.") is pretty funny. It also appears on cable sometimes under the name "Bikini A-Go-Go."

Since someone already mentioned the Bamboo Lounge scene from "Swingers" I can only think of two movies with tikis that I didn't see listed here..."Psycho Beach Party" has a few, mostly in The Great Kanaka's shack (including a phallicly positioned "pagan god of sex") and at the luau towards the end, where there's some very large tikis, probably about 6 feet tall or so. Los Straightjackets are also seen as the party band during the luau.

"Back to the Beach", the Frankie/Annette 1987 return to the screen has tikis placed throughout the movie...and it seems Frankie spends a lot of time drowning his woes over Annette out of a Tiki Bob mug.

A favourite at my hut is the John Ford/John Wayne movie 'Donovans Reef', from about 64 I think. There are some Tikis carved into the entrance of the bar. While not heavy on Tiki this film has a strong tiki/tropical feel.

Has anyone identified... is the "Bamboo Lounge" in Swingers a set, or was it filmed at a genuine tiki location??

~Rupe

It is/was a bar in Hollywood called the "3 of Clubs" They added some tiki stuff for the movie.

I've been meaning to post these for a while, kept forgetting... then I saw the movie again and it reminded me

In "The 40 Year-old Virgin" the fellows take Steven Carell to a tiki bar to pick up on chicks. Here's a couple of screen caps.

The same tiki is used in several locations throughout the scene. It's as if it's following the guys around. It reappears later when they join the batchelorette party but is in a different spot facing a new direction.

There's a Tiki necklace in the new "Lilo & Stitch" movie, Leroy & Stitch:

Plus various Tikis & Hawaiian images, including a "Tiki Bowl" concert venue.

Lot's of tiki, great scenery, and The Duke in the classic "Donovan's Reef". I got a copy on DVD from Overstock.com. It co-stars Lee Marvin along with Jack Warden, and the original Joker: Cesar Romero.

I was bored this weekend watching tv and was watching "Spy Hard" with Leslie Nielsen. There's a scene in front of a museum that has 4 or 5 tikis out in front of it.

I was watching "Teenage Sex Kittens" from 1972 earlier today. You may have heard of it. It stars some pretty famous actors who were synonomous with the best of American Cinema of the 1970s; most notably, Lilly Lovetree, Threda Bara, Doug Farbank and Long Hangey. The reason I was watching this movie is that I was looking for a small sample of pretty 1970s instrumental music that I could attach to an E-Card to my dear old grandmother for her birthday at the nursing home. I wasn't really watching what was going on, because the movie is somewhat pornographic and frankly I'm not interested in that, being a guy and all.

Anyway, our four heroes are driving to Palm Springs so that the enterprising young ladies can set up some kind of business venture in one of the hotels to make a little money. This is all highly laudable. So they're driving down the main drag and the camera pans on each hotel they drive by. Suddenly, I see this sign, (oh by the way, the movie has German subtitles, which is useful in understanding some of the sex scenes):

Well needless to say, I was so suprised at what I was seeing that I leapt to my feet and promptly tripped on my pants which were around my ankles. (ha ha! Just kidding. My pants weren't really around my ankles. That would be silly. Actually I wasn't wearing pants at all).

As the camera continued its pan, we can see the Sambos restaurant attached to the Tropics Motel, which sadly, was torn down years ago, and replaced with a Mexican restaurant, much like my morals:

Next, we see that classic entrance to the Tropics motor court, home to many wonderful times at Tiki Oasis. Strangely, the same camper is still parked there today:

Well, needless to say, after that nice bit of foreplay, I was so strung-out that I could barely light my cigarette. Unfortunately there was no release though. Our heroines chose a completely different hotel in which to set up their "business", a place called "Harlow's Hideaway" or something like that. So they completely missed the chance to have the orgy scene take place in room 135 of the Tropics, with Al bartending and King Kukulele playing Hawaiian Cowboy, which we all know from experience makes any orgy a really special event. Oh well. I guess you can't have your porn and tiki too.

So in conclusion, I highly recommend "Teenage Sex Kittens". I give it four, fully-erect tikis plus one semi-flacid tiki. Top-knotch entertainment!

Saboom-boom chicka-bau-bau, The Coconut Boy.

I thoroughly enjoyed your movie review, Sabu, and I'm looking forward to more in the future. Those subtitles aren't German, though. I think they may be Finnish.

Last night we watched "Failure to Launch" with Matthew McConaghey and Sarah Jessica Parker. Early in the film there's a barbecue where several couples are discussing their kids who've not moved out and one couple is really getting affectionate with each another. Their son had moved out and they'd been off rekindling their spark - including the Mom getting a tiki tattoo on her chest of "Lono - he's the god of fertility."

All told, it still wasn't worth the time to watch the film! :)

~Rupe

On 2006-07-13 08:03, Sweet Daddy Tiki wrote:
I thoroughly enjoyed your movie review, Sabu, and I'm looking forward to more in the future.

Right On! I too am convinced that 1970s porn movies are one of the last, great, untapped sources of Tiki Archeology. And since such research is important to you, Sweet Daddy Tiki, (nice adult film name, btw), I will make it important to me as well.

On 2006-07-13 08:03, Sweet Daddy Tiki wrote:
Those subtitles aren't German, though. I think they may be Finnish.

That makes much more sense, Sweet Daddy Tiki, (awesome porn name). Knowing that the language is Finnish makes the following scenes much easier to understand:

Sabu

Just saw tyhis one on overstock.com "Curse of the Erotic Tiki"

that movie is so NOT WORTH even the slightest trace of tikis in it--it is SUBPAR porn and the WORST 'acting' ever --even for softcore standards! Trust me--as a former owner and re-seller on ebay of this product---STAY AWAY. It is the most predictable crap EVER and the tikis are there JUST to suck us tiki types in..that said, I do recall a couple of decent dance sequences

I recently rented the old TV show "Son of the Beach" on DVD.

If you have never seen it, it was/is a parody of Bay Watch and was very well written, it poke fun at everything Bay Watch and was pretty funny and risque for TV at the time.

Volume One, Disk 1 has an episode called "Two thongs don't make a right". The religous right and the mayor conspire to ban thongs from the beach. While every one is busy enforcing or protesting the ban, a little boy falls in a hole and almost dies. The episode ends with an beach party dance number called "Do the thong, shake your naked booty all night long". There is a tiki bar and a huge stone Maoi head in the background. Anyone know where it was filmed?

Here are some screen shots, sorry about the quality.
The full Moai head is not in the frame for very long.

I never really get to this side of TC very often but it's pretty interesting. I cant say too much (Top Secret!) but in the new movie "Snakes on a Plane" starring Samuel L. Jackson which is huge right now on the internet and it isn't even out yet, they filmed some here in Vancouver BC. We were contacted to do a movie rental and they rented a bunch of items from my collection and a couple of our original pieces from our business, Taboo Tiki.
They did this part in the Vancouver Airport where they convereted it to look like a Hawaiian airport and they got a bunch of our stuff in there for set decor. Pretty damn cool but it is not out yet so dont know what it looks like yet. Knowing how these rentals work, you probably wont see a thing but who knows. Maybe someone gets shot or bitten to death on one of our Tiki poles!! That would be cool but probably not!
Thought some of you might want to check it out as there is alot of hype about this movie coming out! So keep your eyes open!!
Mahalo, TabooDan

Man, I hope the Disney copyright people don't come after me...

Here are some screenshots of the 1966 Disney movie Lt. Robin Caruso, USN. A hilarious, hi-jinx filled movie starring Dick Van Dyke and Nancy Kwan.

A tiki hut. What, no A-frame?

The great Tiki

The great Tiki part 2

Nancy Kwan as Wednesday. She is awesome!

Nancy Kwan and Dick van Dyke.

The natives are restless. Never saw Tiki masks like these.

in the truman show, jim carey's character has a copy of kon tiki stowed away in a chest filled w/ his special things, photos.

Did I see several Ape Fez mugs in the ads for the new Teen College Comedy "Accepted"? There was a "Tiki" bar scene in the TV ads with what looked like the standard Tiki Farm Ape mugs on the bartop.

And there's always the IMDb Keyword Search for "Tiki", which shows 6 hits:

1. FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) 5.7/10
2. Don't Make Waves (1967) 5.6/10
3. Bikini a Go Go (2004) (V) 3.6/10
4. Troll (1986) 3.3/10
5. She Gods of Shark Reef (1958) 2.7/10
6. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (1999)

Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Freelance, Ph.D., D.F.S

[ Edited by: freddiefreelance 2006-08-09 14:41 ]

In the South Park episode 'Casa Bonita', you can see people holding tiki mugs.

But according to this thread, the real Casa Bonita has no tiki.

On 2006-07-27 22:13, TabooDan wrote:
I never really get to this side of TC very often but it's pretty interesting. I cant say too much (Top Secret!) but in the new movie "Snakes on a Plane" starring Samuel L. Jackson which is huge right now on the internet and it isn't even out yet, they filmed some here in Vancouver BC. We were contacted to do a movie rental and they rented a bunch of items from my collection and a couple of our original pieces from our business, Taboo Tiki.
They did this part in the Vancouver Airport where they convereted it to look like a Hawaiian airport and they got a bunch of our stuff in there for set decor. Pretty damn cool but it is not out yet so dont know what it looks like yet. Knowing how these rentals work, you probably wont see a thing but who knows. Maybe someone gets shot or bitten to death on one of our Tiki poles!! That would be cool but probably not!
Thought some of you might want to check it out as there is alot of hype about this movie coming out! So keep your eyes open!!
Mahalo, TabooDan

I can confirm this, there are some tikis in Snakes on a Plane. I wouldn't see it just for the tikis but it was a pleasant surprise for me. They are all in the first 20 or so minutes of the movie.

sporkboyofjustice
I can confirm this, there are some tikis in Snakes on a Plane. I wouldn't see it just for the tikis but it was a pleasant surprise for me. They are all in the first 20 or so minutes of the movie.

Hey there! Reido from Taboo Tiki went and saw the movie (Snakes on a Plane)and was stoked to see our Tiki's in the movie. You can see them in the back ground right at the beginning of the movie but no one gets killed on them. Unfortunately, our hand carved Tiki Mask is hanging upside down in the shot! Come on.....what the hell are the set designers thinking! You can also see a few of our Poles and a few pieces from our collection. I'll try to add a picture later.

Anyways, before I forget, I had to go through this whole topic to see if anybody had put on "Beyond The Valley of the Dolls" from 1970.
Kind of a weird one but not bad. It was just on TV and when the two girls (sorry, dont know their names) are making out in the room towards the end, the room is full of really cool rattan furniture. Later when the freaky he/she thing comes looking for one of them, you can see Hawaiian paintings/prints in bamboo frames of Hula girls and they look to be by that artist Savage. I didnt watch all the movie so there might be more in this one.
Also, in the scene where the he/she thing chops the head off a guy in, what I might add, leopard print speedo's, there is a large white colored Tiki mask in the Oceanic Arts style hanging on the wall by the bar. This mask is again seen when the killer chases after another person who is dressed in a Nazi uniform. If you havent seen this movie then you are probably reading this thinking it sounds great!! Hey, it's just one of those ones that you have to see yourself. And now that I said there looks to be a little Tiki and leopard print underwear in it, what are you waiting for?? I see there is quite a few of these movies on ebay! Happy Hunting!! TabooDan

On 2006-07-13 08:03, Sweet Daddy Tiki wrote:
I thoroughly enjoyed your movie review, Sabu, and I'm looking forward to more in the future.

Inspired by Sweet Daddy Tiki's words, I continue in the tedious, thankless task of searching old 1970s porn for tiki.

This week, I bring you the 1978 film, "Pet of The Month", starring Mariwin Roberts. Here is the IMDb synopis of the film:

"Pet of the Month. Mariwin Roberts is featured in this Hawaiian adventure. As she recounts for the office girls her recent adventure, the audience is treated to a visual & sexual tour-de-force. From hang gliding above the tropical cliffs to lovemaking on the lovely sands, beautiful Hawaii is seen in an entirely new light. This Pet proves to be the hottest thing to Hawaii since volcanoes. Aloha!"

Aimed more towards a female audience, this film was far too romantic for this coconut boy. If I have to watch soft-focus sex scene after soft-focus sex scene, I'd like to see a Penthouse Pet-quality actress in them at least. Sheesh! (Oh, wait, Mariwan Roberts is a Penthouse Pet). Hey! I loved this film! Three fully erect tikis!

Well, the best part of the film involved no sex whatsoever. The happy couple are out on a date, enjoying the nightlife of what is supposed to be Honolulu or Waikiki, but evidently the night-footage shot in Hawaii must have been lost or inadequate, so the director edited-in a nice cliche montage of neon signs from Los Angeles. Either the director was a total tiki-bar afficianado, or he wanted tropical bars that might be mistaken for Hawaiian. In either case, EVERY single sign in this montage is a famous Los Angeles tiki bar of yore. Here are some screenshots:

:up: Don The Beachcomber in Hollywood.

:up: Trader Vic's in Beverly Hills

:up: The Luau in Beverly Hills

:up: Wan-Q (Hollywood, I believe)

:up: Bob Brook's Seven Seas, Hollywood.

:up: A close-up of the tiki in front of the Seven Seas.

This montage was so nice that I'm going to try and clip it as a short .avi file and put it on Rapidshare so that you can all check it out.

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy 2006-09-15 15:27 ]