Tikis in films

On 2013-02-26 19:13, Gunga Galunga wrote:
While not a TV show or movie, I remember going to the arcades quite a bit as a kid, and coming across a fighting game called World Heroes 2. There was a character named "Mudman" who hailed from Papua New Guinea. He was actually the first "Tiki" anything I ever stumbled across as a kid and I was instantly fascinated with what this was all about.

Below is a link from Youtube of a person playing as Mudman in a game, enjoy my first taste of Tiki!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae1zHxHKnjg

Nice name, Gunga! Here's the real mudmen:

http://www.burtglinn.com/Mudmen.html

Stumbled across a pleasant surprise this evening:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hells+half+acre

looks like Hell's Half Acre is finally getting a re-release (and on blu-ray no less, wow).

One of my favorite, all-time Tiki/South Seas/Noir films...

[ Edited by: markmywords 2013-03-04 23:50 ]

Thanks for the info. MMW. I'm buying one. Hope its a good print.

On 2013-03-04 23:42, markmywords wrote:
Stumbled across a pleasant surprise this evening:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hells+half+acre

looks like Hell's Half Acre is finally getting a re-release (and on blu-ray no less, wow).

One of my favorite, all-time Tiki/South Seas/Noir films...

[ Edited by: markmywords 2013-03-04 23:50 ]

Thanks for reporting in markmywords, I have been trying to get a quality disk of this for some time.

On 2013-03-05 14:22, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:

On 2013-03-04 23:42, markmywords wrote:
Stumbled across a pleasant surprise this evening:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hells+half+acre

looks like Hell's Half Acre is finally getting a re-release (and on blu-ray no less, wow).

One of my favorite, all-time Tiki/South Seas/Noir films...

[ Edited by: markmywords 2013-03-04 23:50 ]

Thanks for reporting in markmywords, I have been trying to get a quality disk of this for some time.

The Egyptian Theater is showing Hell's Half Acre on June 1st as part of their tiki night.
"Starting at 5:00 PM, King Kukulele & The Friki Tikis and the Polynesian Paradise Dancers will perform in the courtyard, where you can also enjoy tiki vendors and a no-host bar with your favorite Polynesian drinks.
At 7:30PM, join us in the theatre auditorium for a slide show and a 50th Anniversary tribute to the Enchanted Tiki Room by Bob Baker's Marionettes, followed by a screening of HELL'S HALF ACRE."
http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/tiki-night-hell%E2%80%99s-half-acre

In Airplane! There is the famous Saturday Night Fever dance scene in a sailor/Polynesian bar called Magumba. There's plenty of bamboo, matting, glass fish floats and nautical lamps. There are a couple of masks too, but I can't make out what they are exactly. It was filmed on site at Paramount Studios.
Ted Striker was "stationed in Drambuie, on the Barbary Coast". :wink:

The pool party scene in Anchorman is a luau complete with plastic tiki lights, tiki torches, lots of bamboo furniture and bamboo tiki lights that look like they're from Oceanic Arts.
You can see one of the bamboo lamps hanging over the head of the blond in the purple dress.

-Lori

[ Edited by: tikilongbeach 2013-05-27 07:28 ]

The Big Mouth (1967) I just watched this today. Great, great movie.

Yup, that's a classic:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=17576&forum=1

with the inimitable Charlie Callas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rla-RvWyx-M

Groovy! I missed that thread.....and Charlie Callas is so damn funny in it.

Also, in the beginning of that genius Charlie Callas skid, at 21 seconds in the above U-Tube link, one catches the only glimpse of one of the Ocean House/Hilton pool Ku Tikis on the left of frame:

...which were so lovingly rendered in the brochure:

Would the camera have panned to the left further with those running guys, we might have seen all three, but it had to whip back with Jerry, panning to the right, and we get to see some huts and A-frames in the background. Those Ocean House Tikis are completely under-documented, as is the beachwalk mural, as discussed here:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=8760&forum=1&start=15

The restaurant scene was of course a studio set, and the Tikis in it are your basic fiberglass rental Tikis from a mold.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2013-06-30 22:27 ]

Sci Fi movie Cloud Atlas with Tom Hanks and Halle Berry has some Tiki in it. I didn't get a chance to watch all 3 hours of it but you can read here about how they start in the South Pacific

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Atlas_(film)

Good eyes Bongo. I did sit though the whole movie before it came out. Your screen shots are great. I have a wide screen version of it and didn't realized it was the same tiki in both scenes because in my version the tiki head is cut off in the second screen capture. I missed that museum scene in your third screen capture so I'm glad you're sharing it. The movie had a lot of problems for me but the concept was brilliant. It would of been cool if the same tiki was also found in that South Seas exhibit in the museum AND in all 6 stories. That would of help tie the scenes together which was a big problem. I love Keith David and Halle Berry who played Pacific islanders with Maori like face tattoos, they also, like most stars of this film, played multi roles and it was cool but they shot this film around Europe and using African immigrants as Pacific islanders was confusing.

Here's a shoot of Keith David as Kupaka with his tattoo:

[ Edited by: creativenative 2013-07-15 00:32 ]

Just watched my HELL'S HALF ACRE Blu-ray. Movie was even better than I remember. Lighting was great as well as the frame composition. Acting was very good also by these Hollywood "B" actors. They deserved more respect. Anyway not easy but here are screen shoots of tiki in the film. All around Don the Beachcomber. Didn't remember any tiki the first time I saw the film a few years ago. Don't know how many of these tiki were already there in the Beachcomber or did the Art Director of the film place them. For sure the two tiki poles out front of the restaurant were from the film company because they hold up the fake "Chet's" sign.
Tiki behind the glass ball:

One of the 2 tiki poles holding up the fake "Chet's" sign:

Large tiki out front as Corey gets shoot:

Forgot one, in the office tiki carvings upper left in background.

Tiki Movies & Tiki TV @ southseascinema.org

[ Edited by: 2013-07-23 12:24 ]

Sorry if this has already been covered in this thread, but "The Devil's Rejects" has several scenes that take place in the Kahiki Palms (not a real place- sadly). The interior scenes have tikis on the walls, bamboo and palm tree paintings.
If you don't dig graphic horror movies, you may want to skip this one; if gore doesn't bother you: worth seeing the cool decor!

Bamboo, tropical decor and cocktails in "The Revolt of Mamie Stover"...sorry if this film was previously mentioned. Jane Russell and Agnes Moorehead....great bar scenes.

An episode of the 60s TV series "The Saint", starring Roger Moore, called "Sibao", and which is supposedly set in Haiti. A lot of the action actually takes place in what looks like a British tiki restaurant:

http://home.arcor.de/simon.templar/saint/pics/st-s-60.jpg

These Maori Tiki poles have appeared in other British productions like The Avengers and The Cracksman and are likely fro the Elstree Studios prop department:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=14685&forum=1&vpost=629073

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2013-09-25 11:12 ]

Nice to know - I was wondering...

On an Island with You (1948): Jimmy Durante and Esther Williams frolic in the South Pacific.

Nice screen captures BaliHai. Two things stick out for me in that movie, one It was a South Seas movie about a South Seas movie and two Durante's character was an Assistant Director which I used to do for years (now semi retired) Here's a couple of Spanish stills to supplement your captures

[ Edited by: creativenative 2013-10-03 14:43 ]

[ Edited by: creativenative 2013-11-13 02:11 ]

[ Edited by: creativenative 2013-11-13 02:12 ]

Found some tiki ... and Witco ... in the second season of Mannix (1968).

From "A Copy of Murder," which takes place in the fictitious California resort town of Costa Real:

And in the bad guy's office, there's a Barcelona chair, cool driftwood paneling, and two matching Witco pieces:

From "A Pittance of Faith," also in the bad guy's office, what looks like the same two Witco pieces:

So was Witco being typecast as for the "bad guys" in 1968 or what?!

Wow, I dig that sculpture in the last frame! That train (wreck) is a great example of urban archeology thru movies. Though there were several "Tiki trains" out there...

(from DC's great "Tiki Fun and Games" thread)

...this one most definitely looks like the one from the Newport Dunes resort:

Compare the trim and the Ku faces in the front of the wagons. I would peg those figures on the side to be O.A. carvings, but have never seen that particular style from them. Could they be the ones on the last wagon? And the siding looks different...maybe this was a different version of the same model?

Nice close up of Tiki-fondling !

I bet Chris Jepsen could tell us more about Newport Dunes...

http://auction.howardlowery.com/Bidding.taf?_function=detail&Auction_uid1=2177178

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2013-10-06 21:55 ]

Here is a photo of Newport Dunes Resort in 1958
The Tram/Train you pictured Sven would take people from the Restaurant & parking lot
to the beach areas, right down that center road.

Note: The link you have of the "Theme Park Design Drawings" has their facts wrong
as the photo I posted is from the "Newport City Historic Archives" which lists it from 1958
and contradicts the Auction website dates.

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2013-10-07 01:11 ]

So, thats where the "baby beach" is/was?

Ah, yes...I located those circular structures using Historic Aerials (A great urban archeology tool)

http://www.historicaerials.com/

Looks like they were still there through the 80s.

Not a great image, but the presence of a cabin door-mounted tiki (just behind Walter Matthau's head) looms large in "Ensign Pulver". A worthy watch, as well, for its island & wahine scenes.

When I saw that door panel Tiki peaking out behind that guy, I immediately pegged it to the classic Oceanic Arts carving on the right here in this photo of my collection:

Further image research seemed to confirm this:

..except...the eyes were oddly oval...
And finally it became clear that this was another version of the O.A. wall carving

...which I had not seen before. Anybody has one of those?

As far as I understand, this film will not have this title anymore:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2446629/Rachel-McAdams-gets-beauty-treatment-set-new-film-Deep-Tiki.html

...so I doubt there will be any actual "Tiki" in it, but maybe someone knows more about it. Too bad, would be a nice precedent to have it in a major feature film title.

Yea, I brought that up last year Sven
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=302&forum=1&vpost=656819

Neener-neener Ha Ha.......

Well, where did you bring up the fact that it is being shot right now?

I was hoping my update might bring up some current insider info - not a year-old post :D

Damn you Sven, stealer of thunder & dasher of hopes! :lol:

Yes not only was the title removed but so was some of the Hawaiian aspects of the film. It will be interesting to see the end results.

Also wanted to bring up what I've thought was one of the most intriguing films I've read about, on these pages, THE RIGHT APPROACH (1961)(thejab brought it up for example in 2002). I thought the plot would make this the closest thing to a tiki style film that was ever made because the main characters, in the early 60s, lived in a former Tiki restaurant as their bachelor pad. That is cool, that is tiki but after receiving and viewing the Fox Cinema Archive resent DVD release today I was disappointed by the fact that the bachelors didn't really live a true tiki lifestyle, except one of them wore an Aloha shirt. But as mentioned on the ADVENTURES IN PARADISE thread it did have a scene that took place on the ADVENTURES IN PARADISE set and that was cool. Here are some screen shots:

First the Bachelor Pad:

Then the ADVENTURES IN PARADISE SET



Note the double A-frame above

Finally in the film, backing up one the bachelors, Gary Crosby, in the band was, who I think was a young Johnny Carson as the drumer-My opinion I cannot confirm it. Any other opinions? The first shot does look like Johnny in the b.g.

The following shot doesn't look like him but...

...this pic of young Johnny looks like the guy above

Tiki Movies & Tiki TV @ southseascinema.org

[ Edited by: creativenative 2013-11-14 14:03 ]

Hey creativenative, The blond guy in the photo is Gary Crosby, Bing's eldest son
whom was also in the Elvis movie "Girl Happy" & "Operation Bikini" with Frankie Avalon.

I don't think that is Carson, here is a picture of him from 1955
and he has a different hairline, he was also well known in 1961 & would have been listed in the credits
I would think.

Nice post!

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2013-11-13 05:04 ]

Great screen captures, C.N., I have yet to see that movie - it is like a companion to that 80s John Travolta in a closed Polynesian restaurant one. Where is that "Quiet Please, Now shooting.." Aventures in Paradise image from?

It's from the same movie THE RIGHT APPROACH. One of the main characters, Frankie Vaughan is a singer/actor trying to break into show business and his first role was as a day player on the ADVENTURES IN PARADISE set. Cool that they used the real set with the real star, Gardner McKay. Also a cool South Seas/Tiki connection. Frankie is on the left in the aloha shirt in the 3-shot capture. The ADVENTURE IN PARADISE sign in question is the opening shot of this ADVENTURES IN PARADISE sequence. A simple transition establishing shot introducing the scene without the need for cheap captioning. The sign says it all.

Also thank you ATP for the compliment. Sorry about the typo in the Crosby name, the "r" left out. Yes that is Bing's son but I don't even know if the young'ins on TC know who Bing is? :) Haha! Gary, I thought, was the most talented of the big star kids, including Wayne and Mitchum's boys who all were featured in South Seas movies. I also mentioned on another thread that Gardner McKay was a special guest at a South Seas Cinema meeting/party. I'm not gay (and not saying it's bad to be one) but Gardner was one handsome guy.

About Carson, ATP you are right, should of thought of the date. Carson would be older and by 1955 he had already established himself as a national TV personality, already grown into his look that were were accustom too. More reminiscing, Almost worked with him on a movie after his retirement but unfortunately he took ill a couple months before the first day of shooting and he died not long after. He will be missed. Anyone know of a Tiki connection with Carson?

On 2013-11-13 03:52, White Devil wrote:

Wow, someone else besides me has seen "Queen Kong". My condolences. Poor Rula Lenska, forced to star alongside a guy in a gorilla suit with boobs.

"Don't Knock the Twist" (1962)

Chubby Checker performs in a Tiki-themed nightspot called The Spice Island Club. Wish I could've gotten clear screensnaps of the stage, which is decorated with masks, bamboo, and tiki torches. This is the best I could come up with:

[ Edited by: MrBaliHai 2013-11-28 08:40 ]

MICKEY, DONALD, AND GOOFY IN HAWAIIAN HOLIDAY

https://archive.org/details/HawaiianHoliday

Not tiki, but a good cartoon for young tikifiles in training. Teach your children well.

On 2013-11-14 14:02, creativenative wrote:
Anyone know of a Tiki connection with Carson?

The obvious one — and one that I'm sure has been pointed out here on TC many times already — is Johnny enjoying a Mai-Kai Mystery Drink (and Mystery Girl) on the Tonight show back in 1962. Hurricane has a video still from Swanky on Atomic Grog (http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2012/02/27/heeeeeeeres-the-rich-history-and-long-lost-stories-of-the-mai-kai), and Swanky managed to find the video clip but I failed to do the same in a YouTube search.

"If you keep on drinking rum, the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel."
Robert Louis Stevenson

[ Edited by: Sunny&Rummy 2013-12-06 16:03 ]

Looks like we may be seeing a big-budget and tiki-laden feature-length animated film coming in 2018. Details are being released all over the web. According to web site The Disney Wiki:

"Moana" is an upcoming computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. John Musker and Ron Clements (Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog) are working on a Polynesia situated computer-animated musical film, Moana. It is described as "mythic adventure set around 2000 years ago and across a series of islands in the South Pacific." The film is expected to be released in 2018. Mark Mancina will compose the music for the film.

After directing The Princess and the Frog, Musker and Clements started working on an adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Mort, but rights problems prevented them to continue with the project. To avoid similar problems, they pitched three new ideas, and in 2011 started developing the film based on an original idea.

Moana will be Musker and Clement's first computer-animated film. Although initially rumored to be made in hand-drawn/computer-animated technique introduced with Disney's short film Paperman, Musker said that it is "far too early to apply the Paperman hybrid technique to a feature. The Meander digital in-betweening interface still has a host of production issues (including color) that need to be perfected." According to Bleeding Cool, the film will feature a new, painterly style of CG.

Plot
The main character will be Moana Waialiki, a sea voyaging enthusiast, and the only daughter of a chief in a long line of navigators. When her family needs her help, she sets off on an epic journey. The film will also include demi-gods and spirits taken from real mythology

Some "Moana" concept art from The Disney Wiki.

subscribed!

Moana

Polynesians are getting the Disney cartoon treatment in a kind of Kupe meets Snow White in the South Seas animation.

Just as American Indians were defined in Pocahontas and felines in The Lion King, Walt Disney has announced it's committed to Moana due to hit screens in 2018.

Hollywood blog Bustle headlined the announcement: "Disney's newest princess of colour is Moana, a Polynesian adventurer and she sounds awesome".

Rotoscopers says it has been in development for a while and is built around a girl, Moana Waialiki, whose father comes from a long line of navigators.

Needless to say they go on a long voyage. In a rough draft it looks like they will drop by all the points of the Polynesian triangle.

In a kind of "what could go wrong" moment, Disney says assorted Polynesian demigods will make appearances, from Maui to Tangaroa to Rangi and Papa and Samoa's Sina (with eels).

Bustle says Disney has announced Moana in the wake of Frozen, which it described as a movie of "overwhelming whiteness"."The first glimpse of concept art for Moana was just released, and she harkens back to the best of Disney's past while also (hopefully) beckoning in some solutions to the problems that have plagued past projects," Bustle says.

Moana will be shot in CG animation and is to be directed by John Musker and Ron Clement, best known for Aladdin and The Princess and the Frog.

Inevitably it will have some hit songs created by Mark Mancina of The Lion King, Tarzan and Brother Bear.

It will not be the first major movie called Moana.

A 1922 film by Robert J Flaherty, Nanook of the North, is credited as being the world's first documentary. His second, made in 1926, was Moana, filmed in Safune on Savai'i in Samoa.

Polynesians have a long tradition of having their culture romantically defined by others from the noble savage of the 18th century, through several versions of Mutiny on the Bounty and the stereotype defining musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, South Pacific, which was based on James Michener's book of the same name.

These days South Pacific looks decidedly culturally inappropriate - and even now offends Polynesians, especially those mistaken for the character, Bloody Mary.

There will likely be the usual marketing tie-ins. Moana happy meals are a no-brainer, right? And the Enchanted Tiki Room -- look out -- changes may be coming. If mythological gods do make appearances in the film, then I can't help thinking of what might be planned for the Tiki Room forecourt (at Disneyland) for marketing purposes. Several aspects of this could get scary. We'll have to wait and see.

This has probably been listed, but I couldn't find it. The original 1960 version of Ocean's 11 has some PNG carvings on the wall of the house belonging to Mr. Acebos.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Muppet Treasure Island has singing tiki statues.

On 2013-12-17 08:29, AceExplorer wrote:
There will likely be the usual marketing tie-ins. Moana happy meals are a no-brainer, right? And the Enchanted Tiki Room -- look out -- changes may be coming. If mythological gods do make appearances in the film, then I can't help thinking of what might be planned for the Tiki Room forecourt (at Disneyland) for marketing purposes. Several aspects of this could get scary. We'll have to wait and see.

I don't know…:

On 2013-12-16 13:38, AceExplorer wrote:
….The film will also include demi-gods and spirits taken from real mythology

It seems to me they are avoiding the term Tiki as it is stemming from an un-p.c. period. And rightly so, the blog's reaction is typical:

Polynesians have a long tradition of having their culture romantically defined by others from the noble savage of the 18th century, through several versions of Mutiny on the Bounty and the stereotype defining musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, South Pacific, which was based on James Michener's book of the same name.

These days South Pacific looks decidedly culturally inappropriate - and even now offends Polynesians, especially those mistaken for the character, Bloody Mary.

WHERE were there Polynesians in South Pacific? And Bloody Mary was Tonkinese, correct me if I am wrong. There is no way nowadays to not offend SOME people. An American museum director was interested in my Tiki exhibition but asked "Can you guarantee me that no Pacific islanders will be offended?" I said there is no reason why they should be, but I cannot guarantee that there won't be one or the other who will. Comes with the territory.