document_title: Horton Hears a Who! (film)

question_text: what are the animals in horton hears a who

text: Horton Hears a Who! (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: A dust speck is dislodged from its obscure place and sent adrift through the Jungle of Nool. At the same time, Horton the elephant, the jungle's eccentric nature teacher, takes a dip in the pool. The dust speck floats past him in the air, and he hears a tiny yelp coming from it. Believing that an entire society of microscopic creatures are living on that speck, he places it atop of a clover. Horton finds out the speck harbors the city of Whoville and its inhabitants, the Whos, led by Mayor Ned McDodd.

text: He has a wife, Sally, ninety six daughters (whose names all begin with the letter H), and one teenage son named JoJo. Despite being the oldest and next in line for the mayoral position, JoJo doesn't want to be the next mayor, and because he's so scared of disappointing his father, never talks. Once Horton begins carrying the speck with him, the city starts experiencing strange phenomena (earthquakes and changes in the weather), and the Mayor finds his attempts to caution Whoville challenged by the Town Council, led by the opportunistic yet condescending Chairman.

text: After he makes contact with Horton, the Mayor finds out from Dr. Mary Lou LaRue that Whoville will be destroyed if Horton does not find a "safer, more stable home". Horton resolves (with the help of his best friend Morton the mouse) to place the speck atop Mt. Nool, the safest place in the jungle. The head of the jungle, Jane Kangaroo, disbelieving Horton's beliefs and resenting him for overshadowing her authority, attempts several times to demand that Horton give up the speck, but Horton ignores her demands. Also taking force toward Horton are the Wickersham Brothers, a group of monkeys who love making misery. Eventually, the Kangaroo enlists a vulture named Vlad Vladikoff to get rid of the speck by force.

text: Vlad manages to steal the clover away from Horton and drops it into a massive field of identical pink clovers, causing an apocalyptic tremor in Whoville. After unsuccessfully picking nearly three million clovers, Horton eventually recovers the clover (exactly the 3,000,000th clover). The Kangaroo eventually finds out, thanks to Mrs. Quilligan, that Horton still has the speck, and decides to rally the jungle community into fighting Horton, saying that Horton's goal will lead to anarchy. Upon cornering him, the Kangaroo offers Horton an escape from punishment by renouncing Whoville's existence.

text: Despite Horton's heartfelt speech when he refuses, the Kangaroo orders the animals to rope and cage him, and to have the speck and the Whos destroyed in a pot of boiling beezlenut oil. The Mayor enlists all of his people to make noise by shouting "We are here!", as well as playing a variety of instruments, so the animals may hear them, assisted by JoJo's "Symphonophone", an invention which creates a huge musical contribution (which reveals that JoJo's "true" passion is music), but still fails to penetrate the surface of the speck.

text: As Horton lies beaten and captured, the Kangaroo easily takes the clover, and drops it. Meanwhile, JoJo grabs the horn used to project Horton's voice, runs up the highest tower and screams "YOPP!", breaking through the sound barrier just seconds before the speck hits the oil.

text: The Kangaroo's son, Rudy grabs the clover and returns it to Horton. The animals finally hear the Whos and realize the truth and isolate the Kangaroo for tricking them. While being praised for his integrity by his neighbors, Horton even forgives the devastated Kangaroo, and she befriends him with a makeshift umbrella for Whoville. Here, the people of Whoville and the animals of Nool gather in song and recite the chorus from "Can't Fight This Feeling". The film ends with the narrator revealing that the Jungle of Nool, or rather Earth, is just one speck, like Whoville, among numerous others, floating in outer space.

text: Voice cast[edit]

text:
Jim Carrey as Horton the Elephant, an outgoing, big-hearted, loving, sweet, and thoughtful elephant and teacher in the Jungle of Nool. Horton has no tusks, lives by himself and possesses acute hearing abilities.
Steve Carell as Mayor Ned McDodd, the mayor of Whoville. He has 96 daughters, 1 son named JoJo and a wife named Sally.
Carol Burnett as Jane Kangaroo, who mistrusts Horton's inquisitive nature as a threat to her legal authority over Nool.
Will Arnett as Vlad Vladikoff, a Russian-accented[5] vulture hired by the Sour Kangaroo to steal Horton's clover.
Seth Rogen as Morton the Mouse, a mouse and Horton's best friend in the Jungle of Nool.
Dan Fogler as the Chairman of Whoville, dedicated to Whoville tradition and mistrustful of the Mayor.

Fogler also voices Yummo Wickersham, leader of the Wickersham ape tribe brothers.

Isla Fisher as Dr. Mary Lou LaRue, a professor at Who U.
Jonah Hill as Tommy, one of Horton's students.
Amy Poehler as Sally O'Malley, the Mayor's wife and mother to Jojo and her 96 daughters.
Jaime Pressly as Mrs. Quilligan, Jessica's mother.
Charles Osgood as the Narrator
Jesse McCartney as JoJo, the Mayor's son.
Josh Flitter as Rudy Kangaroo, the Sour Kangaroo's son.
Niecy Nash as Miss Yelp, the Mayor's assistant.
Laura Ortiz as Jessica Quilligan, Mrs. Quilligan's daughter and one of Horton's students.
Selena Gomez as Helga, one of the Mayor's 96 daughters.
Joey King as Katie, a cute, but eccentric little baby yak.
Bill Farmer as Willie, a bear and Tommy's dad.
Heather Goldenhersh as a Who Girl

text: Production[edit]

text: In March 2005, as Blue Sky Studios was completing Robots, the studio started courting Dr. Seuss' widow Audrey Geisel on getting the adaptation rights for Horton Hears a Who!.[6] The art director for Robots, Steve Martino, along with story consultant and additional scene director Jimmy Hayward,[7] created a model of protagonist Horton and some animation tests to showcase their design ideas to Geisel,[6] who eventually agreed on "a seven-figure deal" for both the book and its predecessor Horton Hatches the Egg. Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio were then hired to write the script,[8] to be directed by Hayward and Martino with a set release date of 2008.[7]

text: Geisel was credited as a supervising producer and watched production up close,[6] and also gave the directors full access to her late husband's archives, and thus they investigated on his original sketches, 3-D sculptures, work done for The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T and even memos Dr. Seuss traded with Chuck Jones during the production of the Grinch TV special.[9] For references in doing the character animation, along with footage of the voice actors performing their lines, the Blue Sky animators recorded themselves performing the script in an "acting room" to see what of their body language could translate well into the film.[10]

text: To make Horton different from the mammoths Blue Sky worked with in the Ice Age series, the elephant would at times walk on two legs, in a way that it looked like "a fat man in an elephant suit". While the design had a major difference from the original book, with a bigger mouth to allow for wider facial expressions like those of Jim Carrey, as the directors noticed Horton's design in the book varied according to his emotion, the 3D wireframe tried to allow for the same effects.[11]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text: The original score for the film's soundtrack album was composed by John Powell. A soundtrack, consisting of the film's score, was released on March 25, 2008, by Varèse Sarabande.[12][13] Near the end of the picture, the cast comes together and sings the song, "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon.[14]

text:
Horton Hears a Who!
(Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Film score by John Powell

Released
March 25, 2008

Genre
Soundtrack

Length
59:56

Label
Varèse Sarabande

Producer
John Powell

text: Others songs featured in the film are:[15]

text:
Title
Performer

"Can't Fight This Feeling"
Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Carol Burnett, Dan Fogler, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett and Jesse McCartney

"Quickie"
Thomas Foyer

"Swingville Sashay"
Muff & Rezz

"Agua Melao"
Gilberto Candido

"The Blue Danube"
Johann Strauß (as Johann Strauss II)

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 79% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 132 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Horton Hears A Who! is both whimsical and heartwarming, and is the rare Dr. Seuss adaptation that stays true to the spirit of the source material."[16] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, calculated a score of 71 out of 100 based on 31 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[17] According to CinemaScore, the film version rated an "A-" on an "A+" to "F" scale.

text: Box office[edit]

text: Horton Hears a Who! grossed a total of $297 million on a $85 million budget. $155 million came from the United States and Canada, and $143 million from other territories.[18]

text: In its opening weekend, the film grossed $45 million in 3,954 theaters, averaging $11,384 per theater in the United States and Canada, and ranking #1 at the box office.[19]

text: The film previously had the fourth-largest opening weekend in March, behind Ice Age, Ice Age: The Meltdown and 300, and as of September 2012, it ranks on the 15th place.[20] In the United States and Canada, Horton Hears a Who! was also the #1 film its second weekend of release, grossing $25 million over the Easter frame, in 3,961 theaters and averaging $6,208 per venue. It dropped to #2 in its third weekend grossing $17.8 million in 3,826 theaters and averaging $4,637 per venue.

text: Interpretations[edit]

text: Horton Hears a Who!, like other Dr. Seuss creations, contains layered subtexts and messages. A major theme regards on learning about universal values between vastly different places and people, as shown by the quote "A person's a person, no matter how small". This is employed on many levels, primarily with Horton hearing a world in a speck, while also appearing with the Mayor's relationship with his son, and Sour Kangaroo learning the truth about Horton's beliefs.[21]

text: The movie characters display traditional gender roles. According to NPR host and father of three daughters Peter Sagal, "In a new subplot added by the filmmakers, the mayor of Whoville has 96 daughters. He has one son. Guess who gets all his attention? Guess who saves the day?"[22]

text: Awards[edit]

text:
Award
Category
Nominee
Result

Annie Award[23]
Best Animated Effects
Alen Lai
Nominated

Best Character Animation in a Feature Production
Jeff Gabor

Best Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Sang Jun Lee

Best Music in an Animated Feature Production
John Powell

Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio

ASCAP Award[24]
Top Box Office Films
John Powell for Bolt, Hancock and Jumper
Won

Golden Trailer Award[25]
Best Animation/Family TV Spot for "Whomongous"
Horton Hears a Who!
Nominated

IFMCA Award[26]
Best Original Score for an Animated Feature Film
John Powell

Golden Reel Award[27]
Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects, Foley, Music, Dialogue and ADR Animation in a Feature Film
Randy Thom (supervising sound editor, sound designer)
Dennis Leonard (supervising sound editor)
Jonathan Null (supervising dialogue/adr editor)
Sue Fox (supervising foley editor)
Thomas A. Carlson (music editor)
Steve Slanec (dialogue editor)
Colette D. Dahanne (sound effects editor)
Pete Horner (sound effects editor)
Kyrsten Mate (sound effects editor)
Mac Smith (sound effects editor)
Jeremy Bowker (foley editor)
Andrea Gard (foley editor)
Ronni Brown (foley artist)
Ellen Heuer (foley artist)
Dennie Thorpe (foley artist)
Jana Vance (foley artist)

OFCS Award[28]
Best Animated Feature
Horton Hears a Who!

Satellite Award[29]
Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
Horton Hears a Who!

Best Original Score
John Powell

Young Artist Award[30]
Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role - Young Actress
Selena Gomez, Shelby Adamowsky and Joey King

text: Home media release[edit]

text: Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 9, 2008. Three versions of the DVD are available: a single-disc edition, a 2-disc special edition, and a gift set packaged with a Horton plush.[31]

text: A Blu-ray combo pack with a DVD and digital copy was released on October 11, 2011.[32] The home media included an Ice Age-related short film, Surviving Sid.

text: In the United States, the film earned $77,630,768 from DVD sales and $180,434 from Blu-ray sales for a total of $77,811,202 in video sales.[33]


document_title: Seven Pounds

question_text: where did the name seven pounds come from

root

text: Seven Pounds

text: Plot[edit]

text: The protagonist of the film dials 911 to report his own suicide. He then narrates how God created the world in seven days; whereas he managed to destroy his in seven seconds. The introduction of the film establishes that the protagonist intends on helping seven people of his own choice. The reason why at this point remains unknown. For almost each encounter, the protagonist poses as an IRS agent to establish a sense of initial trust.

tag: p

text: Ezra Turner

text: At home, the protagonist now known as Ben Thomas (Will Smith) phones a meat delivery company to complain about his order and is put through to Ezra Turner (Woody Harrelson). During the phone call, Ezra is revealed to be a vegetarian as well as blind in both eyes, prompting Ben to viciously humiliate and taunt Ezra, as well as goading him into retaliating. Ezra however calmly thanks Ben for his call and disconnects.

text: Emily Posa

text: Ben then travels to a hospital to meet Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson), who has a congenital heart condition which is only complicated by her rare blood type, therefore limiting donor viability. Despite being turned away from the hospital staff, Ben watches Emily sleep later that evening but leaves as she wakes during the night.

text: Stewart Goodman

text: Ben arrives at a care home for the elderly to meet with Stewart Goodman, an administrator who brags that he was able to cut expenditure at the home by 17%, but also wishes that his own finances could be as equally impressive. Ben notices Stewart's brand new BMW out front despite Stewart's claim that he is insolvent. Despite this, Stewart pleads for a 6 month extension so that he can pay with his bonus in January, whereas Ben leaves with the matter unresolved. On his way out Ben talks to Inez, an elderly resident whom Stewart was attempting to talk to earlier but was unsuccessful in doing so.

text: Ben informs Inez that he has the capacity to drastically change Stewart's circumstances for the better, but needs to be sure that he deserves it and that if he is a "good man". Inez tearfully confides with Ben that Stewart has barred the nurses from bathing her, after her request to be put on different medication is refused as the original makes her dizzy. Visibly appalled by this revelation, Ben transports Inez from her room to the bathrooms whilst Stewart attempts to perform damage control. Ben angrily demands Stewart show his patients better respect, and ultimately denies his request there and then for an extension.

text: Connie Tepos

text: Ben later meets with Holly (Judyann Elder), a child services employee to ask her the name of someone who is in dire need of help, but is too proud to ask. Holly directs Ben's attention to Connie Tepos, a Latin immigrant whose boyfriend beats her regularly, and almost killed her in the previous year. Connie is too scared of repercussions to press charges, leaving Holly powerless to help. Ben travels to Connie's home still posing as an IRS agent, but upon revealing that he knows of her genuine situation Connie demands he leaves. Ben leaves his calling card just in case she changes her mind.

text: Several days later, a scared and desperate Connie calls Ben to accept his help. Ben arrives momentarily and realizes that her boyfriend has beaten her again. Ben gifts her the deed to his beach house, to provide her and her children a safe home.

text: George and Nicholas

text: George (Bill Smitrovich), is the coach of a junior hockey team who had also arranged partial scholarships for some of his players to attend College. George also has kidney failure, prompting Ben to donate his own kidney as a reward for George's good nature. Nicholas (Quintin Kelly) is a younger patient at the same hospital George is at. By chance, Ben decides to donate his bone marrow to Nicholas to help with his treatment.

text: Ben meets with Emily several times over at her home, he establishes a bond with her Great Dane 'Duke'. Ben asks Emily why she would choose such a large animal, to which Emily responds that the average life span of a Great Dane is seven years, and that they commonly have from heart problems. Emily considers that she chose to take care of something else as opposed to always being taken care of. During the pair's final meeting where Emily cooks Ben dinner, the two finally share a passionate kiss after having long established feelings for each other.

text: During the evening, the "real" Ben Thomas (Michael Ealy) shows up outside, and demands that "Tim", his brother who was impersonating as "Ben" return his IRS credentials. Tim attempts to leave, but ends up spending the night with Emily. The two play a game of "What If?" With Emily wondering if whether her pager will go off - signalling that a donor has been found for her. Tim wonders if they would both eventually get married and have children together. Emily eventually falls asleep. Tim leaves and heads to the hospital where Emily is being treated at to ask her doctor the chances of finding a suitable donor. When the doctor reveals these chances to be almost impossible, Tim decides to call Dan Morris (Barry Pepper), his life long best friend to announce that "it's time".

text: Returning to his Motel room, Tim makes two final phone calls. The first goes to Ezra, the blind vegetarian that Tim verbally abused over the phone. Tim profusely apologizes for his actions, but pleads with Ezra that he had to ensure he was a decent person by attempting to get the better of him. Tim then calls 9-1-1 as introduced in the film, before filling a bathtub with ice water. As he is entering the bathtub, Tim reminisces about the night that changed him forever. Driving a Chevrolet Corvette with his wife as passenger, Tim carelessly texts whilst driving, and very nearly collides with an oncoming car. Swerving violently, Tim collides with a Ford E-Series van, causing both cars to roll violently and kill the six occupants of the van as well as Tim's wife. Back in the present, Tim tips a bucket into the water containing a Box Jellyfish, its tentacles wrap around Tim's arm and delivers a sting which causes a quick but excruciatingly painful death.

text: Having committed suicide in ice water, Tim has cautiously preserved his vital organs - his heart in particular which is donated to Emily. The real Ben meets with Emily, and tells her that a year following the accident he got lung cancer, and required a double-lobe transplant which Tim came to his aid for. Six months later, Tim then gave part of his liver to Holly, the child services employee seen earlier in the film. Emily attends a Church session where Ezra is playing piano to a children's choir. As the performance ends, it is shown that Ezra is now able to see as he congratulates the choir on their singing. Emily makes contact with Ezra, but is so overwhelmed by seeing Ben's eyes in Ezra that she begins to break down into tears. Ezra, seeing her scar from heart surgery, realizes she is Emily, and the two share an emotional hug.

text: Cast[edit]

text: Will Smith as Ben Thomas (actually Tim Thomas, using his brother's name)

tag: ul

text: Smith described the reason he took on the role:

text: Usually with the films that I make there are ideas that I connect to, but lately I've been dealing with the bittersweet in life because it feels more natural. You don't ever get it really the way you want in life. That really fascinates me. As an actor, there are certain parts of a character that you create, and you train yourself to have those reactions and then it becomes hard to stop them when the role is over. You have to retrain yourself. My character in this film is like hot grits. You know you can't shake them off and when you do, it hurts.[2]

text: Smith felt that the character needed to be a quiet and rather introverted person who does not burn himself out at every possible instance. The character was a contrast to Smith's previous characters, and Smith felt that director Gabriele Muccino's trust in him helped him relax and avoid overextending himself. Smith acknowledged Seven Pounds as a drama film, but he saw it as more of a love story.[3]

text: Michael Ealy as Ben Thomas, Tim's brother and an IRS agent, whose credentials and name are "taken" by his brother.

text: Will Smith handpicked Ealy for the role of the main character's brother.[4] Connor Cruise, the adopted son of actor Tom Cruise and actress Nicole Kidman, was cast in his first role as a younger version of Ben Thomas.[5]

text:
Barry Pepper as Dan Morris, Tim-Ben's friend and executor of his will
Rosario Dawson as Emily Posa, a self-employed greeting card printer and Tim-Ben's love interest
Octavia Spencer as Kate, Emily's caring nurse
Tim Kelleher as Stewart Goodman
Woody Harrelson as Ezra Turner, a blind meat salesman who plays the piano
Elpidia Carrillo as Connie Tepos, a woman in a battered relationship with her boyfriend
Judyann Elder as Holly, a child services employee
Bill Smitrovich as George, a junior hockey coach
Quintin Kelly as Nicholas, a child
Robinne Lee as Sarah Jenson, Tim-Ben's fiancée
Madison Pettis as Connie's daughter
Ivan Angulo as Connie's son
Skylan Brooks as Choir kid
Bryce J Harris as a toddler in the social service office
Bradly J Harris as a toddler in the social service office
Weston Harris as a child in the social service office

text: Production[edit]

text: Seven Pounds is based on a script written by Grant Nieporte under Columbia Pictures. In June 2007, Will Smith joined the studio to star in the planned film and to serve as one of its producers.[6] In September 2007, director Gabriele Muccino, who worked with Smith on The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), was attached to direct Seven Pounds, bringing along his creative team from the 2006 film.[7] Smith was joined by Rosario Dawson and Woody Harrelson the following December to star in Seven Pounds. Filming began in February 2008.[8]

text: Most of the film was shot in Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Malibu, California. Points of interest used in the film include the Travel Inn in Tujunga, California, the Colorado Bar, the Huntington Library, the Sheraton, and the Pasadena Ice Skating Rink all in Pasadena, as well as Malibu Beach in Malibu.[citation needed]

text: Title[edit]

text: Before the film's release, the title Seven Pounds was considered a "mystery" which the studio refused to explain. Early trailers for Seven Pounds kept the film's details a mystery. Director Gabriele Muccino explained the intent: "The [audience] will not know exactly what this man is up to." Will Smith is reported to have confirmed that the title refers to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, in which a debtor must pay a pound of flesh.[9] In this case, it amounts to seven gifts to seven individuals deemed worthy by Smith's character, to atone for seven deaths he caused.

text: Release[edit]

text: Seven Pounds was promoted on a five-city tour across the United States in November 2008, screening in Cleveland, Miami, Dallas, St. Louis, and Denver to raise funds for food banks in each region.[10] The film was promoted at a charity screening in Minneapolis in support of Second Harvest Heartland.[11] Since screenings of new films usually took place in Los Angeles or New York City, the choice of cities was unconventional. Smith said, "This is more like the old-school music tours. Different clubs, different cities, meeting people. You get in touch with what people are feeling and thinking, and it's much more personal when you're actually out shaking hands."[12] The actor sought to "get reacquainted" with an America that he felt had an "openness to change" with the country's election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president.[13]

text: The film was released on December 19, 2008, in 2,758 theaters in the United States and Canada. It grossed an estimated US$16 million, placing second at the weekend box office after Yes Man. The opening gross was the lowest for a film starring Smith since Ali in 2001. The gross was US$5 million less than anticipated, partially ascribed to winter storms in the Northeast over the weekend.[14]

text: Home media release[edit]

text: The film was released on DVD on March 31, 2009, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.[15] The film is also available to rent or buy on the PlayStation Network in standard or high-definition format.[16] As of  July 16, 2012[update], in North American DVD sales, the film has grossed US $28,812,423.[15]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: The film received generally negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 27% based upon a sample of 186 reviews with an average score of 4.6/10.[17] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received a below-average score of 36 based on 33 reviews.[18]

text: Variety's film reviewer Todd McCarthy predicted that the movie's climax "will be emotionally devastating for many viewers, perhaps particularly those with serious religious beliefs," and characterized the film as an "endlessly sentimental fable about sacrifice and redemption that aims only at the heart at the expense of the head."[19] A. O. Scott, writing for The New York Times, said that the movie "may be among the most transcendently, eye-poppingly, call-your-friend-ranting-in-the-middle-of-the-night-just-to-go-over-it-one-more-time crazily awful motion pictures ever made."[20]

text: Positive reviews singled out Dawson's performance. Richard Corliss wrote in Time that Dawson gives "a lovely performance,"[21] while Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle noted that Dawson's performance "shows once again that she has it in her to be the powerhouse."[22] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times commented on the fact that the audience is kept completely out of the loop as to what Ben is doing, comparing the film to Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï, pointing out how he "finds this more interesting than a movie about a man whose nature and objectives are made clear in the first five minutes, in a plot that simply points him straight ahead."[23]


document_title: List of Top of the Pops presenters

question_text: who presented the first top of the pops

question_tokens: who presented the first top of the pops

text: List of Top of the Pops presenters

text: Upon its inception in 1964, Top of the Pops was presented by a team of disc jockeys in rotation: Alan Freeman, David Jacobs, Pete Murray and Jimmy Savile, who presented the very first episode from Manchester on 1 January 1964 and would continue as the longest-serving presenter until hosting his final show on 30 August 1984. Samantha Juste appeared as the disc girl for several episodes until 1967. Jacobs was replaced by Simon Dee in 1966.

text:
Jimmy Savile (1964–1984, plus 31 December 1988, 19 October 2001, 19 September 2003 and 30 July 2006)
Alan Freeman (1964–1969, plus 9 July 1981 and 31 December 1988)
Pete Murray (1964–1969, plus 9 July 1981 and 31 December 1988)
David Jacobs (1964–1966, plus 5 May 1983 and 31 December 1988)
Samantha Juste (1965–1967)
Simon Dee (1966–1969)

text: The start of BBC Radio 1 in 1967 brought a new influx of DJs to the presenting roster, sometimes co-presenters, although most only stayed with TOTP for a short while. Of these only Ed Stewart and John Peel would become long-term regulars, though there would be a gap before either would return as such. By 1970 only Savile and Blackburn remained of the 1960s regulars and between them they would host all the editions from January 1970 until their duopoly was broken by Ed Stewart's return in March 1971.

text:
Tony Blackburn (1967–1979 and 1981–1983, plus 31 December 1988, 4 April 2003 and 30 July 2006)
Emperor Rosko (1967, 1974–1975)
Stuart Henry (1967–1969)
Dave Cash (1968)
Kenny Everett (1967 and 1973, plus 31 December 1988)
John Peel co-hosted a single edition in 1968, but returned more prominently in the 1980s (see below).
Ed Stewart (1968, 1971–1977)
David Symonds (1968)
14 December 1967 – Mike Lennox co-presented with Alan Freeman
14 March 1968 – Tom Edwards co-presented with Jimmy Savile
11 April 1968 – Lulu co-presented with Jimmy Savile
2 May 1968 – Alan Price co-presented with Alan Freeman
23 May 1968 – Micky Dolenz of The Monkees co-presented with Jimmy Savile
6 June 1968 – Davy Jones of The Monkees co-presented with Jimmy Savile

text:
Jimmy Savile (1964–1984, plus 31 December 1988, 19 October 2001, 19 September 2003 and 30 July 2006)
Tony Blackburn (1967–1979, 1981–1983, plus 31 December 1988, 4 April 2003 and 30 July 2006)
Ed Stewart (1968,1971–1977)
Noel Edmonds (1972–1978, plus 5 May 1983)
Kenny Everett (1973, plus 31 December 1988)
Greg Edwards (1974)
Dave Lee Travis (1973–1984, plus 30 July 2006)
Emperor Rosko (1974–1975)
David Hamilton (1975–1977, plus 31 December 1988)
Paul Burnett (1975, 1977–1979, plus 25 December 1981 and 30 September 1982)
David "Kid" Jensen (1977–1984, plus 31 December 1988)
Peter Powell (1977–1988)
Mike Read (1978–1989, plus 30 July 2006)
Simon Bates (1979–1988)
15 December 1977 – Elton John was guest presenter
11 October 1979 – Andy Peebles presented though did not become a regular host until 1981 (see 1980s–1991 below)

text: The close association with Radio 1 continued into the 1980s, with all TOTP presenters drawn from the ranks of DJs at the station. The list below represents the main TOTP presenters during this period with many other Radio 1 DJs, for example Liz Kershaw, Adrian Juste and Adrian John also appearing on special programmes such as Christmas broadcasts and milestones for TOTP or Radio 1. For this reason, the 30 September 1982 show celebrating Radio 1's fifteenth birthday affords Annie Nightingale, in her one and only appearance and as one of nineteen presenters that day, the honour of being the first female presenter of Top of the Pops, beating Janice Long – who would go on to present TOTP regularly for nearly six years – by three months.

text: By the end of the decade, the bond with Radio 1 seemed unbreakable with the show being simulcast on the station from 1988 and even traffic reporters like Sybil Ruscoe trying their hand at presenting TOTP. Presenters were also brought in from children's television, including Children's BBC presenters Andy Crane and Simon Parkin, Blue Peter's Caron Keating, and Anthea Turner and Jenny Powell who worked together on Saturday morning show UP2U. With the exception of Turner, who presented until 1991, all appointments were short-lived proving indicative of the diffusion TOTP was about to undergo from Radio 1 in the 1990s.

text:
Jimmy Savile (1964–1984, plus 31 December 1988, 19 October 2001, 19 September 2003 and 30 July 2006)
Dave Lee Travis (1974–1984, plus 30 July 2006)
David Jensen also known as "Kid Jensen" (1976–1984, plus 31 December 1988)
Peter Powell (1977–1988)
Mike Read (1978–1989, plus 30 July 2006)
Simon Bates (1979–1988)
Richard Skinner (1980–1985, plus 6 October 1988 and 19 January 1989)
Tommy Vance (1980–1984)
Steve Wright (1980–1989, plus Top of the Pops 2: 1997–2004, 2006–2007, 2008, 2009)
John Peel (1981–1987, plus 14 December 1995)
Andy Peebles (1979,1981–1984)
Tony Blackburn (1967–1979,1981–1983, plus 31 December 1988 and 30 July 2006)
Mike Smith (1982–1988)
Janice Long (1982–1988, plus 30 July 2006)
Gary Davies (1982–1991)
Pat Sharp (1982–1983, also a member of British vocal duo Pat and Mick together with Mick Brown, plus 30 July 2006)
Bruno Brookes (1984–1991, 1994–1995)
Dixie Peach (1985–1986)
Paul Jordan (1985–1986)
Simon Mayo (1986–1991, 1994–1996)
Nicky Campbell (1988–1991, 1994–1997)
Mark Goodier (1988–1991, 1994–1996, read the Top 20 chart rundown out-of-vision: 1997–2002)
Andy Crane (1988–1989)
Anthea Turner (1988–1991)
Sybil Ruscoe (1988–1989)
Jenny Powell (1989)
Jakki Brambles (1989–1991)

text: Special appearances:

text:
9 July and 28 August 1980 – B.A. Robertson co-presented with Peter Powell
7 August 1980 – after hosting alone in 1977, Elton John returned to co-host with Peter Powell
14 August 1980 – Roger Daltrey of The Who co-presented with Tommy Vance
21 August 1980 – Cliff Richard co-presented with Steve Wright
4 September 1980 – Kevin Keegan co-presented with Dave Lee Travis
18 September 1980 – Olivia Newton-John co-presented with Simon Bates
25 September 1980 – Russ Abbot co-presented with Mike Read
30 October 1980 – Colin Berry co-presented with Peter Powell
9 July 1981 – Alan Freeman and Pete Murray both returned after over a decade's absence to present with Jimmy Savile
25 December 1981 – Paul Gambaccini co-presented alongside Adrian Juste and former presenter Paul Burnett, with regular presenters Andy Peebles, Dave Lee Travis, Simon Bates, David Jensen, Tony Blackburn, John Peel, Steve Wright, Peter Powell, Jimmy Savile, Richard Skinner and Mike Read
25 March 1982 – footballer Garth Crooks co-presented with Peter Powell
27 May 1982 – Debbie Harry of Blondie was guest presenter with John Peel.
30 September 1982 – Radio 1 celebrated its fifteenth anniversary with a special TOTP featuring DJs Paul Gambaccini, Adrian John, Adrian Juste, Jonathan King, Alexis Korner and Annie Nightingale, as well as former presenter Paul Burnett and regular presenters Dave Lee Travis, Andy Peebles, Mike Read, David Jensen, Tony Blackburn, John Peel, Jimmy Savile, Mike Smith, Steve Wright, Tommy Vance, Richard Skinner and Peter Powell
5 May 1983 – TOTP celebrated its thousandth show with the return of Noel Edmonds and David Jacobs as well as Paul Gambaccini and regular presenters Dave Lee Travis, Steve Wright, John Peel, Gary Davies, Mike Smith, Peter Powell, Simon Bates, Tommy Vance, Richard Skinner, Mike Read, Tony Blackburn, David Jensen, Andy Peebles, Janice Long, Jimmy Savile and Pat Sharp
29 December 1983 – Adrian John guest presented with Tommy Vance, Richard Skinner, Peter Powell and Gary Davies
25 December 1984 – no regular presenters featured with performers linking between songs
27 December 1984 – Lenny Henry
25 December 1985 – Jonathan King was guest presenter alongside John Peel, Janice Long, Dixie Peach, Steve Wright and Gary Davies
5 May 1988 – Adrian John co-presented with Bruno Brookes
11 August 1988 – Liz Kershaw was guest presenter with Bruno Brookes
6 October 1988 – Richard Skinner returned after three years to co-present with Simon Mayo
20 October 1988 – Caron Keating of Blue Peter co-presented with Steve Wright
17 November 1988 – Susie Mathis co-presented with Gary Davies
8 December 1988 – Caron Keating co-presented with Nicky Campbell
31 December 1988 – TOTP's 25th anniversary saw the return of Jimmy Savile, David Jacobs, Pete Murray, Alan Freeman, Kenny Everett, David Jensen, Tony Blackburn, David Hamilton and Peter Powell along with Paul Gambaccini alongside regular presenters Simon Bates, Mark Goodier and Mike Read
19 January 1989 – Richard Skinner co-presented with Bruno Brookes
23 February 1989 – Susie Mathis co-presented with Bruno Brookes
9 March 1989 – Lenny Henry co-presented with Hale and Pace and Nicky Campbell for Comic Relief. All would go on to hold the golden microphone in the mid-1990s (see below)
16 March 1989 – Rod McKenzie was guest presenter with Radio 1 breakfast show colleagues and TOTP presenters Simon Mayo and Sybil Ruscoe
15 June 1989 – Simon Parkin of the Children's BBC Broom Cupboard co-presented with Mark Goodier
29 June 1989 – Tim Smith was an uncredited co-presenter with Anthea Turner
27 July 1989 – Simon Parkin co-presented with Mark Goodier
28 December 1989 – Paul Gambaccini was guest presenter of a special end-of-decade show with Mike Read

text: The 1991 Gulf War caused the episode due to be transmitted on 17 January 1991 to be rescheduled for Saturday 19 January

text: 1991–1994 revamp: The break away from Radio 1 and Television Centre[edit]

text: When production moved to the BBC's studios in Elstree, Hertfordshire, a new team of young presenters were introduced in place of the aging Radio 1 DJs. Tony Dortie and Claudia Simon had been working for Children's BBC, with Dortie having presented Saturday morning magazine UP2U (with former TOTP presenters Jenny Powell and Anthea Turner) in the summers of 1988 and 1989 and Simon being one of the presenters of BFT in 1990. Elayne Smith was an underground club DJ and compere who started hosting Channel 4 late-night variety show The 291 Club just a few weeks before the revamp. Smith left after just two episodes to concentrate on The 291 Club and was replaced in March 1992 by Femi Oke who was working at BBC Radio 5, whilst 17-year-old Mark Franklin was picked from local radio station BBC Radio Wiltshire. With a new theme tune and set of titles modelled on a weathervane, the first show was presented by Mark Franklin and Tony Dortie on 3 October 1991 with the first live performance Erasure's Love To Hate You. The first show of the revamp attracted 8.93m viewers, over 1m up on the show's average. Performance rules were altered so that acts had to sing live whether they wanted to or not and performances reflected the current album charts and American Billboard Hot 100 as well as the UK Singles Chart. Two presenters from the team always hosted each episode until July 1992 when Tony Dortie and Mark Franklin began to host some shows individually. By October 1992, the rest of the team had been dropped completely.

text:
Mark Franklin (1991–1994)
Tony Dortie (1991–1994)
Elayne Smith (7 November and 5 December 1991)
Claudia Simon (1991–1992)
Adrian Rose (1991–1992)
Steve Anderson (1991–1992)
Femi Oke (1992)

text: Special appearances:

text:
2 April 1992 – Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse were guest presenters under the alias of Smashie and Nicey
18 June 1992 – Bob Geldof guested as a co-presenter with Mark Franklin
17 December 1992 – Mr Blobby guested as a co-presenter with Tony Dortie
25 December 1992 – Sid Owen and Danniella Westbrook of EastEnders made guest appearances with Tony Dortie and Mark Franklin
25 December 1993 – Patsy Palmer of EastEnders made a guest appearance with Tony Dortie and Mark Franklin
4 January 1994 – Smashie and Nicey returned to present a special 30th birthday show
20 January 1994 – Joe Elliott of Def Leppard guested as a co-presenter with Tony Dortie

text: On Thursday 11 June 1992, BBC1 screened England's Euro 92 0–0 draw with Denmark so TOTP was moved to Saturday 13 June, broadcast at 5:30pm.

text: 1994: Return of the Radio 1 DJs[edit]

text: The presentation changes introduced in 1991 did not have the impact producers had hoped for and by 1993 only Mark Franklin and Tony Dortie remained from the revamped team. Despite claiming 9m viewers in January 1992, the success of the revamp was short-lived and by May 1992 less than 6.5m were tuning in – a figure which remained fairly constant for the next eighteen months. Reasons for the sustained lack of popularity for the show ranged wildly from a general apathy towards the music that featured in the charts at this time to claims that the graphics styled around the 'weathervane' idea were hard to read. Dortie and Franklin presented the show individually in rotation until January 1994 when Ric Blaxill replaced Stanley Appel as executive producer. Blaxill had produced shows for Radio 1 and had survived the first wave of change under new station controller Matthew Bannister which had seen many of the DJs deemed too old for the station to resign or be sacked. Of those DJs that survived Bannister's cull, Simon Mayo, Mark Goodier and Nicky Campbell had all presented TOTP prior to the 1991 revamp and were all reinstated as presenters from 3 February 1994. Also returning was Bruno Brookes, another stalwart of the pre-1991 presenting team, though he was fired from Radio 1 in a second wave of Bannister cullings in February 1995 and accordingly he left the Top of the Pops presenting roster in April. Newer recruits to Radio 1, including Lisa I'Anson, Wendy Lloyd, Claire Sturgess and Jo Whiley, augmented the presenting line-up. Blaxill's ambition was to make the show seem like an event and he wanted the presentation between each song to be as spontaneous as the music it was introducing. To do this Blaxill introduced the 'golden microphone' and increasingly experimented with celebrity guest presenters, mainly drawn from the realms of comedy and sport, as well as pop stars who were not promoting a single that week, to introduce the show.

text:
Simon Mayo (1994–1995, plus 30 August 1996)
Mark Goodier (1994–1995, plus 28 March 1996)
Bruno Brookes (1994–1995)
Nicky Campbell (1994–1997)
Jo Whiley (1995–1998, plus 23 April and 14 May 2006) (with Steve Lamacq 1995–1996)
Lisa I'Anson (1995–1996)

text: 1994–1996: The golden mic – celebrity guest presenters[edit]

text:
17 March 1994 – Robbie Williams and Mark Owen of Take That
7 April 1994 – Andi Peters
14 April 1994 – Meat Loaf
12 May 1994 – Jack Dee
19 May 1994 – Alice Cooper co-presented with Bruno Brookes
9 June 1994 – Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer
16 June 1994 – Angus Deayton
7 July 1994 – Reg Presley of The Troggs co-presented with Mark Goodier
21 July 1994 – Julian Clary
25 August 1994 – Malcolm McLaren
1 September 1994 – Claire Sturgess
8 September 1994 – Brian Harvey and Tony Mortimer of East 17
29 September 1994 – Claire Sturgess
6 October 1994 – Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis
20 October 1994 – Jarvis Cocker of Pulp
3 November 1994 – Kylie Minogue
17 November 1994 – Michelle Gayle
1 December 1994 – Lily Savage
8 December 1994 – Neneh Cherry
15 December 1994 – Damon Albarn of Blur
22 December 1994 – Gary Glitter
25 December 1994 – Take That
5 January 1995 – Jack Dee
26 January 1995 – Eternal
2 February 1995 – Kylie Minogue
9 February 1995 – Gary Olsen
23 February 1995 – Peter Cunnah of D:Ream
2 March 1995 – Keith Allen
16 March 1995 – Lenny Henry
30 March 1995 – P.J. and Duncan
13 April 1995 – Phill Jupitus
27 April 1995 – Chris Evans
4 May 1995 – Whigfield
11 May 1995 – Simon Mayo
18 May 1995 – Lisa I'Anson
25 May 1995 – Stewart Lee and Richard Herring
1 June 1995 – Mark Goodier
8 June 1995 – Nicky Campbell
15 June 1995 – Michelle Gayle
22 June 1995 – Simon Mayo
29 June 1995 – Mark Goodier
6 July 1995 – Wendy Lloyd
13 July 1995 – Dale Winton
20 July 1995 – Gayle Tuesday
27 July 1995 – Craig McLachlan
03 August 1995 – Mark Goodier
10 August 1995 – Lisa I'Anson
17 August 1995 – Wendy Lloyd
24 August 1995 – Jarvis Cocker
31 August 1995 – Dale Winton
7 September 1995 – Jo Brand and Mark Lamarr
14 September 1995 – Robbie Williams
21 September 1995 – Simon Mayo
28 September 1995 – Jo Whiley and Steve Lamacq
5 October 1995 – Gareth Hale and Norman Pace
12 October 1995 – Nicky Campbell
19 October 1995 – Stewart Lee and Richard Herring
26 October 1995 – Simon Mayo
2 November 1995 – Suggs
9 November 1995 – Lee Evans
16 November 1995 – Louise
23 November 1995 – Nicky Campbell
30 November 1995 – Jack Dee
7 December 1995 – Gary Glitter
14 December 1995 – John Peel
21 December 1995 – Ronan Keating and Stephen Gately of Boyzone
25 December 1995 – Jack Dee and Björk
4 January 1996 – Nicky Campbell
11 January 1996 – Lisa I'Anson
18 January 1996 – Alan Davies
25 January 1996 – Lulu
1 February 1996 – Lee Evans
8 February 1996 – Julian Cope
15 February 1996 – Justine Frischmann of Elastica
22 February 1996 – Lisa I'Anson
29 February 1996 – Nicky Campbell
7 March 1996 – Louise Wener of Sleeper
14 March 1996 – MN8
21 March 1996 – Jo Whiley and Steve Lamacq
28 March 1996 – Mark Goodier
4 April 1996 – Dale Winton
11 April 1996 – Andi Peters
18 April 1996 – Bear van Beers
25 April 1996 – Chris Eubank
2 May 1996 – Michelle Gayle
9 May 1996 – Bear van Beers
16 May 1996 – Ian Wright
23 May 1996 – Skin of Skunk Anansie
30 May 1996 – Jack Dee and Jeremy Hardy

text: On 13 June 1996 BBC1 showed coverage of Switzerland vs Netherlands from Euro '96. Top of the Pops was accordingly moved from the Thursday to Friday, originally as a temporary move to incorporate the BBC's expansive portfolio of sport (as well as Euro '96, the 1996 Summer Olympic Games were also broadcast on the channel that summer), though it soon became clear that the move was permanent and, apart from a couple of one-off occasions on 25 June 1998 and 9 August 2001, TOTP never again returned to its original Thursday night slot.

text:
14 June 1996 – Mark Owen
21 June 1996 – Julia Carling
28 June 1996 – Gina G
5 July 1996 – Mark Morrison
12 July 1996 – Bear van Beers
19 July 1996 – Keith Allen as 'Keithski'
2 August 1996 – Jas Mann of Babylon Zoo
9 August 1996 – Peter Andre
23 August 1996 – Bear van Beers
6 September 1996 – Julia Carling
13 September 1996 – Dennis Pennis
20 September 1996 – Tony Mortimer
27 September 1996 – Harry Hill
4 October 1996 – Tony Wright of Terrorvision
11 October 1996 – Bear van Beers
18 October 1996 – Nigel Kennedy
1 November 1996 – Julian Clary
8 November 1996 – Frankie Dettori
15 November 1996 – Charlie Higson, John Thomson, Paul Whitehouse and Mark Williams of The Fast Show
29 November 1996 – Ronan Keating and Stephen Gately
6 December 1996 – Gary Glitter
13 December 1996 – Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds
20 December 1996 – Shaun Ryder of Black Grape
25 December 1996 – The Spice Girls, whose three performances were introduced by Robbie Williams, Mark Morrison and Gina G

text: 1994: Top of the Pops 2 and the magazine[edit]

text: As the show entered its fourth decade, Blaxill exploited the strength of the TOTP brand by introducing a tie-in publication Top of the Pops magazine, first published in January 1995, and by launching a sister show, Top of the Pops 2, to augment the weekly music programme. Originally featuring the best of the main show's studio performances from that week with tips for future hits, the 45-minute-long TOTP2 showcased for the first time the extensive performance archive initially through spotlights on particular artists and a rewind to a given year in music each week. Debuting on 17 September 1994 in a 5.15pm Saturday afternoon slot on BBC Two, Johnnie Walker provided voice-over introductions before the show began to draw solely on archive performances from 1997, when former TOTP host Steve Wright took over. TOTP2 moved to a midweek early-evening slot in 1998, retaining a Saturday afternoon repeat, and regularly became one of the most watched shows on the BBC's second channel. Following a revamp of BBC Two's early peak schedules in 2002, the 45-minute show was given over to two shows of twenty-five minutes, and shows began to select celebrity guest editors, such as Jack Dee, Phill Jupitus and Vic Reeves, to choose their own favourite performances from the archive. After being 'rested' in 2004, a reformatted show featuring two new studio performances per week returned for a final full series in 2006-7, to replace the axed main show. Mark Radcliffe replaced Wright as presenter in 2009.

text:
Johnnie Walker (1994–1997)
Steve Wright (1997–2004, 2006–2007, 2008, 2009)
Mark Radcliffe (2009–)

text: 1997–2000: Into the new millennium[edit]

text: Ric Blaxill left in 1997, and the show was temporarily looked after by Mark Wells who continued his predecessor's policy of having rotating guest presenters. By this time, only Jo Whiley remained of the Radio 1 DJs introduced to the show by Blaxill, though Wells added Radio 1 Breakfast Show caretakers Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley to the roster (although both Whiley and Radcliffe & Riley only appeared twice each between Blaxill's exit and the arrival of his permanent successor in June). With a background in 'serious' music broadcasting having worked on Channel 4's The Tube and The White Room, the new executive producer was Chris Cowey who stripped the show of the gimmicks bequeathed by its predecessors, increased the number of studio performances per week whilst reducing the reliance on music videos, and gradually built a new team of regular presenters with backgrounds in music television and radio to replace the celebrity guests. Alongside Whiley, who graduated from occasional host to lead presenter in June 1997, came Jayne Middlemiss and Zoë Ball. Middlemiss had presented music strand The O-Zone for Children's BBC since 1995, whilst Ball was given a full-time role after guest presenting in March 1997, and ahead of her posting as the host of Radio 1's coveted breakfast show in October. Fellow Radio 1 DJ Mary Anne Hobbs and Never Mind the Buzzcocks host Mark Lamarr were added to the team but were quickly dropped, though Jamie Theakston, co-host with Middlemiss on The O-Zone, and Ball on Live & Kicking arrived in January 1998 after guest presenting the previous October. All would continue to present The O-Zone and Live and Kicking concurrently with TOTP. Ball and Whiley departed in summer 1998 to be replaced by former Smash Hits editor Kate Thornton who established herself with Middlemiss and Theakston as lead presenters by autumn 1998. A revamp in May 1998 which included a change of title sequence, logo and theme music also saw a shift in focus from the Top 40 to the Top 20, with the chart rundown, now voiced every week by Radio 1 Chart Show host and former TOTP presenter Mark Goodier, extended from the Top 10 to Top 20. Children's TV presenter and model Gail Porter and Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills augmented the line-up from March 1999, and though Mills left in August, Porter continued with Middlemiss and Theakston as lead presenters into the new millennium.

text:
Jo Whiley (1995–1998, plus 23 April and 14 May 2006)
Jayne Middlemiss (1997–2001)
Zoë Ball (1997–1998, 19 October 2001)
Jamie Theakston (3 October 1997, 1998–2002, 2003)
Kate Thornton (1998–1999)
Gail Porter (1999–2001)
Scott Mills (1999)

text: 1997: More celebrity guest presenters[edit]

text:
17 January 1997 – Rhona Cameron
24 January 1997 – Phil Daniels
31 January 1997 – Noddy Holder
7 February 1997 – Ardal O'Hanlon
14 February 1997 – Peter Andre
21 February 1997 – Ant and Dec
28 February 1997 – Ian Wright
14 March 1997 – Ian Broudie
21 March 1997 – Kylie Minogue
28 March 1997 – Zoë Ball
4 April 1997 – Mark and Lard (Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley)
11 April 1997 – Mark Owen
18 April 1997 – Louise
25 April 1997 – Dannii Minogue
2 May 1997 – Cathy Dennis
16 May 1997 – Dannii Minogue
23 May 1997 – Mark and Lard
30 May 1997 – The Spice Girls
1 August 1997 – Mary Anne Hobbs
8 August 1997 – Phill Jupitus
15 August 1997 – Denise van Outen
22 August 1997 – Sarah Cawood
12 September 1997 – Mark Lamarr
3 October 1997 – Jamie Theakston
10 October 1997 – Mark Lamarr
31 October 1997 – Mary Anne Hobbs
28 November 1997 – Mark Lamarr
13 November 1998 – Katy Hill
17 September 1999 – Emma Ledden
TOTP toured the country between 26 August (a rare Thursday show, broadcast on BBC2) and 15 October 1999. These shows were broadcast from different cities' nightclubs, in order: The Revolution, Edinburgh; Event II, Brighton; Club Wow, Sheffield; L2, Liverpool; Ikon, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Dome II, Birmingham; and Time & Icon, Swansea
Former presenter Mark Goodier returned to voice the Top 20 countdown between 1997 and 2002. At the beginning of 2003, he was temporarily replaced by Scott Mills. Wes Butters voiced the countdown from February to November 2003.

text: 2000–2003: Developing the brand[edit]

text: Richard Blackwood became joint lead presenter in August 2000 and presented in rotation with Jayne Middlemiss, Jamie Theakston and Gail Porter. In July 2001, Blackwood left the presenting roster, with Middlemiss leaving the following month. Josie D'Arby, who had hosted an episode in October 2000, made a short-lived return in autumn 2001 but joined Gail Porter in exiting before the end of the year leaving Jamie Theakston as lead presenter until March 2002 when he was replaced by new recruits model Lisa Snowdon and former TOTP guest presenter Sarah Cawood. Liz Bonnin joined the team from Channel 4 breakfast show RI:SE in May and the majority of shows throughout 2002 were presented by these three presenters, with Theakston only returning for sporadic appearances, and again on a couple of occasions in 2003.

text: After the 2000th edition on 13 September 2002, the presenting team continued to rotate solely between Liz Bonnin, Lisa Snowdon, Sarah Cawood alongside the returning Richard Blackwood until the new year. Blackwood's final show came on Christmas Day 2002, but the three females continued to present through 2003 along with an increasing number of occasional presenters drawn mainly from breakfast television and Radio 1. Colin Murray and Edith Bowman joined their former RI:SE teammate Liz Bonnin in mid-2003 and, though both were used sparingly, Bowman would return as relief presenter in 2006. Konnie Huq also presented three shows concurrent with her role as Blue Peter presenter in 2003. More successful was Huq's former Blue Peter colleague and The Big Breakfast host Richard Bacon who joined the presenting roster in January 2003, graduating to lead presenter by September. Along with newcomers and former children's television hosts Margherita Taylor, Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates, this quartet presented in rotating pairs until another revamp of TOTP took place in November 2003.

text:
Jo Whiley (1997–1998)
Jayne Middlemiss (1997–2001)
Jamie Theakston (1997–2002, 2003)
Gail Porter (1999–2001, plus 2 May 2003)
Richard Blackwood (2000–2001, 2002)
Josie D'Arby (6 October 2000, 2001)
Sarah Cawood (2002–2003, plus 30 July 2006)
Lisa Snowdon (2002–2003)
Liz Bonnin (2002–2003)
Richard Bacon (2003, 2005–2006)
Colin Murray (2003)
Edith Bowman (2003, 2006)
Margherita Taylor (2003, plus 15 April 2005)
Konnie Huq (2003)
Fearne Cotton (2003, 2004–present)
Reggie Yates (2003, 2004–present)

text: Guest appearances:

text:
14 April 2000 – Sara Cox
29 May 2000 – Chris Moyles co-presented a special Bank Holiday Monday edition from Sheffield Arena as part of BBC Music Live alongside Jamie Theakston
6 October 2000 – Josie D'Arby
24 December 2000 – CBBC presenter Adrian Dickson hosted the Tweenies special
25 December 2000 – Sara Cox co-hosted with Jamie Theakston and Richard Blackwood
9 August 2001 – Sophie Ellis-Bextor, a show which was moved to Thursday
19 October 2001 – Zoë Ball and Jimmy Savile returned to present a show heralding the return to BBC Television Centre after ten years of recording at Elstree, with Jamie Theakston and Dermot O'Leary
16 November 2001 – Vernon Kay
25 December 2001 – Sara Cox co-hosted with Jamie Theakston
8 February 2002 – Dermot O'Leary
19 April 2002 – Melanie B
7 March 2003 – Ben Elton
2 May 2003 – Gail Porter, former presenter, returns to co-host with Richard Bacon
27 June 2003 – Jonathan Ross co-presented with Fearne Cotton
15 August 2003 – Jack Osbourne co-presented with Edith Bowman
7 November 2003 – Ronan Keating co-hosted with Fearne Cotton, almost eight years after last appearing as a mid-90s guest presenter

text: 2002–2006: Top of the Pops Saturday[edit]

text: In September 2002, in an attempt to combat the increasing ratings success of ITV's rival chart show CD:UK, the Top of the Pops brand diversified and a children's TV spin-off was created to run alongside the main show. Top of the Pops Saturday began on 21 September 2002 as a segment to fill the final 45 minutes of the BBC One Saturday morning kids programme The Saturday Show, presented by Fearne Cotton, who would graduate to presenting the main show from 2003. For the first season, Cotton co-presented with Simon Grant. Cotton alone continued to present the show after The Saturday Show ended its second season in 2003, with TOTP Saturday gaining its own stand-alone slot on BBC One at 11.00am, immediately following The Saturday Show's replacement Dick and Dom in da Bungalow. Following the removal of Saturday morning children's television from BBC One to BBC Two in 2005, the show was renamed Top of the Pops: Reloaded from 17 September until its end in March 2006. For this final season, Cotton was joined by former Pop Idol contestants Sam and Mark and Radio 1 DJs JK and Joel as co-presenters. The final show was shown on 25 March 2006.

text:
Fearne Cotton (all episodes 2002–2006, plus the main TOTP show: 2003, 2004–)
Simon Grant (2002–2003)
Sam Nixon (2005–2006)
Mark Rhodes (2005–2006)
Jason King (2005–2006)
Joel Ross (2005–2006)

text: 2003: All New Top of the Pops revamp[edit]

text: In 2003, former Top of the Pops presenter Andi Peters became new Executive producer and began another radical overhaul. The first edition of All New Top of the Pops was broadcast on 28 November 2003, presented live by former MTV video jockey Tim Kash. The ratings for the first show were 5.65m. Kash presented shows alone until 30 April 2004, after which he began to present with previous presenters Fearne Cotton and/or Reggie Yates, who eventually began to present shows together without Kash. After presenting 14 February 2003 episode, Cotton became a more prominent presenter from June 2003, with Yates also joining the presenting roster in August. Both continued to present regularly until the November 2003 revamp. Kash left to rejoin MTV, making his last appearance in August 2004, allowing Cotton and Yates to present alone. For three shows in October and November 2004, Radio 1 Breakfast Show host Chris Moyles was drafted in to co-host alongside Cotton and Yates, and this trio also fronted the last show of 2004 before Christmas in a show styled as a Radio 1 Christmas party.

text: In 2003, Tim Kash became only the third presenter, after Jimmy Savile in 1971 and Noel Edmonds in 1978, to host Christmas Top of the Pops solo.

text:
Tim Kash (2003–2004)
Fearne Cotton (2004–)
Reggie Yates (2004–)
Chris Moyles (2004, plus 29 May 2000, 22 April 2005 and 14 May 2006)

text: Only two shows between April 2004 and March 2006 did not feature either Fearne Cotton or Reggie Yates:

text:
6 February 2004 – Natalie Brown covered Kash when he was absent.
15 April 2005 – Richard Bacon and Margherita Taylor returned as relief presenters to host, eighteen months after their last show together.
22 April 2005 – Chris Moyles and his Radio 1 breakfast show colleagues, Aled Haydn Jones, Rachel Jones and Dave Vitty were guest presenters

text: 2005–2006: The move to BBC Two and the end – return of guest presenters[edit]

text: In November 2004, it was announced that Top of the Pops would move from its primetime slot on Friday nights on BBC One to a new Sunday night slot on BBC Two, a move largely viewed as the last sidelining of the show before inevitable cancellation. The move was initially intended to take place in Spring 2005 and an 'extended format' was promised but the show remained on BBC One until July 2005 with the final Friday show on 8 July followed by another episode the following Monday. The first BBC Two show ran for 35 minutes, five minutes longer than the BBC One show, and aired live on Sunday 17 July 2005 at 7pm, immediately after the announcement of the new week's chart and incorporated elements of TOTP2, which had been rested a year previously, by showing two archive performances alongside the new music. However, viewing figures halved within a fortnight of the new scheduling, from an average of 2.4 million viewers on BBC One to around 1.5 million on BBC Two. The ratings never improved, despite the show going on location to the 2006 Winter Olympics and Radio 1's One Big Weekend, and on 20 June 2006 the BBC announced that Top of the Pops was being axed due to no longer being able to compete with 24-hour cable music channels, with the final episode airing on 30 July 2006.

text: New Executive producer Mark Cooper oversaw a return to the use of guest presenters, a full list of which is given below, but unlike in the 90s, this time the celebrities were paired with one of the already established lead presenting team of Fearne Cotton, Reggie Yates, and newcomer comedian Rufus Hound. The three lead presenters appeared on all of the BBC Two shows between them and when not joined by a celebrity co-host they presented in pairs with each other or with one of the secondary presenting team of Richard Bacon and, from January 2006, Edith Bowman. Occasionally, the show was moved from Sunday nights but remained a live broadcast, as was the case on the following Mondays: 15 August 2005, 16 January 2006 and the five shows between 13 February and 13 March 2006. The show was also once transmitted on a Tuesday: 11 July 2006.

text: In May 2006, BBC staff were asked to form the audience for several Top of the Pops shows after it emerged that the BBC did not have a premises licence for hosting public entertainment events at Television Centre.

text: Lead presenters

text:
Fearne Cotton (2004–)
Reggie Yates (2004–)
Rufus Hound (2005–2006)

text: Relief presenters

text:
Richard Bacon (2005–2006)
Edith Bowman (2006)

text: Guest presenters

text:
17 July 2005 – Phill Jupitus
24 July 2005 – Jeremy Clarkson
31 July 2005 – Christian O'Connell
15 August 2005 – Phil Tufnell
28 August 2005 – Lulu
4 September 2005 – Phill Jupitus
11 September 2005 – Suggs
2 October 2005 – Jeremy Bowen
9 October 2005 – Richard Hammond
16 October 2005 – Phill Jupitus
6 November 2005 – Anastacia
13 November 2005 – Sharon Osbourne
27 November 2005 – Noddy Holder
18 December 2005 – Justin Lee Collins (1.89m viewers)
25 December 2005 – Shane Richie
16 January 2006 – Peter Kay as Brian Potter from Phoenix Nights
29 January 2006 – James May
13 February 2006 – Sue Barker and Colin Jackson, from the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
27 February 2006 – Jocelyn Brown and Matt Allwright
13 March 2006 – Cyndi Lauper
19 March 2006 – Trevor Nelson
26 March 2006 – Jo Brand
2 April 2006 – Trevor Nelson
23 April 2006 – Jo Whiley
7 May 2006 – Trevor Nelson
14 May 2006 – Vernon Kay, Chris Moyles and Jo Whiley, as part of Radio 1's One Big Weekend in Dundee
21 May 2006 – Diarmuid Gavin
28 May 2006 – Preston of The Ordinary Boys
4 June 2006 – Spoony
18 June 2006 – Annie Mac
11 July 2006 – Annie Mac – from T in the Park
30 July 2006 – Jimmy Savile, Tony Blackburn, Dave Lee Travis, Mike Read, Pat Sharp, Janice Long, Sarah Cawood, Edith Bowman, Reggie Yates, Rufus Hound – an assortment of presenters past and present return for the last weekly show . Fearne Cotton, who was unavailable, also presented a brief pre-recorded segment from Fiji(3.98m viewers)

text: After the end: Occasional events-led returns[edit]

text: After being taken off the air in 2004, sister show Top of the Pops 2 was resurrected for a new run on Saturday nights at 8pm which reverted to the old format of mixing archive clips with new studio performances. The new series began two months after the original show ended, on Saturday 30 September 2006, with new studio performances provided by Nelly Furtado and Razorlight and a Top 10 chart rundown. All the episodes in this series followed the familiar TOTP2 presentation of no on-screen presentation, but rather a voiceover from Steve Wright:

text:
30 September 2006 – Steve Wright (voice only); Razorlight: America and Nelly Furtado: Promiscuous
7 October 2006 – Steve Wright (voice only); Richard Hawley: Just Like The Rain and Jamelia: Something About You
14 October 2006 – Steve Wright (voice only); Nerina Pallot: Sophia and Seth Lakeman: The White Hare
21 October 2006 – Steve Wright (voice only); Amy Winehouse: Rehab
28 October 2006 – Steve Wright (voice only); Vincent Vincent and the Villains: Johnny Two Bands
4 November 2006 – Steve Wright (voice only); All Saints: Rock Steady and Gnarls Barkley: Who Cares
11 November 2006 – Steve Wright (voice only); Emma Bunton: Downtown and Ray Lamontagne: How Come
18 November 2006 – Steve Wright (voice only); Sandy Thom: Lonely Girl and Tony Bennett: Lullaby of Broadway
25 November 2006 – Steve Wright (voice only); Damien Rice: 9 Crimes
2 December 2006 – Steve Wright (voice only); The Fratellis: Whistle For The Choir
9 December 2006 – Steve Wright (voice only); Lil Chris: Gettin' Enough and Lily Allen: Littlest Things
16 December 2006 – Steve Wright (voice only); Kasabian: Empire
6 January 2007 – Steve Wright (voice only); Muse: Starlight
13 January 2007 – Steve Wright (voice only); Just Jack: Starz in their Eyes
20 January 2007 – Steve Wright (voice only); Regina Spektor: Fidelity
3 February 2007 – Steve Wright (voice only); Simon Webbe: My Soul Pleads For You, Duke Special: Freewheel and Kaiser Chiefs: Ruby
10 February 2007 – Steve Wright (voice only); The Feeling: Rose, Louise Setara: Wrong Again and Findlay Brown: Come Here
17 February 2007 – Steve Wright (voice only); Jack Savoretti: Dreamers and James Hunter: No Smoke Without Fire
24 February 2007 – Steve Wright (voice only); The View: Same Jeans and Corinne Bailey Rae: I'd Like To
3 March 2007 – Steve Wright (voice only); Madness: Sorry
10 March 2007 – Steve Wright (voice only); Westlife: Total Eclipse of The Heart and Maximo Park: Our Velocity
17 March 2007 – Steve Wright (voice only); Good Charlotte: The River, Lemar: Tick Tock and Muse: Invincible
24 March 2007 – Steve Wright (voice only); Kaiser Chiefs: The Angry Mob

text: Following the 2006–7 run, TOTP2 returned only to mark one-off special occasions and dropped the new performances. Such shows were dedicated to certain musicians such as Wham! and Duran Duran in 2010, as well as the death of Michael Jackson in 2009, or marked special occasions such as Christmas and New Year in 2008 and 2009, or tie-ins with a particular season of BBC programmes such as the School season which featured a back-to-school special to mark the end of the 2010 summer holidays, and 80s-themed show to mark the final series of BBC TV drama Ashes to Ashes, also in 2010.

text: As well as the intermittent broadcasts of TOTP2 on BBC Two and a yearly Christmas show which remains on BBC One, Top of the Pops is survived by occasional 'event-led' broadcasts. It has twice returned for special shows for the BBC's biennial Comic Relief charity fundraiser in 2007 and 2009, with the following presenters:

text:
16 March 2007 – Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May – Top Gear of the Pops for Comic Relief 2007
13 March 2009 – Fearne Cotton, Reggie Yates, Noel Fielding, French and Saunders, Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross, David Tennant and Claudia Winkleman – Comic Relief does Top of the Pops

text: An annual BBC One show which looks back at the previous year in music also appears each Christmas Day at 2pm. In 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016 (New Year's Day in 2015), a New Year's Eve party show was also broadcast on BBC One in the early evening:

text:
25 December 2006 – Fearne Cotton, Reggie Yates and Edith Bowman
25 December 2007 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
25 December 2008 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
31 December 2008 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
25 December 2009 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
31 December 2009 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
25 December 2010 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
25 December 2011 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
25 December 2012 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
31 December 2012 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
25 December 2013 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
31 December 2013 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
25 December 2014 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
31 December 2014 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
25 December 2015 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
1 January 2016 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
25 December 2016 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
31 December 2016 – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
25 December 2017 – Fearne Cotton and Clara Amfo

text: The BBC has faced repeated calls for the return of the weekly chart show, but has insisted that this will never happen. In August 2010, however, the BBC disclosed that it was in talks with independent production companies with a view to developing a new weekly music show for BBC Three to begin sometime in 2011, although no such show was ever broadcast. However, in 2017 the BBC launched Sounds Like Friday Night, a new live music show hosted by Greg James and Dotty.

text:
[hide]

v
t
e

Top of the Pops

Presenters
Performers
Performances

Shows

Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops 2
Top of the Pops Reloaded
TOTP@Play

Dance troups

Go-Jos
Pan's People
Ruby Flipper
Legs & Co.
Zoo

Related articles

Top of the Pops (magazine)

tag: table

text: Lists of television presentersTop of the PopsBBC television presenters

text: Use dmy dates from October 2010Articles lacking sources from July 2012All articles lacking sources


document_title: Cannonball Run II

question_text: who played the nuns in cannonball run 2

question_tokens: who played the nuns in cannonball run 2

text: Cannonball Run II

text: Plot[edit]

text: Having lost the first Cannonball Run race, Sheik Abdul ben Falafel (Jamie Farr) is ordered by his father (Ricardo Montalban) to go back to America and win another Cannonball Run in order to "emblazon the Falafel name as the fastest in the world." When Sheik Abdul points out that there is no Cannonball Run that year, his father simply tells him to "buy one."

text: To make sure his ulcer does not prevent him from winning, the Sheik hires Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing (Jack Elam), who teamed with JJ (Burt Reynolds) and Victor (Dom DeLuise) in the first race as his in-car physician. Most of the participants from the first race are lured back, including JJ and Victor, who have taken jobs working with a flying stunt crew.

text: In a subplot, Blake (Dean Martin) and Fenderbaum (Sammy Davis Jr.) are in financial trouble with Don Don Canneloni (Charles Nelson Reilly), who in turn is in financial trouble with mob enforcer Hymie Kaplan (Telly Savalas). After the Sheik manages to bail out Blake and Fenderbaum by handing one of Don Don's thugs a stack of cash, Don Don hatches a plot to kidnap the Sheik in an attempt to extort money from him.

text: The race begins with JJ and Victor dressed as a US Army general and his driver, a private. They catch the attention of Betty (Marilu Henner) and Veronica (Shirley MacLaine), who are dressed as nuns for a musical, but remain in character and hitch a ride with JJ and Victor when they think the guys could become overnight millionaires. They do not lose their habits until later.

text: Other racers include Mitsubishi engineer Jackie Chan, teamed with a giant behind the wheel (Richard Kiel) in a car—a Mitsubishi Starion—able to go under water. In a red Lamborghini (white at first) with "two great-looking chicks in it" (as the cops chasing them continually say) is the duo of Jill Rivers (Susan Anton) and Marcie Thatcher (Catherine Bach). Another team (Mel Tillis and Tony Danza) is accompanied by an orangutan, who at times appears to be the driver. They are pulled over at one point by traffic cops Tim Conway and Don Knotts.

text: JJ and Victor stop along the way to help a stranded soldier, Homer Lyle (Jim Nabors). They also get much better acquainted with their passengers, Betty and Veronica, who change into something a little more comfortable.

text: Don Don's enforcers (including Henry Silva and Godfather film actors Alex Rocco, Abe Vigoda and Michael V. Gazzo) continue to blunder along the way, with disastrous results.

text: After Don Don's gang capture the Sheik, the racers band together to invade Don Don's "Pinto Ranch". JJ, Victor, and Fenderbaum infiltrate it in drag, dressed as belly dancers. Others barrel in by car and rescue the Sheik, who is reluctant to leave, since he has his pick of women there. The three "dancers" and Blake go to their Leader (Frank Sinatra) to seek help, only to have him jump into the race himself.

text: In the end, the Sheik bankrolls Don Don's Ranch and then declares that he is upping the stakes to $2 million for the winner. All jump into their vehicles and make a dash for the finish line, avoiding traffic patrollers on the way.

text: The Sheik, as it turns out, loses yet again, this time blaming the doctor who rode with him for injecting him with an unknown substance. But he convinces his father that he will win the return-trip race, having hired the winner of this one. It turns out to be the orangutan with a penchant for destructive behavior and giving elderly ladies the middle finger.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Burt Reynolds as J.J. McClure
Dom DeLuise as Victor Prinzi/Captain Chaos (DeLuise also appears uncredited as Don Canneloni)
Dean Martin as Jamie Blake
Sammy Davis Jr. as Morris Fenderbaum
Jamie Farr as Sheik Abdul ben Falafel
Ricardo Montalbán as King Abdul ben Falafel
Telly Savalas as Hymie Kaplan
Marilu Henner as Betty
Shirley MacLaine as Veronica
Susan Anton as Jill Rivers ("Lamborghini Babe #1", originally played by Tara Buckman)
Catherine Bach as Marcie Thatcher ("Lamborghini Babe #2", originally played by Adrienne Barbeau)
Foster Brooks, Sid Caesar and Louis Nye as the fishermen in the rowboat
Jackie Chan as Jackie Chan, Mitsubishi engineer
Richard Kiel as Arnold, Jackie's driver
Tim Conway and Don Knotts as California Highway Patrol officers who pull over the driving monkey
Mel Tillis as Mel (back from the first film) and Tony Danza as Tony, the limo drivers with the orangutan
Jack Elam as Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing
Charles Nelson Reilly as Don Don Canneloni
Michael V. Gazzo as Sonny, Don Don's Henchman
Alex Rocco as Tony, Don Don's Henchman
Henry Silva as Slim, Don Don's Henchman
Abe Vigoda as Caesar, Don Don's Henchman
Jim Nabors as Private Homer Lyle, a parody of his popular character, Gomer Pyle
Molly Picon reprises her role of Mrs. Goldfarb, Seymour's mother. In this film, Cannonballers drive into her house
Frank Sinatra as himself
Joe Theismann as Mack, the truck driver who helps out Jill and Marcie
Shawn Weatherly as the girl in Jamie Blake's bed
Dale Ishimoto as a Japanese businessman
Arte Johnson as an "ace" pilot Victor says is "from World War 2," who speaks with a telltale German accent
Fred Dryer as a California Highway Patrol sergeant (listed in the opening credits as "Fred Dreyer")
Chris Lemmon as a young California Highway Patrol officer
George Lindsey as Uncle Cal
Doug McClure as The Sheik's servant, an out-of-work actor who hasn't had a series in nine years
Jilly Rizzo as Jilly
Dub Taylor as a sheriff
Director Hal Needham appears uncredited as a Porsche 928 driver in a cowboy hat, whose car is crushed flat in the movie by the monster truck, Bigfoot (Driven by owner/creator Bob Chandler)

text: Production[edit]

text: Jaclyn Smith was originally meant to be the female lead but dropped out. "I think she was scared to death to be up there against Burt and Dom," said Needham later, claiming Smith was worried about his improvisational style. "I don't want someone on the set that's gonna be tat scared. So we went somewhere else."[1] She was replaced by Shirley Maclaine.[1]

text: Frank Sinatra agreed to do a cameo at the suggestion of Davis and Martin. Needham wrote three versions of the script for him - one where he could work a week, another where he did two days, and one where he could do his scene in a day. He picked the latter. He was paid $30,000 which he donated to charity.[1] It was the first film he had made in three years and the first time he had reunited with Rat Pack members professionally or personally in three years. Needham says he turned up half an hour early and did his scene with minimal fuss.[3]

text: Part of the film was shot near Tuscon Arizona.[1]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: After the tenth highest 1984 opening weekend of $8.3 million Cannonball Run II slowed down, becoming the 32nd most popular 1984 film at the U.S.A. and Canada box office with a total lifetime gross of $28 million, less than half the takings of the first Cannonball Run.[2]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text:
Cannonball Run II was met with harsher reviews than its predecessor, with a 14% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 14 critics.[4]
Roger Ebert gave the film half a star out of four, calling it "one of the laziest insults to the intelligence of moviegoers that I can remember. Sheer arrogance made this picture."[5] Ebert's co-host of the TV show At the Movies Gene Siskel also gave a harsh review of this film, calling it "a total ripoff, a deceptive film - that gives movies a bad name." Siskel even named it his least favorite film he had seen during his time doing At the Movies with Ebert.

text: The film received eight Golden Raspberry Award nominations at the 1984 Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor and Worst Actress.


document_title: The Green Berets (film)

question_text: who played the little boy in the movie the green berets

text: The Green Berets (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: At Fort Bragg, North Carolina, cynical newspaper reporter George Beckworth (David Janssen) attends a Special Forces briefing about the American military involvement in the war in Vietnam. The briefing includes a demonstration and explanation of the whys and wherefores of participating in the Vietnam War.

text: The civilians and journalists are told that international Communism is what the U.S. is fighting in Vietnam. Proof: weapons and equipment, captured from North Vietnamese soldiers and Viet Cong (VC) guerrillas, manufactured in the Soviet Union, Communist Czechoslovakia, and Communist China. Despite this, Beckworth remains skeptical about the value of intervening in Vietnam's civil war. When asked by Green Beret Colonel Mike Kirby (John Wayne) if he had ever been to Southeast Asia, Beckworth replies that he had not. Realizing his ignorance, Beckworth decides to go in-country to report on what he finds there.

text: Colonel Kirby is posted to South Vietnam with two handpicked A-Teams of Special Forces troopers. One A-Team is to replace a team at a base camp nicknamed "Dodge City" working with South Vietnamese and Montagnard soldiers, while the other A-Team is to form a counterguerrilla MIKE Force. While selecting his teams, Kirby intercepts a Spc. Petersen (Jim Hutton) from another unit who is appropriating supplies from Kirby's supply depot. Realizing Petersen's skills, Kirby promotes him and brings him onto his SF team. The A team includes: Captain MacDaniel, (Edward Faulkner), a replacement for Captain Coleman; Lieutenants Sachs, (Frank Koomen), and Moore, a Savoy 8 team leader; Master Sergeant Muldoon (Aldo Ray) the senior NCO; Sergeant First Class "Doc" McGee, (Raymond St. Jacques) the team's medical sergeant; Sergeant First Class Kowalski, (Mike Henry) the team's communications specialist; Sergeant Provo, (Luke Askew) the team's heavy weapons specialist; Sergeant Watson, (Eddy Donno) the team's mortarman; and Sergeant Parks, (Rudy Robbins), a man from the Southern United States.

text: Arriving in South Vietnam, they meet Beckworth, whom Kirby allows to accompany them to the fire-base camp. There, he witnesses the humanitarian aspect (irrigation ditches, bandages, candy for children) of the Special Forces mission. Still, he remains unconvinced of America's need to be in Vietnam.

text: During this period, Petersen befriends a young native boy named Ham Chuck (Craig Jue), a war orphan who has no family other than his pet dog and the soldiers at the base camp. Also introduced is the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base camp strike force leader, Captain Nim (George Takei), who was a Việt Minh officer from Hanoi during the previous war of liberation from the French colonists, and is now fighting for the anti-communist Republic of Vietnam / South Vietnamese government. He is obsessed with having to "kill all the stinking Viet Cong" to win this war. He also claims that there is a spy network within the camp and ARVN strike force.

text: During Captain Coleman's (Jason Evers) final night at the camp, he spends some time in the team house writing a letter announcing his return home. Coleman instructs the men to check their guard duty rosters before they turn in to rest. He bids everyone good night and returns to his sleeping quarters. Not long afterwards, the camp is hit with Viet Cong mortars. The mortar fire strikes the dispensary, communication bunker, and the team house before it suddenly stops. Coleman is found dead by Sergeant Provo. After Coleman's death, MacDaniel informs Colonel Kirby of his demise.

text: Shortly after this attack, while supervising a group of United States Navy Seabees clearing part of the jungle around the base camp and evacuating the civilians in preparation for a potential Viet Cong attack, Sergeant Muldoon notices an ARVN soldier pacing out distances in the camp and knocks him out. When Captain Nim interrogates him, he discovers a silver Zippo lighter in the ARVN soldier's possession. The lighter belonged to a Green Beret medical specialist, a friend of Kirby's, recently murdered by the Viet Cong. After Beckworth sees Nim torture the Viet Cong suspect to get a confession from him, he confronts Kirby about it. The Colonel justifies the interrogation by telling Beckworth about the cigarette lighter, and says the Viet Cong are ruthless killers who deserve no legal protections of any sort in this new kind of war.

text: A few days later, Beckworth accompanies Kirby and his team on a patrol in the nearby mountains. Beckworth witnesses the aftermath of a Viet Cong terror attack on a Montagnard village. The young granddaughter of the village chief he had befriended earlier, as well as the chief and most of the male villagers, have been tortured and executed by the Viet Cong for cooperating with the Americans.

text: The next night, the Special Forces camp is subjected to a human wave attack by thousands of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops. Kirby and Muldoon, flying back to Camp Dodge City after a briefing in Saigon concerning an upcoming mission, are shot down by enemy fire, They form a defensive perimeter and secure a field to use as a landing zone (LZ) for a MIKE Force flying in to aid the besieged camp.

text: Meanwhile, the ferocious  attack upon the Special Forces camp continues relentlessly. Beckworth is forced to take a rifle from a fallen ARVN sergeant and fight alongside the Green Berets. He also helps move the local villagers into the camp to protect them from the enemy onslaught.

text: As the battle rages, Ham Chuck's pet dog is killed and the young boy tearfully buries his faithful companion. Symbolically, the boy uses the stick he had used to dig the dog's grave as the tombstone. He is found by Sergeant Petersen, who takes him to safety with the other refugees. As ARVN soldiers rush to their defensive positions, the stick is knocked away, leaving an unmarked grave.

text: The perimeter is breached by enemy sappers who blow openings in the barbed wire fences around the camp. The Green Berets and ARVN soldiers are forced to fall back to the inner perimeter. Lieutenant Sachs, Sergeant Sooby, and many others are killed. Captain MacDaniel, (Seabee) Lieutenant Jamison (Patrick Wayne), Sergeant Griffin (Chuck Roberson), and Parks are wounded, but not critically. Sergeant Provo is mortally wounded by double agents posing as South Vietnamese soldiers. As his dying act, Captain Nim sets off hidden explosives which kill the double agents.

text: Kirby and Muldoon arrive with the Mike Force reinforcements, supported by a U.S. Air Force airstrike in which Douglas A-1 Skyraiders drop napalm on the attacking enemy troops with little success. By dawn, with the enemy attack still continuing Colonel Kirby orders the troops to fall back and withdraw from the camp, which is then taken by the enemy. At a nearby LZ, more U.S. Army helicopters arrive to evacuate the refugees. Petersen puts Ham Chuck on one and promises to return for him in Da Nang.

text: With the base in enemy hands, Kirby orders an airstrike by "Puff the Magic Dragon" (a Douglas AC-47 Spooky armed with three M61 Vulcan miniguns), which kills the occupying VC and NVA troops. With the enemy dead or fled, Kirby and his team re-occupy the destroyed camp and fire-base.

text: Afterwards, Kirby has a talk with Beckworth, during which the reporter admits that he probably will be fired for filing a story supporting United  States involvement in the war. He thanks Kirby for the experience and returns to Da Nang with the Mike Force reinforcements.  Provo, dying of his wounds, asks Kirby to make his memorial the Provo Privy. The colonel sees to it when he returns to the main base near the capital of Saigon.

text: Back at headquarters, Kirby meets with his superior, Colonel Morgan (Bruce Cabot), as well as Kirby's ARVN counterpart, Colonel Cai (Jack Soo). He is told about a top secret mission they have been planning. The goal is to kidnap a very important North Vietnamese field commander named General Pha Son Ti  in North Vietnam. The capture of General Ti is seen as a bargaining chip to end the war on South Vietnam's terms, as well as disrupting the leadership of the Viet Cong. Colonel Cai uses his sister-in-law, a top  Vietnamese/French fashion model named Lin, as a honey trap to lure General Ti to a former French colonial mansion in a well-guarded valley in North Vietnam.

text: Kirby, Muldoon, Peterson, and a handful of Green Berets, Montagnards, and ARVN soldiers are selected for this secret mission by Cai, who will be accompanying them. They are airlifted in a Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport plane and parachuted into the North Vietnamese jungle. Muldoon, medical specialist Doc McGee, and two of Cai's men stay behind at a local bridge over a river to set explosives to blow it up to stop pursuit by the NVA forces as the team exfiltrates with General Ti.

text: Kirby and the group arrive outside the guarded plantation where they witness the enemy general arrive at his plantation with Lin. After  all the sentries around the mansion are killed, they quietly enter, subdue the enemy general with Lin's help, and hoist him outside, where they put him in the trunk of his French Citroën sedan car. Kirby, Cai, Petersen, Watson, and Lin drive away, but the rest of the team is killed by North Vietnamese guards while attempting to escape.

text: At dawn, the survivors cross the bridge which McGee and Muldoon rigged with explosives. The bridge is destroyed, but Doc McGee is seriously wounded as he and Muldoon escape. The survivors of the raid successfully airlift the captured General out of the area by a Skyhook device mounted to a C-130 Hercules with specially trained pilots. While Kirby and the group advance through the jungle to the LZ where helicopters will pick them up, Petersen is killed by an enemy booby-trap. Kirby and his team are forced to leave his body behind.

text: Back at Da Nang Air Force Base, Beckworth watches as Ham Chuck awaits the return of the helicopters. He realizes the toll of war as Ham Chuck runs crying from helicopter to helicopter, searching for Petersen. Beckworth then falls in with a group of U.S. soldiers who have just arrived by helicopters from another mission in-country. Kirby, in a touching moment, walks over to the boy and tells him of Peterson's death. A teary-eyed Ham Chuck asks plaintively, "What will happen to me now?" Kirby places Petersen's green beret on him and says, "You let me worry about that, Green Beret. You're what this thing's all about." Holding hands, the two walk along the beach into the sunset as "Ballad of the Green Berets" plays.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
John Wayne as COL Mike Kirby (SF Group Commander)
Jim Hutton as SGT Petersen
David Janssen as George Beckworth
Aldo Ray as MSG Muldoon (Senior NCO)
Raymond St. Jacques as SFC "Doc" McGee (Medical Sergeant)
Bruce Cabot as COL Morgan
Jack Soo as Colonel Cai (ARVN)
George Takei as Captain Nim (ARVN)
Patrick Wayne as LT Jamison,  CEC, (USN)
Luke Askew as SGT Provo (Heavy Weapons "but not if he can find a light one")
Irene Tsu as Lin
Edward Faulkner as CPT MacDaniel
Jason Evers as CPT Coleman
Mike Henry as SFC Kowalski
Eddy Donno as SGT Watson
Craig Jue as Ham Chuck, young Vietnamese boy
Richard "Cactus" Pryor as Collier (often mistakenly credited as Richard Pryor)
Rudy Robbins as SGT Parks[5]

text: Production[edit]

text: Pre-production[edit]

text: Columbia Pictures, having bought the book's pre-publication film rights, was not able to produce a script that the Army would approve, while producer David L. Wolper, who also tried to buy the same rights, could not obtain financing to make the movie.[6] A screenplay was written by George Goodman who had served with the Special Forces in the 1950s as a military intelligence officer and had written a 1961 article about the Special Forces called The Unconventional Warriors in Esquire magazine.[7] Columbia sent Goodman to South Vietnam for research. Robin Moore felt the Pentagon pressured Wolper into breaking an agreement with Moore.[2] Wolper acquired the rights to film The Devil's Brigade, an account of the World War II 1st Special Service Force in 1965, and produced that film instead.

text: The final film's origins began in June 1966 with a trip by John Wayne to South Vietnam, and his subsequent decision to produce a film about the Army special forces deployed there as a tribute to them.[8] Wayne was a steadfast supporter of American involvement in the war in Vietnam. He co-directed the film, and turned down the "Major Reisman" role in The Dirty Dozen to do so.

text: Screenplay[edit]

text: Although The Green Berets portrays the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army as sadistic tyrants, it also depicts them as a capable and highly motivated enemy. The film shows the war as one with no front lines, meaning that the enemy can show up and attack at almost any position, anywhere. It shows the sophisticated spy ring of the VC and NVA that provided information about their adversaries. Like A Yank in Viet-Nam, it gave a positive view of South Vietnam and their anti-communist allies.

text: The US Army had objections to James Lee Barrett's initial script. The first was that the Army wanted to show that South Vietnamese soldiers were involved in defending the base camp. That was rectified. The Army also objected to the portrayal of the raid where they kidnap a NVA general because in the original script this involved crossing the border into North Vietnam.[9] Robin Moore has stated that while all of the other stories in his book are roman a clefs of actual Special Forces missions and incidents, the mission to capture General Ti was completely fictitious.[10]

text: Wayne wished the screenplay to have more development of the characters, but Warner Bros. made it clear they wanted more action and less talk, as The Alamo was heavily criticized for having too much dialogue. Scenes shot with Vera Miles as the wife of Wayne's character were jettisoned. (However, Miles was again cast as the Duke's wife in Wayne's next film Hellfighters).[11]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Much of the film was shot in the summer of 1967 (before the Tet Offensive) at Fort Benning, Georgia. Department of Defense cooperation with the film was extensive, with the United States Army providing several UH-1 Huey attack helicopters and a C-7 Caribou light transport. The United States Air Force supplied two C-130 Hercules transports and two A-1 Skyraider attack aircraft as well as film footage of an AC-47 Puff the Magic Dragon gunship and an HC-130 Hercules employing the Skyhook Fulton recovery system for use in the film.  The Army also provided authentic uniforms for use by the actors, including the OG-107 green and "Tiger Stripe" Tropical Combat Uniform (jungle fatigues), with correct Vietnam War subdued insignia and name tapes.

text: Colonel Lamar Asbury "Bill" Welch, the actual commander of the United States Army Airborne School at Fort Benning in 1967, makes a brief cameo shooting trap with John Wayne.[12] Welch wears a 1960s US Army Fatigue Baseball Cap (common issue during the Vietnam War) in the scene while the actors wear green berets. Soldiers exercising on the drill field - that Wayne shouts to - were actual Army airborne recruits in training.[8]

text: The film's large set-piece battle is loosely based on the Battle of Nam Dong on 5–6 July 1964 when two Viet Cong battalions and the PAVN attacked a CIDG camp at Nam Dong near the Laotian border in  South Vietnam's Central Highlands. For five hours, a mixed force of Americans, Australians and South Vietnamese troops fought off a force three times its size. The movie camp set, which was constructed on an isolated hill within Fort Benning, had barbed wire trenches, punji sticks, sandbagged bunkers, mortar pits, towers, support buildings and hooches. Several tons of dynamite and black powder were then used to largely destroy the set during the filming of the battle sequence.[8] Other realistic "Vietnamese village" sets were left intact after the shooting ended so they could be reused by the Army for training troops destined for South East Asia.

text: Music[edit]

text: The original choice for scoring the film, Elmer Bernstein, a friend and frequent collaborator with John Wayne, turned the assignment down due to his political beliefs. As a second choice, the producers contacted Miklós Rózsa then in Rome.  When asked to do The Green Berets for John Wayne, Rózsa replied: "I don't do Westerns". Rozsa was told "It's not a Western, it's an 'Eastern'".[13] As a title song, the producers used a Ken Darby choral arrangement of Barry Sadler's hit song  Ballad of the Green Berets. Rozsa provided a strong and varied musical score including a night club vocal by a Vietnamese singer Bạch Yến;[14] however, bits of Onward Christian Soldiers were deleted from the final film.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: Upon its cinema release, movie critic Roger Ebert gave it zero stars and cited extensive use of cliches, depicting the war in terms of "cowboys and Indians", and being a "heavy-handed, remarkably old-fashioned film."[3] It is on his "Most Hated" list. Reviewing for The New York Times, Renata Adler wrote, "The Green Berets is a film so unspeakable, so stupid, so rotten and false in every detail that it passes through being fun, through being funny, through being camp, through everything and becomes an invitation to grieve, not for our soldiers or for Vietnam (the film could not be more false or do a greater disservice to either of them), but for what has happened to the fantasy-making apparatus in this country."[4] The screenplay for Oliver Stone's anti-war film Platoon was written partially as a reaction to The Green Berets.[15] It is mocked in the Gustav Hasford novel The Short-Timers in a scene where Joker and Rafter Man find the Lusthog Squad watching it at a movie theater. "The audience of Marines roars with laughter. This is the funniest movie we have seen in a long time."[16]

text: The journalist John Pilger, a strong critic of American foreign policy, described his reaction to The Green Berets in a 2007 speech he gave criticising the media for its coverage of the Vietnam war. "I had just come back from Vietnam, and I couldn’t believe how absurd this movie was. So I laughed out loud, and I laughed and laughed. And it wasn’t long before the atmosphere around me grew very cold. My companion, who had been a Freedom Rider in the South, said, 'Let’s get the hell out of here and run like hell.'"[17]

text: Film commentator Emanuel Levy noted in his review that Wayne was not attempting to promote the cause of the Vietnam War as much as he was trying to portray the Special Forces in their unique role in the military: "Wayne said his motive was to glorify American soldiers as the finest fighting men 'without going into why we are there, or if they should be there.' His 'compulsion' to do the movie was based on his pride of the Special Forces, determined to show 'what a magnificent job this still little-known branch of service is doing.' ... 'I wasn't trying to send a message out to anybody,' he reasoned, 'or debating whether it is right or wrong for the United States to be in this war.'"

text: Levy also notes that Wayne acknowledged war is generally not popular, but the soldiers are in a role of sacrifice – often against their personal will or judgment. Levy quotes Wayne: "What war was ever popular for God's sake? Those men don't want to be in Vietnam any more than anyone else. Once you go over there, you won't be middle-of-the-road."[18]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Despite the poor reviews, and despite being protested and picketed in the United States and abroad[19][20], it went on to be a commercial success, which Wayne attributed in part to the negative reviews from the press, which he saw as representing criticism of the war, rather than the film.[21]

text: "The critics overkilled me, the picture and the war," said Wayne. "As a result, so many people went to see it that I had a check from the distributors for $8 million within three months. That's the cost of the picture, so we moved into profit the next day."[22] The Green Berets earned rentals of $8.7 million in North America during 1968.[23]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

text:
2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
Col. Mike Kirby: "Out here, due process is a bullet." — Nominated[24]