There are times when I see what we’ve got coming up in our crate assortments that makes me squeal with delight. This time around, April is giving me The Karate Kid in Loot Crate DX and so I leaped at the chance to talk trivia! Follow me, Looter-sans!
1. The fly our beloved Daniel is attempting to catch with chopsticks? It was attached with fishing line and swung about to make it easier. However, Pat Morita said that Ralph Macchio did get so good at it that he DID catch a fly without the help at one point, albeit not on film.
2. There’s quite a few sons of earlier stars in the original Karate Kid. Steve McQueen’s son Chad McQueen plays Dutch, one of the Cobra Kais; and Frankie Avalon’s son Frank Burt Avalon plays Chucky, the kid that brings Daniel to the beach for party time!
3. Elisabeth Shue was so positive that The Karate Kid would be a hit that would afford her more time and income that she put off half a year at Harvard to complete the film.
(Columbia Pictures)
4. That bonsai patch and logo that appears on Daniel’s gi was actually designed and drawn by Pat Morita. Mr. Miyagi always was a man of many talents, right?
5. While this trivia is more about the first Karate Kid, it was too good to pass up!: Peter Cetera’s “The Glory of Love” was actually meant to be in Rocky 4 and not The Karate Kid 2 but it was rejected for Rocky Balboa’s bout with Ivan Drago. It went on to get an Oscar nomination for its inclusion on the KK2 soundtrack.
6. In an interview with Pat Morita, he once stated that he’s credited as Noriyuki ‘Pat’ Morita because producers felt it would boost his heritage with critics and fans. Little did they know, he didn’t need any help. He was Pat freaking Morita!
(Columbia Pictures)
7. That red jacket that William Zabka sports during The Karate Kid? Don’t think he let that prop go! He still has it to this day and even resurfaced with it in the YouTube Original show Cobra Kai.
8. There was a Karate Kid title before the film and it belonged to, no joke, DC Comics. A character existed named Karate Kid and Columbia Pictures had to get permission to use the name in order for their films which DC gladly gave. I mean, they weren’t using him so, why not?
9. Charlie Sheen was approached to play Daniel LaRusso but turned it down as he felt it would hurt his image to play an underdog that early on in his feature career. Was he right? Hrm.
(Columbia Pictures)
10. It’s not common that a movie is shot as it appears in the script. In fact, it’s really quite rare. However, The Karate Kid was shot within proper sequence as it was written which is just nuts!
