Five Fun Facts About The Cheech & Chong Movies
Since 420 is upon us, we’re blowing plums of smoke and dishing out five fun facts about cinema’s greatest stoner comedy duo, Cheech & Chong.
Cheech & Chong nearly starred in a sequel to Friday the 13th.
It’s true! Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives director Tom McLoughlin mentioned in an interview that he pitched a Friday the 13th sequel back in the day that would have pitted the stoner duo against Jason Voorhees. McLoughlin dreamt up the idea because Paramount Pictures owned the the two properties — and because producer Frank Mancuso Jr. vetoed his idea to have Jason face Freddy Krueger (because they did not own it).
“I said, ‘You know what? You guys own Cheech and Chong. What if we do Cheech and Chong-meets-Jason? They’re like camp counselors or something. It’s like, ‘Hey, man, I saw Jason out there.’ ‘No, man, that’s a myth.’ But [Mancuso Jr.] said, ‘You know what? No.’”
Little is known about the premise McLoughlin had cooking for the plot, but it seems like a stoner version of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, which we’d totally still love to see — if any cinema gods are listening.
The Jack Nicholson connection to Up In Smoke.
The ‘67 Volkswagen Beetle that Tommy Chong drives at the beginning of Up In Smoke was actually owned by Jack Nicholson (which he can be seen taking for a joy ride above).
Producer Lou Adler screened a cut of the film privately for Mr. Nicholson, who had just been involved in a car accident resulting in a dislocated shoulder. It’s unclear if Nicholson was driving the Volks or not, but nonetheless, the screening proved to be extremely painful for him; his shoulder hurt every time he laughed, and well, the film was so hilarious, he laugh often.
Cheech & Chong’s “MUF DVR” license plate belonged to a cop.
The “MUF DVR” license is now iconic thanks to Up In Smoke, but it’s a joke that doesn’t exactly originate from Cheech or Chong… It actually belonged to an LAPD officer at the time the film was being shot — how ‘bout that for irony.
Pee Wee Herman first appeared in Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie.
Yup, that’s right, Next Movie was the feature film debut of Paul Reubens as Pee Wee Herman.
Apparently, according to Tommy Chong, Next Movie made a bigger haul on its second run as a double-bill with John Landis’ The Blues Brothers, which also came out in 1980, than it did on its initial release. Coincidentally, Paul Reubens appears in both films.
Reubens also appears in Nice Dreams as “The Hamburger Man.”
Nice Dreams was initially going to have Cheech & Chong play landscapers — and apparently the script was only 3.5 pages long.
The concept for Nice Dreams initially formed when Cheech & Chong spotted a very distinctive prop truck, which they decided to build a film around. At first, they envisioned the truck as a gardener’s vehicle, and an early version of the script had the duo as landscapers who secretly grew marijuana all over the greater Los Angeles area. However, as the idea evolved, the truck underwent a metamorphosis, eventually becoming the shiny ice cream truck with the giant clown face we know today.
While the script for the film was purportedly only three and half pages, the entire film was tightly storyboarded, with the physical characteristics of each sequence carefully pre-planned. Chong said: "We rely on the storyboards to keep the plot flowing".
As to the length of the script, Cheech had this to say: "I'll tell the real reason [the script was 3 ½ pages]. It's because of the expressions on people's faces. When we turn in a 3 ½ page screenplay, they blanch. Which is a pretty color you don't see a lot of lately."
It’s hard to tell what a joke or not, but you gotta love Cheech & Chong for being wholly committed to the gag.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!