BSP 2014 Advent Calendar: Day 23

Welcome to Day 23 of Bam Smack Pow’s 2014 Advent Calendar! Only two more days left until Christmas, and that means two more superhero films will be mined for trivia. For Day 23, we give you …

The Mask (1994)

If you thought the first time we saw Loki in a movie was in Thor (2011), guess again. Okay, so I’m cheating a bit because The Mask doesn’t exist within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it was still worth a try. Based on Dark Horse Comics’ series of the same name, The Mask was well-received by critics and audiences. Special props were given to Jim Carrey’s lighthearted and joyous performance as underdog Stanley Ipkiss, who, after putting on a magical mask modeled after Loki’s visage, becomes a green-skinned crime-fighting prankster who’s able to manipulate reality. The film became a box-office sensation earning a total of over $350 million, with over $119 million of that attributed to domestic sales.

The Mask was directed by Chuck Russell, written by Mike Werb from a story by Michael Fallon and Mark Verheiden, and starred Jim Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss / The Mask, Cameron Diaz as Tina Carlyle, Peter Greene as Dorian Tyrell, Richard Jeni as Charlie Schumaker, Peter Riegert as Lt. Mitch Kellaway, Jim Doughan as Det. Doyle, Amy Yasbeck as Peggy Brandt, Orestes Matacena as Niko, Nancy Fish as Mrs. Peenman, Tim Bagley as Irv Ripley, Johnny Williams as Burt Ripley, Reginald E. Cathey as Freeze, Denis Forest as Sweet Eddy, Ivory Ocean as Mayor Mitchell Tilton, Joely Fisher as Maggie, Ben Stein as Dr. Arthur Neuman, Jeremy Roberts as Bobby the Bouncer, and Nils Allen Stewart as Orlando.

Trivia

The casting of Jim Carrey almost eradicated the need for visual effects. Due to Carrey’s ability to move his body and contort his face in extreme ways, the filmmakers saw no real need for CGI.
The giant comedic teeth on the Mask was originally intended for non-talking silent scenes, but Jim Carrey learned how to perform his dialogue with the teeth in place. By doing this, Carrey was able to up the silliness factor of his character.
Jim Carrey wanted to do The Mask because of the character of Stanley Ipkiss. Like the character he plays, Carrey is a huge cartoon fanatic.
Jim Carrey based the character of Stanly Ipkiss on his father.
Jim Carrey signed on to do The Mask before Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) became a hit. With Carrey’s salary being only $450,000 for The Mask, New Line Cinema got a great bargain and a great investment. The next deal Carrey signed was for $7 million for Dumb and Dumber (1994).
On the DVD, two deleted scenes are included:
- An opening scene showing a past event where Vikings come to bury the Mask on the shore.
- As Peggy asks Dorian Tyrell for a reward in successfully helping to catch Stanley, she’s picked up by Dorian and thrown into a printing press. The resulting newspapers show Peggy’s smashed face and a headline reading that she died last night. This scene was deleted because the filmmakers intended to make a sequel and wanted to bring back the character of Peggy.
The Mask’s bright yellow zoot suit was based on a suit that Jim Carrey’s mother made for him when he was starting out in stand-up.
When Stanley Ipkiss is chased by gangsters and pulls a wet condom out of a pocket and says, “Sorry, wrong pocket!”, the audience is witnessing a completely improvised scene by Jim Carrey.
When Milo the dog wouldn’t let go of the frisbee during the money hiding scene, Jim Carrey ad-libbed Stanley Ipkisss annoyance. In the scene where Milo tries and fails to climb up a wall to help Ipkiss get out of jail, Jim Carrey ad-libbed Ipkiss’s frustrations.
The original screenplay for The Mask actually mirrored the comics in tone, which were much darker. In order to showcase Jim Carrey’s comedic talents, the screenplay was changed and lightened up.
There were plans to make The Mask II, but Jim Carrey declined to reprise his role. A sequel was eventually made and released called Son of the Mask (2005), and it starred Jaime Kennedy in the lead role.
The unmade sequel’s plot involved Dorian Tyrell returning, with the protagonist who wears the mask being a female. This would’ve followed the original comic books closely.
This was Cameron Diaz’s first film role.
Cameron Diaz auditioned twelve times for the part of Tina Carlyle. She finally won the part seven days before filming was to start.
When Cameron Diaz’s character Tina Carlyle sings, it’s the voice of Susan Boyd.
Anna Nicole Smith was originally considered for the role of Tina Carlyle. The filmmakers ended up choosing Cameron Diaz when they saw her leaving a modeling agency.
Gary Kemp turned down the role of the film’s main antagonist, Dorian Tyrell.
Chris Elliot was originally considered for the role of Steady Eddy.
When Stanley Ipkiss initially transforms into the Mask, there is back lit image of his skeleton among the lightening strikes. The image only lasts for one-tenth of a second.
All of the Mask’s mannerisms and actions are based on the cartoons that Stanley Ipkiss loves. These are the ones that are seen on television in Ipkiss’s apartment — the Tasmanian Devil, Pepe Le Pew, Bugs Bunny, and Tex Avery’s Wolf.
When the police surround the Mask in the park and he asks, “Where’s a camcorder when you need one.”, he’s referencing the Rodney King beating, which is the first time a personal recording device captured police brutaltiy.
The Coco Bongo nightclub name also appears in another Jim Carrey movie, The Majestic (2001). Carrey actually owns a nightclub by this name in Cancun, Mexico.

Make sure to come back each day because we still have two more days worth of superhero film trivia for you!

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A special thanks to Eric Dufresne for his amazing geometric superhero art that’s being used as the background for the advent calendar.

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