Did you hear Wednesday, October 21, 2015 was the day Marty McFly leapt into the future in 1989’s Back to the Future, Part II?
Yes, “Back to the Future Day” is also the day a beloved film from the ’80s took over American popular culture. It seemed every morning radio show was talking about the film and its depiction of today. Numerous websites wrote thinkpieces, many of which went over the film’s predictions of the future, analyzing what it got right and what it didn’t. Screenings and events were also held in various cities, with the DeLorean showing up in dozens of places. Meanwhile, many brands tailored their tweets around the commemoration.
Clearly, there was a lot going on to mark the occasion. Here are a few highlights of Back to the Future Day:
The Today Show
The three main actors from the trilogy, Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, and Lea Thompson, appeared together on the Today Show, telling stories from the set:
Toyota Commercial
It has ben out for awhile, but the Toyota commercial featuring Fox and Lloyd was certainly worth a look today.
Self-Lacing Nike Shoes
On the YouTube channel of the Michael J. Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research, Fox tried on the first-ever self-lacing Nike shoes:
The Nike shoes are real, coming in 2016, announced today on their official site. President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Parker:
“We started creating something for fiction and we turned it into fact, inventing a new technology that will benefit all athletes… By imagining the future, we create it. Product that comes alive, with on-demand comfort and support when you need, product that senses you and adapts to you is right around the corner.”
Cable & Deadpool
Marvel released their January 2016 solicitations/previews today and among them was artist Reilly Brown’s cover for “Deadpool and Cable: Split Second” #2 which featured the pair posing appropriately in Marty and Doc Brown fashion.
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Now, we can only go back. https://bit.ly/1W5nBiePosted by Marvel on Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Social Media
- President Obama marked the occasion by wishing Michael J. Fox a happy ‘Back to the Future Day’:
Happy Back to the Future Day, @RealMikeFox! Ever think about the fact that we live in the future we dreamed of then? That’s heavy, man.— President Obama (@POTUS) October 21, 2015
- USA Today recreated the front page from the movie:
Will Marty McFly save his future son today? Find out in tomorrow’s newspaper. #BackToTheFuture pic.twitter.com/JETKVZSJhg— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) October 21, 2015
- As pointed out by our Rob Keyes, Microsoft is using a DeLorean graphic to promote its new Hololens technology:
Go to this @Microsoft site and type in “OUTATIME” https://t.co/2zvBBDV9KN #BackToTheFuture— Rob Keyes (@rob_keyes) October 21, 2015
- After months of jokes by those who noticed the Back to the Future Part II alternate version of Biff Tannen’s resemblance to Donald Trump, screenwriter Bob Gale confirmed in an interview with The Daily Beast that that version of Biff was indeed based at least in part on Trump. Of course, Doc Brown resembles a different contemporary presidential candidate:
Are Bernie Sanders and Doc Brown the same person? https://t.co/5gi5PoqdZj pic.twitter.com/S5foNdeSNB— Mashable (@mashable) October 22, 2015
Everywhere Else
- Biff himself, Thomas F. Wilson, said in an interview earlier this week with THR that he was inspired by bullies he’s faced as a youth in developing the Biff character.
- According to Time.com, the Canadian government issued a “recall” of the DeLorean, because “a defect in the flux capacitor could lead to inability to travel through time while travelling at 88 miles per hour.”
- The man behind the trilogy’s music, Huey Lewis, gave a new interview to People about ‘The Power of Love’ and the other songs.
- Matt Zoller Seitz wrote a terrific essay at Rogerebert.com, in which he pointed out that yes, the entire timeline of Back to the Future is now in the past.
- With the Cubs losing Game 4 of the National League Championship Series 6-1 (as of this writing) and facing elimination, it’s not looking like the “Cubs winning the World Series” part of the movie is going to come true, at least not this year. But if you’ve got access to a Gray’s Sports Almanac from the future, you already knew that.
- Will we ever see a Back to the Future 4? Lloyd said earlier this week that he’s open to a sequel. However, there’s no sign that such a thing is in any kind of active development. Meanwhile, director Robert Zemeckis has long maintained that he and Gale will never allow a remake as long as either of them are alive.
- Uber, in London, offered rides in a DeLorean, Time Out London reported.
- And finally, Screen Junkies put out a new Honest Trailer:
How did you spend Back to the Future Day? Sound off in the comments below and let us know!
Sources: Nike
