The Mask (1994)

This is one of my favorite Jim Carrey films

Summary

-When non-descript bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss puts on a mysterious mask he found by a river, he is transformed into a manic superhero that intensifies his already manic personality

Cast

-Jim Carrey: Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask

-Cameron Diaz: Tina Carlyle

-Peter Riegert: Lt. Mitch Kellaway

-Peter Greene: Dorian

-Amy Yasbeck: Peggy Brandt

-Richard Jeni: Charlie Schumaker

-Orestes Matacena: Niko

-Nancy Fish: Mrs. Peenman

Did You Know?

-Chuck Russell, the director of the movie, said that tons of money was saved on digital effects since Jim Carrey's movements were already cartoonish. They didn't need to be digitally enhanced

-The large teeth on the mask were only supposed to be used during the silent scenes. Jim Carrey mastered how to talk with them to make it funnier

-In the scene where Jim Carrey is being chased by the gangsters and pulls out a condom out of his pocket, remarking "sorry wrong pocket" was completely improvised by Carrey

-The banana yellow suit was inspired by a suit that Jim Carrey's mother had made him when he first started doing stand up comedy

-What attracted Jim Carrey to this role is that the character, Stanley Ipkiss, is a fan of cartoons, much like Carey

-The Cuban Pete musical number was hated by producers. But when it was run against a test audience, they loved it and it stayed in the film

-When the Mask snorts a smoke arrow through the smoke heart he blows, it was all suggested by Jim Carrey

-During the scene where the police are frisking the Mask, and items are being pulled out of his pockets, they had pants cut off at the knees and prop guys were handing the items up through the bottom

-This was the first acting role for Cameron Diaz

-The film was based off a comic book of the same name by Dark Horse Comics. In the comics, The Mask would murder people with cartoon-like antics. Director Chuck Russell started off in that direction before modifying it for Jim Carrey's unique comedy style

-Referencing Stanley's love of cartoons, The Mask pays homage to several cartoons, including the Tasmanian Devil (traveling in the guise of a tornado), Pepe Le Pew (when he is romancing Tina in the park), Bugs Bunny ("dying" in the arms of a police officer), Tex Avery's Wolf (seeing Tina in the nightclub)

-In the scene where The Mask and Tina are dancing, Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz did all their own dancing

-When the police surround the Mask, he asks "Where's a camcorder when you need it?" This is a reference to the famed Rodney King incident. It was one of the first noted events where police misconduct was captured on video by private citizens on a camcorder

-Jim Carrey told director Chuck Russell he would not go home until he did the Elvis impression

-Jim Carrey took a lot of inspiration for his character from his father's friend Mike "The Mask" Petronio

-The name of the club that The Mask goes to, the Coco Bongo, is the name of an actual nightclub and entertainment spot in Cancun, Mexico. In fact, this nightclub in Mexico often does entertainment acts centered around The Mask

-After the Mask's visit to the auto shop, the sign goes from saying "Ripley's Auto Finishing" to "Rip Off", showing the mechanics as crooks

-After the success of this movie, a spin off cartoon show for kids was created in 1995

-In the scene where Dorian is forced to the ground and a golf tee is stuck in his mouth, a professional golfer was used in that scene. The scream he lets off, however, was Peter Greene's actual response

-The inside of the garage Stanley takes his car to is an old, unused fire station in Los Angeles

-The film's villain, Dorian Tyrell, was created for the film, as he didn't exist in the comics

-Anne Fletcher, director of 2009's The Proposal, had made her debut in this film as a dancing police officer during the Cuban Pete scene

-Jim Carrey as the Mask exclaims "It was not me, it was the one armed man!" This is a reference to the film The Fugitive. In that film, Harrison Ford plays Dr. Richard Kimble, a highly respected cardiovascular surgeon accused of murdering his wife when in reality, a one armed man had killed her

-A sequel to this movie was made in 2005, called Son of the Mask. But it was considered a bomb at the box office

-During the scene where Stanley sees what he thinks is a man in the river, he shouts "I know CPR!" This would be the same thing he says in the film Dumb & Dumber to a guy choking

-The car that Stanley gets from the mechanics is a Studebaker. There are two different models of this car featured in the film. The car Stanley picks up from the mechanics is a Studebaker Commander State 4-door sedan, from 1951. In the bridge scene, the car that falls apart is a Studebaker Land Cruiser from 1950. The difference is obvious in the bullet-like nose and grille

-The "Tommy Gun" that The Mask creates is an M1928 Thompson sub-machine gun. It's one of the few guns that came from the original comics. In the comics, the M1928 was the weapon frequently used by The Mask

-The dog in the film that played Milo was named Max in real life. This is also the name of the dog in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, also featuring Jim Carrey

-The limo that brings Dorian to the nightclub is a 1979 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham

-Jim Carrey as The Mask has characteristics from Looney Tunes characters Bugs Bunny with his wit and Taz with his traveling tornado spin

-This is the first film where Cameron Diaz's love interest is a green character or wears something green. The second film is the Shrek series, where she plays Princess Fiona, a princess by day and ogre by night and the main character is a green ogre

-Jack Nicholson, Willem Dafoe, Robert De Niro, Dennis Hopper, Rupert Everett were all considered for the role of Dorian

-In the scene where Freeze is dying from a police-inflicted gunshot wound and Dorian offers him a smoke, Reg E Cathey died from lung cancer 24 years after the film was released

-Jack Russell terriers can jump up to five feet. This makes Milo the perfect dog when he jumps up the wall and enters Stanley's jail cell

-The police lieutenant Mitch Kellaway in the comics and film are both different. In the comics he's compassionate and respectable while in the film he's surly and rough

-The movie and comics are radically different. In the comics, Stanley is seen as murderous and vengeful while in the movie he's seen as nice and caring

-The Mask will often be seen wearing clothes that match the color and pattern of Tina's clothes. In the park scene, The Mask wears black and white mime-like clothes just like Tina is wearing black pants and a white and black jacket (the main colors of Penelope Pussycat and Pepe Le Pew). In the nightclub scene, Tina wears a yellow gold mini dress and the Mask wears his yellow zoot suit. When The Mask rescues Tina from the bomb, the Mask wears a pinstriped Mafia suit while Tina wears a black and red vertical stripe patterned dress