Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Kenny Ortega was the choreographer and second unit director in the 1986 John Hughes directed teen movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
The film is about high school senior Ferris Bueller (played by Matthew Broderick), who decides to skip school by making the entire school think he’s on the verge of death. Accompanied by his girlfriend Sloane Peterson (played by Mia Sara) and his best friend Cameron Frye (played by Alan Ruck), he creatively avoids his school’s Dean of Students Edward Rooney (played by Jeffrey Jones), his resentful sister Jeanie (played by Jennifer Grey), and his parents (played by Lyman Ward and Cindy Pickett), by stealing Cameron’s father’s Ferrari and joyriding around Chicago, having the time of his life.
One of Bueller’s antics while in Chicago is taking part in the Von Steuben Day Parade, lip-syncing to “Danke Schoen” and The Beatles’ version of “Twist and Shout.” This scene particularly was the doing of Kenny Ortega’s choreography and stage direction, and is so widely acclaimed that there has been attempts to recreate it in New York City by a group of fans, called Project Bueller.
Accolades:
- Number 10 on Entertainment Weekly’s list of the “50 Best High School Movies”
- #54 on Bravo’s “100 Funniest Movies”
- #26 in the British 50 Greatest Comedy Films poll
- 2000 Total Film magazine: 23rd Greatest Comedy Film of All Time
- 2005 Empire Magazine: Number One Teen Film of All Time
Reviews:
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off on Internet Movie Database
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off on Wikipedia
