10 Times 90s Cinema Tried To Reboot 60s Television (And Failed)
2. Flipper (1996)
Who doesn’t love dolphins? The Flipper TV show was a smash hit back in the ’60s, and that success was actually brought back in 1995 with an all-new series. Running for five years and four seasons until its cancelation in 2000, the show proved there was money to be made with the lovable sea mammal, so a non-related big-screen outing was released in 1996.
Instead of being shot in Australia like its television counterpart, the film decided to shoot in the Bahamas but cast Down Under’s biggest export, Crocodile Dundee himself Paul Hogan, and a post Back To The Future II/ pre Middle Earth Elijah Wood as lead lad Sandy.
Following the success of Free Willy, the ’90s were almost a time for “Anti Jaws,” films, focusing on lovable ocean beasties rather than murderous ones. This cannot be encapsulated anymore than with Flipper's tagline “It’s Finally Safe To Return To The Water.”