Disney's Sky High is a charming superhero movie about growing up, getting through high
school, and saving the world. If you only ever watched it as a kid, however, you're
missing a lot of the movie's best puns, details, and dynamics. These are the parts of Sky High
only the grown-ups get.
Sky High's protagonist, Will Stronghold, has multiple Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny
posters on his wall. This R-rated 2006 stoner comedy focuses on a pair of slackers on a
quest to become the greatest band of all time - not exactly the kind of thing the kids watching
the PG-rated Sky High would tend to notice. But that's not the only interesting bit of
memorabilia in Will's room. He also has a poster of the Aquabats, a celebrated real-world
superhero rock band, known best for their costumes and sense of fun. Not only does that
put Will's tastes in line with the coolest nerds of the '90s; it works in-universe - perhaps
the Aquabats are actually superheroes in the world of Sky High?
Beyond this, Will has sketches, a lot of space-themed window stickers and posters, and even a guitar
leaning up against the wall, behind a weight training bench. At a normal high school, he
probably would have actually been cool, with or without superpowers.
Layla's pacifist attitude is a common theme throughout the movie. She even refuses to
show off her plant-based powers, because doing so violates her principles: She thinks a person's
powers should only be used when the situation demands it. Does she live up to this code?
Well, not really. Layla uses her abilities to give her crush an apple and make a flower
at a restaurant table wilt. Not exactly high-stakes moments of life and death.
So perhaps it's not surprising that she seems to be violating her own principles when she's
seen sporting a leather bag. Not many kids notice Layla's bag, or the other inconsistencies
in her philosophy, but adults will catch on quickly. Of course, adults also understand
that the teenage years are the age at which one learns that principles are complicated.
Layla's figuring out her own values, and how best to carry them out. Still, someone should
probably tell this girl about the wide world of fake leather goods.
Does Principal Powers look familiar? Kids look at her and see any other grown-up, but
adults will likely notice something familiar in her face. That's because she's played by
the one and only Lynda Carter, who portrayed the titular heroine of the 1970s Wonder Woman
TV series.
This reference was actually meant to be more overt, but copyright got in the way. Originally,
the plan was for Principal Powers to sport a pair of gold bracelets, referencing Wonder
Woman's legendary bullet-deflection accessories. Unfortunately, Warner Brothers, the owners
of the Wonder Woman copyright, objected. Thus, the bracelets were banished. But as Sky High
fans know, this doesn't mean there were no nods to Carter's Amazonian history in the
film.
"I'm not Wonder Woman, you know."
While kids likely will just consider this a throwaway line, every grown-up in the audience
will get a chuckle out of the reference. Additionally, Nurse Spex is played by Cloris Leachman, who
played Wonder Woman's mother in the same show.
Like any school, Sky High is a learning institution full of teens forming their first political
opinions. The nuance of this dynamic most likely escapes kids, but adults catch every
single line. Take this exchange, in response to the students learning about how they'll
be sorted into the school hierarchy:
"Power placement?"
"Sounds fascist."
Layla might be a little dramatic, but she's not wrong - this school runs on the kids on
the hero track being separated from those destined for "hero support," otherwise known
as sidekick status. Speaking of sidekicks, a running joke revolves around the preferred
terminology for less powered individuals, which any adult can recognize as reminiscent
of many real-world debates.
"I believe the preferred term is 'hero support."
Then there's the scene where Josie and Steve try to work out their schedules, and Josie
mentions a particularly amusing upcoming appointment about a government agency many people find
particularly evil.
"When are we briefing the president on the supervillain infiltration of the IRS?"
There is perhaps no joke that flies higher over kids' heads than this one, but their
parents get a good chuckle out of it. Figuring out one's taxes can certainly feel like being
ensnared in some supervillain's scheme.
Sky High is jam-packed with puns and allusions to idioms and media that few kids will notice.
At most, kids might catch the oxymoron in Warren Peace's name, but not know the classic
work of literature by Leo Tolstoy it is based on. His name also refers to the conflicting
nature of his parentage: His mother is a superhero, and his father is a villain. It's punny as
well as thematically resonant.
Adults may also catch a sly reference to another well-known Kurt Russell role. After taking
a distress call, the Commander dramatically informs Jetstream that there is trouble downtown,
then repeats himself.
"Big trouble. Downtown."
This is a clever nod to 1986's Big Trouble in Little China, which starred Russell as
a tough trucker battling an ancient sorcerer.
Meanwhile, while Gwen Grayson is the main villain of Sky High, her name contains references
to some pretty heroic comic book characters. Gwen Stacy is well known for being Peter Parker's
tragic girlfriend and, more recently, as the web-slinging Spider-Gwen. And Dick Grayson
was the real name of Batman's sidekick Robin, who eventually became Nightwing.
Gwen's role in Sky High can be interpreted as a hybrid of these two characters. Robin,
the original sidekick, has often been the butt of cultural jokes. Gwen's vengeance and
villainy take root in the fact that she is unappreciated and misunderstood is a similar
way. On the flip side, Gwen Stacy began as the ultimate dream girl for Spider-Man fans
to idealize. But both she, and Sky High's Gwen Grayson, are more than they seem.
The cast of Sky High is chock-full of comedy and sci-fi stars, but one of the most recognizable
cameos is also uniquely invisible to most kids: Tom Kenny, the voice of Spongebob Squarepants,
and Jill Talley, the voice of Karen, Plankton's computerized wife, from the iconic Nickelodeon
cartoon. The actors, who are married in real life, appear briefly as Mr. and Mrs. Timmerman.
Kids won't tie the couple to their animated characters, but adults are a lot likelier
to recognize the familiar voice actors. After the Timmermans purchase a home from the Strongholds
early in the movie, they move in and comment,
"All unpacked, and the movers didn't break a thing. Told you we didn't need that extra
insurance."
Of course, little do they know that they're moments away from a floating school falling
out of the sky and smashing their house to smithereens. Fortunately, Will and his friends
save their new home just in the nick of time.
If you look closely, the costumes in Sky High play a subtle role in both foreshadowing future
events and misleading the audience. For example, Lash's stretchy sleeves are reminiscent of
a striped prison uniform, perhaps foreshadowing his eventual reveal as a villainous character.
Then there's Gwen Grayson's pink color scheme. The traditionally feminine color stands in
stark contrast to the fact that her supervillain persona, Royal Pain, is always assumed to
be male. It's also an interesting color choice considering that Gwen's former identity, Sue
Tenny, blended into the background as a geek. Her superpowers were poorly understood at
the time, resulting in alienation from her classmates. A bold color like bright pink
isn't one you'd likely associate with a supervillain, or a mild-mannered wallflower - which makes
her reveal as Gwen, and her ultimate plan, all the more surprising.
The soundtrack of Sky High is full of hits only adults will recognize. Tears for Fears'
1985 classic "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" starts the film off strong. Other hits
include "Can't Stop the World" released by the Go-Gos in 1981, the Smiths' 1984 song
"Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want," and "Just What I Needed" by the Cars,
which came out in 1978.
This soundtrack represents the many cues Sky High takes from '80s media. Fans of The Breakfast
Club, which came out in 1985, will recognize the familiar archetypes recalled by Sky High's
characters. Warren mirrors the brooding bad boy John Bender. Magenta calls back to the
withdrawn Allison Reynolds. Zach, the goofy geek, reflects the character of Brian Johnson.
Claire Standish is the principled Layla. And Will is characterized by the same defining
athleticism as Andrew Clark.
Just before everything goes sideways, Mr. Boy, the Hero Support teacher, has the following
exchange with Layla at the refreshment table of the homecoming dance.
"You look like you could use a drink!"
"No thanks."
"Oh don't worry, the bubbles are just ginger ale."
He seems to be under the bizarre impression that Layla would think he's blithely offering
alcohol to children. Beyond earning a laugh from the adult audience, this moment drives
home that Sky High's central teenage characters may be a little more savvy and self-aware
than the adults around them. Whether or not these dynamics are actually true in high school
is up for debate, but grown-up viewers will likely remember the teenage feeling of thinking
that the adults in their lives were oblivious to what was really going on.
When All-American Boy comments on the importance of avoiding clashing color schemes between
heroes and sidekicks, he's taking a light jab at Batman and Robin's garb. The movie
is full of similar references to its various inspirations that only the most comics-savvy
members of the audience will get. Sky High derives its story from the long history of
superhero comics, and the film is creative enough to craft its own relationship to the
canon of the medium. Loving jokes about tropes are just one piece of that puzzle.
Sky High pokes particular fun at hero and villain origin stories, especially the difference
in experience between those who are radioactively transformed and those who inherit powers from
their parents. There is even a joke at the end that ties up the story of Ron Wilson,
the bus driver, in a charmingly goofy jab at chemical-induced superpowers:
"Oh yeah, and Ron Wilson, bus driver, fell into a vat of toxic waste. He now works for
the mayor defending the city from giant robots."
Toxic waste has been a key element in the origin stories of iconic characters ranging
from the Joker to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so it's only fitting that Sky High
would work in a nod to this bizarre method of gaining superpowers. Wilson is an unlikely
superhero, and that's the point. These superpowered stories are silly and unrealistic, and that's
why we love them.
After her evil plan is foiled by Will and his friends, Gwen grumbles in detention,
"I went through puberty twice for this?"
Younger children might hear this line and ask their parents, "What's puberty? It sounds
bad." It may set parents up for a somewhat awkward conversation, but it will also give
them a chuckle, since adults will recall all too well the discomfort and awkwardness of
puberty, Then again, as the movie's last line states,
"But hey, that's high school."
Sure, puberty sucks, but you can also develop your own sense of style during it, find a
group of friends, and learn to balance the desire to belong with the desire to be true
to yourself. Most importantly, though, you learn that there is no going back to childhood,
regardless of what Sky High says, and you're on a one-way flying bus ride to adulthood.
But somehow, we all get through it, just like Will does. Kids might not get the humor of
this line, but the movie is helping prepare them for the age at which it'll eventually
click.
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