The Mighty Ducks might never have made it to the screen if weren't for Wayne Gretzky's
trade to the LA Kings in 1988, a move that sparked an increased interest in ice hockey
throughout Los Angeles — and didn't go unnoticed by Hollywood execs.
Steven Brill's script about a down-and-out lawyer taking over a useless pee-wee team
was picked up by Disney, and the Mouse House quickly set about preparing sequels after
the box office success of the 1992 original.
Coach Gordon Bombay and his ragtag roster of players triple-deked their way into pop
culture history.
"Ducks never say die.
Ever seen a duck fight?
No way.
Why?
'Cause the other animals are afraid"
But you can't play pee-wee forever, and Bombay's ducklings are now all grown up — and not
all of them found Hollywood success after leaving the nest.
Emilio Estevez
The role of Gordon Bombay allowed Emilio Estevez to shake off the Brat Pack tag he carried
throughout the '80s.
He'd already attempted to move away from coming-of-age dramedies with his turn as Billy the Kid in
the Young Guns movies, though Bombay was his first real grown-up character.
He carried on acting into the late '90s and early '00s, but now spends much of his time
writing and directing.
He still holds Gordon Bombay close to his heart, however, which he proved in 2015 when
he live-tweeted support for the Anaheim Ducks during their playoff showdown with the Chicago
Blackhawks.
Joshua Jackson
The part of championship-winning penalty scorer Charlie Conway was originally supposed to
be played by a young Jake Gyllenhaal, who was offered the part on the back of his performance
as Billy Crystal's son 1991's City Slickers.
Joshua Jackson stepped in when Jake couldn't take it, which kickstarted a career that's
grown to include five-season stints on Dawson's Creek and Fringe.
Jackson made his transition from movies to TV after taking his final bow as Charlie in
1996's Mighty Ducks threequel, D3, and he remains a man of the small screen today, starring
in Showtime's The Affair.
Elden Henson
It's hard to believe Matt Murdock's loveable sidekick Foggy Nelson is the same guy that
played hulking enforcer Fulton Reed.
Elden Henson made his first appearance in The Mighty Ducks when members of the team
were cornered by players from their rival team the Hawks, dispatching the bullies with
ease.
Henson went on to be a key member of the team and the cast over the course of the three
movies.
But when the Ducks disbanded, he struggled to make an impact in the show biz industry,
resorting to supporting parts in such films as The Butterfly Effect.
Henson's fortunes have a taken a turn for the better over recent years — not only
on the big screen, when he played the part of Pollux in the two-part Hunger Games finale,
but on television, too.
He's portrayed well-meaning lawyer Foggy in Netflix's Daredevil, as well as in the team-up
series The Defenders.
Shaun Weiss
Before making his film debut in The Mighty Ducks, Shaun Weiss worked on several TV shows,
including an early appearance on The Cosby Show.
By 1992, he'd grown into a big-boned 14-year-old and was considered a perfect fit for the role
of goalie Greg Goldberg.
"Ah I smell something."
"Goldberg!"
He went on to portray the flatulent goalie in the Ducks sequels, taking time off between
them to star in early Ben Stiller comedy Heavyweights, a film that went on to amass a cult following
of its own.
Weiss saw the '90s out with a four-episode stint on Judd Apatow's Freaks and Geeks — though
the next decade wasn't kind to him, with his most significant appearance in a feature film
coming as the unnamed bus driver in 2008's Drillbit Taylor.
Matt Doherty
After taking the part of Lester Averman in the Mighty Ducks movies, Matt Doherty got
another '90s classic on his resume in So I Married an Axe Murderer.
As he approached adulthood, roles started to dry up for Doherty, and he walked the tightrope
between supporting actor and extra.
In recent years, he's turned to TV movies and found some success on the sci-fi small
screen scene.
Garette Henson
This young star got off to a flying start with his movie career, appearing in ten feature
films over a six-year period.
He made his bow in Arachnophobia, for example, but Garette Henson is perhaps best remembered
as Guy Germaine from The Mighty Ducks movies.
While he admits to enjoying a chat about the Ducks today, being associated with the films
started to wear thin towards the end of the decade.
He ultimately stepped away from acting to pursue college and made a brief return to
the biz in 2007 when he played a prisoner in The Mannsfield 12.
He's now busy working behind the lens.
Danny Tamberelli
Italian-American actor and musician Danny Tamberelli played the role of defenseman Tommy
Duncan in The Mighty Ducks, though he didn't return for either of the sequels.
Instead, Tamberelli opted to take on the role of Little Pete Wrigley in Nickelodeon's The
Adventures of Pete and Pete, the role that he's still best remembered for.
The kids' network added him to the cast of their slimy game show Figure It Out and their
live sketch comedy All That in the late '90s, though he departed from Nickelodeon at the
turn of the millennium and transitioned into voice work, music, and comedy.
Nowadays Tamberelli fronts Brooklyn-based rock band Jounce.
Jussie Smollett
Justin "Jussie" Smollett recently pulled off a comeback worthy of the Mighty Ducks, turning
his fading career around and putting himself firmly back on the Hollywood map.
Smollett appeared in the first Ducks movie but didn't reprise the role of Terry Hall
in either sequel, and it wasn't until the 2010s, when landed a career-making role in
Fox's hit series Empire that things got back on track.
Thanks to his compelling work on the celebrated series, Ridley Scott cast him in his Prometheus
sequel Alien: Covenant and he's well on his way to the top.
Vincent Larusso
When we first meet Adam Banks in The Mighty Ducks, he's the star player for the Ducks'
rival team, who had to change squads due to his fudged home address.
He was an unlikely hero for the Ducks in the end, and Vincent Larusso portrayed Banks in
all three Mighty Ducks movies.
Larusso made a brief and unexpected return to the big screen when he portrayed the bank
robber in the 2008 spoof Superhero Movie, though that remains his last credit of any
note.
Today, the former Duck works as an inventory controller for the hospitality chain Soho
House.
Brandon Adams
Otherwise known as Jesse Hall in the first two Mighty Ducks movies, Brandon Adams was
exposed to the world of acting as a toddler when he appeared in a number of commercials.
But his big break came when he was cast as Zeke "Baby Bad" Michael in Michael Jackson's
Moonwalker.
He went on to work with Wes Craven in The People Under the Stairs before nabbing the
Mighty Ducks role.
Adams always had one foot in film while the other remained in television, however, and
he started to lean more heavily on the latter as his career progressed.
He has some genuine '90s classics to his name, including The Sandlot.
Marguerite Moreau
As Connie in The Mighty Ducks, Marguerite Moreau may have inspired a lot of young girls
to break down gender norms and hit the ice.
The actress seemed to grow up pretty quickly after the Mighty Ducks trilogy ended in 1996,
appearing as camp counselor Katie in Wet Hot American Summer a short five years later.
A major role in Queen of the Damned followed soon after.
But while she continued to make regular movie appearances throughout the '00s, the parts
she was offered became increasingly unfulfilling and she turned her attention to television.
Moreau has plied her trade in small-screen classics such as Smallville, Parenthood, and
Mad Men and also reprised the role of Katie in 2015 when she reunited with her Wet Hot
American Summer castmates for Netflix's prequel series First Day of Camp.
J.D. Daniels
Even though he was a prolific child actor in the 1990s, J.D. Daniels did not come back
to reprise the role of Peter Mark in either of the Mighty Ducks sequels and instead went
on to win a number of new roles across a variety of genres.
Like some of his Ducks colleagues, Daniels moved into voiceover work, and although he
hasn't notched up an acting credit in almost a decade, Daniels remains active in the industry,
currently working for the Actors' Equity Association.
Aaron Schwartz
Practically unrecognizable today, the broad and bearded Aaron Schwartz has come a long
way since playing chubby prankster Dave Karp in the first Mighty Ducks.
He joined up with fellow Duck Danny Tamberelli for an eight-episode stint on The Adventures
of Pete and Pete, then teamed up with another former castmate, Shaun Weiss, for Judd Apatow's
Heavyweights.
When the formerly heavyset Schwartz reappeared after a 15-year absence from the industry
in the CW's Gossip Girl, he'd grown into a primetime-worthy hunk.
He'll join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2017 when he takes on the role of Young Ego
in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, a younger version of Kurt Russell's character.
"Just when you think they're about to break apart, ducks fly together!"
"Ducks, ducks, ducks, ducks!"
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