The Sandlot (1993)

Director:

David M. Evans

Writers (WGA):

David M. Evans (written by) &
Robert Gunter (written by)

Release Date:

7 April 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Sport

Tagline:

The adventure of a lifetime,the summer of their dreams...the dog of their nightmares

Plot:

Scotty Smalls moves to a new neighborhood with his mom and stepdad, and wants to learn to play baseball...

Plot Keywords:

Baseball | Dog | Treehouse | Team | Fence

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Tom Guiry	...	Scotty Smalls
Mike Vitar	...	Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez
Patrick Renna	...	Hamilton 'Ham' Porter
Chauncey Leopardi	...	Michael 'Squints' Palledorous
Marty York	...	Alan 'Yeah-Yeah' McClennan
Brandon Quintin Adams	...	Kenny DeNunez (as Brandon Adams)
Grant Gelt	...	Bertram Grover Weeks
Shane Obedzinski	...	Tommy 'Repeat' Timmons
Victor DiMattia	...	Timmy Timmons
Denis Leary	...	Bill
Karen Allen	...	Mom
James Earl Jones	...	Mr. Mertle
Marley Shelton	...	Wendy (as Marlee Shelton)
Herb Muller	...	Young Mr. Mertle
Daniel Zacapa	...	Police Chief (as Garret Pearson)

Also Known As:

The Sandlot Kids (Australia) (UK)
Herkules und die Sandlot-Kids (Germany) [de]
Historias de un verano (Spain) [es]
I ragazzi vincenti (Italy) [it]
Le gang des champions (France) [fr]
Le petit champ (Canada: French title) [fr]
Nuestra pandilla (Argentina) [es]
Pelikentän taika (Finland) [fi]
Se Brincar O Bicho Morde (Brazil) [pt]
Takapihan tykki (Finland) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated PG for some language and kids chewing tobacco.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Argentina:Atp | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Australia:PG | Germany:6 | UK:PG | USA:PG (certificate no. 31898) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Dodger Stadium - 1000 Elysian Park Avenue, Chávez Ravine, Elysian Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Five of the members of the Sandlot baseball team - Patrick Renna, Chauncey Leopardi, Marty York, Brandon Quintin Adams, and Grant Gelt - all had roles in different episodes of Boy Meets World. Art LaFluer, "The Great Bambino," was also later featured in Boy Meets World.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Benny and Smalls are in the blind man's house, an Atlanta Braves Pennant is seen above the bookshelf. The Braves didn't move to Atlanta until 1966. The movie is based in 1962.

Quotes:

Narrator: Michael Squints Palledorous walked a little taller that day. And we had to tip our hats to him. He was lucky she hadn't beat the CRAP out of him. We wouldn't have blamed her. What he'd done was sneaky, rotten, and low... and cool. Not another one among us would have ever in a million years even for a million dollars have the guts to put the moves on the lifeguard...

Movie Connections:

References Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966)

Soundtrack:

Smoky, Part 2

"Man, this is baseball. You gotta stop thinking. Just have fun."

Though nothing particularly grand or truly memorable in comparison to other films seen in the genre, "The Sandlot" is still an enormously enjoyable and genuinely funny little kid's film from 1993 which concerns the shenanigans caused, and the misadventures experienced by a group of baseball-playing and wise-cracking adolescent friends in the suburban pre-Vietnam days of the early 1960's. James Earl Jones turns in a nice little cameo appearance here as a blind and surprisingly jovial septuagenarian who is befriended by the kids once they learn that he's not the mean and creepy old man with the big scary dog unlike what they had been initially lead to believe he was through local urban legends which we all have heard at one time or another in our lives. Even though it's painfully obvious that the flick's initial demographic was aimed at young pre-teen males, it still has an entertaining enough of a story as well as a fun-loving and laid-back sort-of nostalgic charm about it that's hard not to enjoy regardless of whether you're 40 years old or 10 years old! (***** out of *****)