A manuscript written by the deceased karate Kid star Pat Morita, sharing his life story in his own words, was the catalyst for an inspiring but moving documentary More than Miyagi: the story of Pat Morita.
“There [were] some really dark things, ”said film producer Oscar Alvarez Yahoo Canada. “I would say that the manuscript was the blueprint for everything and that was what excited us, especially since he talked about his early years and this is what you don’t know, before you. Miyagi. “
Coming off the heels of Cobra Kai launch on Netflix, karate Kid actors, including Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, Happy Days Stars like Henry Winkler and Marion Ross, and other celebrities, including Tommy Chong, Larry Miller and Esai Morales tell their personal stories about Morita – the man known to millions as “Mr. Miyagi. ”One thing he really realized is that Morita was not only important for fans of his work, but also for his colleagues.
Alvarez believes that there are still many people who do not know about the Japanese-American actor. The producer revealed that he recently spoke to someone who didn’t even know that Morita had been nominated for an Oscar for his role in The Karate Kid. We discovered in the documentary that Macchio would still like to have gone to the Oscar ceremony with Morita in 1985.
For who is a karate Kid fan, there are many memories of other cast members about making these films, including the famous “waxing, waxing” moment and discussions across the studio about not wanting Morita to play Mr. Miyagi due to concerns about casting a comic actor who played Arnold in Happy Days in the paper.
The documentary also provides more context about how Morita developed Arnold’s legendary character, who has a connection to the cook who worked at the Chinese restaurant run by Morita’s parents.
Even if you are not the greatest karate Kid fan or you never watched Happy Days, there is a lot to learn about Morita in More than Miyagi this will catch anyone’s attention.
“I think people need to understand how much he has achieved during his career, considering all the [the] obstacles, ”said Alvarez.
From a body cast, to an internment camp, to the stage
Morita was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis at the age of two and spent nine years in a hospital, immobilized with a cast for seven years. Experimental surgery allowed him to overcome the odds and walk again, but only a few years later, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 led to another traumatic moment in Morita’s life.
When Morita managed to leave the hospital in California at age 11, he was taken by the FBI to join his parents on an internment camp with other Japanese Americans in Arizona.
This is really just a piece of the complicated life that Morita lived, going to fulfill her dream of being an artist, starting out as a comedian under the same agent as fellow comedian Lenny Bruce. You’ve probably heard that name if you’re a fan of the Amazon series The wonderful Mrs. Maisel.
Morita’s third wife, Evelyn Guerrero, is actually Bruce’s cousin. She met her husband when she was a teenager, but they reconnected later in life and ended up getting married. Much of the film is told through his narrative, sharing his personal memories of their lives together, including the impact that Morita’s drink had on their relationship.
More than Miyagi shows the harsh and tragic reality of Morita’s alcoholism, a significant factor that led to his death in November 2005. The film reveals an incredibly painful moment with the cast of Happy Days during the reunion of the 30 years of the show, where Morita’s drunkenness prevented him from participating in all the events with the cast.
“It hit me because I had an uncle who lived with us for about two or three years of my life [when] I was in elementary school and I know how it is ”, shared Alvarez with Yahoo Canada.
“When you watch the documentary, you hear what he went through, all his struggles, I mean, I’m surprised that he hasn’t done anything worse to himself.”
Morita’s daughters have decided not to participate in the documentary, but have spoken publicly about it in the past.
“At the time of his death in 2005 at the age of 73, my father was a forgotten star,” wrote his daughter Aly Morita in an article for Hyphen Magazine in 2010. “He lived in Las Vegas, separated from his third wife, unable to get any job because he was very old and still walked on the back of his karate Kid peak. “
“His fans remembered him; the Asian American community remembered him. But he was worthless to Hollywood. After enjoying the generosity of success for a good 10 years after the first karate Kid movie, he was just another faded movie star. “
‘It’s still a problem that we have now’
While the documentary focuses mainly on Morita’s life in particular, Alvarez and director Kevin Derek decided to spend some time discussing the representation of the Japanese people in Hollywood films and the type of role that Japanese actors play, before and today.
Examples of prejudices in films include yellow-faced Mickey Rooney like Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, called by many to be racist, with the character of Rooney looking like a caricature of the Japanese people during World War II.
Morita himself experienced limitations in possible roles for him to play, and Alvarez said that this was particularly important to include in the documentary because “it is still a problem that we have now”.
A more recent example is Ghost in the Shell, which originated as a Japanese manga series, but in 2017 the main character, Major, was played by Scarlett Johansson. In addition, Tilda Swinton’s character The Ancient One in Doctor Strange in 2016 he was criticized for laundering as the character is portrayed as an Asian man in the comics.
This break with the plot purely led by Morita in the film was certainly welcome, providing additional context about the entertainment industry that the actor longed for, even though he was apparently working against him, and why Morita is such an important actor in the story from Hollywood.
“I think it was important because I think we need to understand that all the odds are against him, and he still persevered, he went as far as he went,” said Alvarez.