Did you know that 80s movie classic ‘Footloose’ is based on a true story?

10 October 2024, 13:28

In 1984, Footloose became a box office smash and made a star out of Kevin Bacon. Picture: Alamy

By Thomas Edward

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"Footloose, kick off the Sunday shoes."

We all know and love the 80s movie classic Footloose, thanks to Kevin Bacon's teenage rebellion overturning a stuffy town's conservative rules.

It's also an iconic film of the era because of Kenny Loggins' earworm of a main theme song in 'Footloose', which bagged the singer an Oscar nomination the following year.

The film made a star out of Bacon, dominating the box office in 1984 and springing to everyone's mind when they think of movies from that decade.

Kevin plays main character Ren McCormack who relocates to the small town of Bomont, West Virginia after spending his youth in Chicago.

A keen dancer, he's shocked to discover that rock music and dancing have been banned, as well as a high school prom, so does his best to overthrow the rule made by local minister played by John Lithgow.

It also stars Lori Singer as Ren's love interest Ariel, as well as Sarah Jessica Parker and the late Chris Penn in early roles.

The plot might have seemed a little outlandish - after all, who would ban dancing across an entire town?

Well, fans of Footloose are finally finding out after forty years that the film was in fact based on a true story.

Footloose details a newcomer to the town of Bomont inspiring students to overrule the ban on dancing. But it was actually a true story. Picture: Alamy

The real events took place in Elmore City, a small town in Oklahoma that was founded by James Elmore in the 1860s with a population of just 700 people.

In an attempt to curb alcohol consumption, the local council banned dancing in 1898, a ban which existed until 1980.

Local residents were allowed to dance up until that point, nor could they host a high school prom like every other graduating student in the country.

So two students, Mary Ann Temple-Lee and the late Leonard Coffee lead the charge to change the ruling.

Naturally, it caused outrage in their community, attracting attention from around the United States at the same time.

Ultimately, all the kids in town just wanted to dance, and screenwriter Dean Pitchford was watching the events unfold.

Elmore City festival celebrates events that inspired iconic movie 'Footloose'

Mary Ann talked to local outlet The Oklahoman recently, recalling: "It was so volatile in the community. … And we just wanted to dance and to have a real prom."

Temple and her childhood sweetheart Leonard - who she later married - spearheaded the movement for the town to organise a real prom.

"I asked, ‘Well, why can’t we have a prom like other schools do?’ And it went like wildfire. Right after I asked that question, the rest of the class was, like, ‘Yeah, we want to do that'," he told The Oklahoman in a 2010 interview.

Mary's dad was the president of the school board who they had to convince, and was ultimately the deciding vote in a 50/50 split.

"I was so proud of him," Mary added. "But we had so much pressure on us. We had to show that the prom was a good, positive thing."

"It was showing that kids can have a level head, kids can be calm, kids can do the right thing."

Footloose was a box office smash. (COLLECTION CHRISTOPHEL © Paramount Pictures). Picture: Alamy

Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer's characters were based on the childhood sweethearts that spearheaded the 'no dancing' rule to be overturned. (Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection). Picture: Alamy

With the media spotlight on the town of Elmore City in the lead up to the decision, the events caught the imagination of Footloose screenwriter Dean Pitchford.

He later went to the town to conduct thorough research ahead of writing the film's screenplay, though Mary thought his portrayal of rebellious teenagedom in the town wasn't exactly precise.

"It’s an incredible movie. It just didn’t portray us the way we were. I’ll put it that way. We were extremely ornery, but no, we were not wild."

Continuing Mary and Leonard's legacy, the town has hosted proms each year playing Kenny Loggins' iconic theme each time, and in 2010 even founded the Footloose Fest.

"This was the most exciting thing that’s probably ever happened in this town, so we wanted to do something to celebrate Footloose," Mary said.