The actor died in November 2005 at his home in Las Vegas at the age of 73. Find out his cause of death and other details about his life. Morita was the voice behind the character of the Emperor of China in the 1998 Disney animated film Mulan
#Mr miyagi age series
Between 19, he appeared as Lieutenant Ohara in the television series Ohara. Karate Kid wasn’t Pat Morita’s first appearance on the big screen he played Ah Chew in the network-run NBC sitcom Sanford and His Son from 1974 to 1976 and as Taro Takahashi (Japanese inventor) in a 1976 sitcom Mr. Combined with his addiction to alcohol, he quickly became unemployable.If you watched the 1984 martial arts drama film The Karate Kid, then you must be familiar with the wise and Mr. A dry-witted Miyagi played by Pat Morita. You really remember Miyagi, don’t you? Daniel-san’s (Ralph Macchio) mentor who taught karate and at the same time tried to catch flies with chopsticks. The role not only brought the Japanese-American actor into the limelight, it also defined his career and earned him an Oscar nomination in 1985. How do you feel the film handled Morita's alcoholism? Was there a clear message?īecause roles dried up for Morita as he got older, he struggled to maintain consistent work. In your opinion, have things in the entertainment business gotten better for Asian and Asian American representation? What positive examples can you think of? What about negative? How unique do you think Morita's position was in the entertainment business back then as an Asian American? What kinds of challenges did he encounter that non-Asian American actors did not? How did Morita himself feel about being Asian in the industry? How did he navigate these challenges?ĭiscuss cultural appropriation and whitewashing. More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story highlights Morita's start as a comedian then as an actor. Show moreįamilies can talk about race and representation in movies. cinema's history of whitewashing Asian roles and racist Asian characterizations and representations, like Mickey Rooney as Mr. There's also a brief section that nicely but briefly covers U.S. The film also has a decent amount of historical covering that features footage and pictures from the Japanese internment camps and U.S. Watching his downfall is the saddest part of this documentary and yet another reminder of the dangers and tragedy of alcoholism that not only affect the abuser or addicted, but also everyone around them. Miyagi in The Karate Kid, Morita was decades deep in a lifelong addiction to alcohol. But by the time his career really took off with his Oscar-nominated portrayal of Mr. Many of his characters didn't have accents (Morita himself didn't have one and couldn't speak Japanese) but many did. Often times he leaned into it, playing with different Asian accents, like how his Chinese accent for Arnold was supposed to be for a character originally meant to be Japanese. Not so much an activist as a survivor always looking to be funny first, Morita nevertheless still encountered incredible forms, structures, and instances of racism throughout his life and career. There's so much great Pat Morita footage here that proves how compelling an entertainer he was. More Than Miyagi : The Pat Morita Story is a solid documentary about an Asian American entertainment pioneer. Some jokes of Morita's are slightly sexual in nature.
A few sexist remarks like, "Are you a girl? Punch like a man!" and "The new Karate Kid has nicer legs" (about his new The Next Karate Kid co-star, Hillary Swank). Language includes "bulls-t" and "ass," but there's strong racialized language throughout, such as "Jap," "Nip," and "Yellow" and lots of jokes that capitalize on or target race. A few scenes of Morita smoking marijuana out of a large bong pipe. There's a fair amount of footage and pictures that show Morita drinking, drunk, and/or behaving wildly. The documentary also doesn't hide from Morita's flaws, personal demons, and alcoholism. There's lots of discussion of the racial challenges in Hollywood Morita faced, his personal traumatic history through his long childhood hospital stay from age 2 to 11, and his experience during the Japanese internment camps. It's an intimate and at times touching biography of an Asian American pioneer, comic, and actor in a more White-dominated entertainment industry than today.
#Mr miyagi age movie
Expect lots of footage, highlights, and clips from Morita's television and movie career, as well as a fair amount of personal home video footage from his later years. Parents need to know that More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story is a documentary about the comic, actor, and star of The Karate Kid movies, Pat Morita.
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