Johnny Tsunami (1999)
August 3, 2024 12:42 AM - Subscribe
A Hawaiian teenage surfer shows off his skills when he takes to the snow slopes in Vermont.
Young Hawaiian surfer Johnny Kapahala (Brandon Baker) gets a rude awakening when his dad relocates to Vermont -- a state seriously lacking in waves. There, he struggles to fit in at a private school where everyone skis. Luckily for Johnny, he meets public school student Sam (Lee Thompson Young), who instructs him in the art of snowboarding. And when a rivalry brews between Johnny and snooty skier Brett (Zachary Bostrom), they decide to settle their rivalry on the slopes.
Katie Hands: Aside from the light racism, I have to say that the funniest thing about this movie is the fact that prep school kids ski and public school kids snowboard. Johnny asked Emily about snowboarding and she acted as if he had thrown out a swear word in a PG movie. Blasphemy, I tell you!
I honestly don’t know how I didn’t know what Johnny’s last name actually was. They say it like 15 times. But to be fair, they do keep mentioning Johnny Tsunami and that just happens to be Johnny’s grandfather’s nickname from his early surfing days. But again, I’m going to blame this on my small child attention span.
Even though it’s been a long time since I’ve seen this movie, I can easily remember why I used to love it. Family is hard and can come with a lot of butting heads and disagreements. But they can also be your greatest strength. Even when life gets hard, when it seems like the waves keep crashing in on you, the most difficult thing you can do is to find a way to fight through it. But you might just find that you have more strength than you know.
Elena Morgan: I thought Johnny Tsunami was going to be all about a kid learning to snowboard and having a culture shock when moving from sunny Hawaii to freezing Vermont. But instead, it’s kind of an allegory for segregation, tackles classism, as well as the usual strict parent wanting their child to give up their “pointless” passion to find a “real” skill/purpose.
The mountain Johnny learns to snowboard on is divided into two; one side is for the skiers aka the kids from the posh private school who are known as Skies, and the other is for the snowboarders aka the kids from the basic public school who are known as Urchins. This scenario also has a tinge of racism as well as classism since there are no notable kids of colour at this private school (except for Johnny and he goes there because that’s where his dad got a job) but in the Urchin’s there is Sam, a Black kid, who becomes Johnny’s best friend.
Benjamin Austin: Grandpa Tsunami lets them stay as long as they want. Instead of forcing them to go back, he helps them make that decision on their own. He uses waves as a metaphor for change and the challenges that come with it.
Grandpa Tsunami: “Sometimes they don’t look like waves. Sometimes they look like mounds of snow and sometimes they look like things you don’t really want to do.”
It’s a good message that fits the movie perfectly. He encourages Johnny to “find his own greatness” and face the challenges of a new, colder environment.
Grandpa Tsunami tags along on the flight back to Hawaii, allowing for more character development. He has a heart-to-heart conversation with Pete about his own faults as a father. He wished that Pete didn’t quit surfing, but he knew that he couldn’t force him to do it.
Young Hawaiian surfer Johnny Kapahala (Brandon Baker) gets a rude awakening when his dad relocates to Vermont -- a state seriously lacking in waves. There, he struggles to fit in at a private school where everyone skis. Luckily for Johnny, he meets public school student Sam (Lee Thompson Young), who instructs him in the art of snowboarding. And when a rivalry brews between Johnny and snooty skier Brett (Zachary Bostrom), they decide to settle their rivalry on the slopes.
Katie Hands: Aside from the light racism, I have to say that the funniest thing about this movie is the fact that prep school kids ski and public school kids snowboard. Johnny asked Emily about snowboarding and she acted as if he had thrown out a swear word in a PG movie. Blasphemy, I tell you!
I honestly don’t know how I didn’t know what Johnny’s last name actually was. They say it like 15 times. But to be fair, they do keep mentioning Johnny Tsunami and that just happens to be Johnny’s grandfather’s nickname from his early surfing days. But again, I’m going to blame this on my small child attention span.
Even though it’s been a long time since I’ve seen this movie, I can easily remember why I used to love it. Family is hard and can come with a lot of butting heads and disagreements. But they can also be your greatest strength. Even when life gets hard, when it seems like the waves keep crashing in on you, the most difficult thing you can do is to find a way to fight through it. But you might just find that you have more strength than you know.
Elena Morgan: I thought Johnny Tsunami was going to be all about a kid learning to snowboard and having a culture shock when moving from sunny Hawaii to freezing Vermont. But instead, it’s kind of an allegory for segregation, tackles classism, as well as the usual strict parent wanting their child to give up their “pointless” passion to find a “real” skill/purpose.
The mountain Johnny learns to snowboard on is divided into two; one side is for the skiers aka the kids from the posh private school who are known as Skies, and the other is for the snowboarders aka the kids from the basic public school who are known as Urchins. This scenario also has a tinge of racism as well as classism since there are no notable kids of colour at this private school (except for Johnny and he goes there because that’s where his dad got a job) but in the Urchin’s there is Sam, a Black kid, who becomes Johnny’s best friend.
Benjamin Austin: Grandpa Tsunami lets them stay as long as they want. Instead of forcing them to go back, he helps them make that decision on their own. He uses waves as a metaphor for change and the challenges that come with it.
Grandpa Tsunami: “Sometimes they don’t look like waves. Sometimes they look like mounds of snow and sometimes they look like things you don’t really want to do.”
It’s a good message that fits the movie perfectly. He encourages Johnny to “find his own greatness” and face the challenges of a new, colder environment.
Grandpa Tsunami tags along on the flight back to Hawaii, allowing for more character development. He has a heart-to-heart conversation with Pete about his own faults as a father. He wished that Pete didn’t quit surfing, but he knew that he couldn’t force him to do it.
I looooove this movie!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:26 AM on August 3
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:26 AM on August 3
My only exposure to this movie beyond half-forgotten promos on the Disney channel from my misspent youth is the brutalmoose review, but I sure did enjoy that, so the movie’s got that going for it, which is nice.
posted by potent_cyprus at 6:31 PM on August 3
posted by potent_cyprus at 6:31 PM on August 3
Don’t forget about the 2007 sequel, Back on Board!
posted by Clustercuss at 9:41 AM on August 4
posted by Clustercuss at 9:41 AM on August 4
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posted by Carillon at 12:44 AM on August 3