One thing you might not have known about Rick Moranis is that during his time with Second City TV he covered Turning Japanese in the style of a lounge singer to hilarious effect. I’m betting a lot of people that remember Rick Moranis don’t remember that he was even on SCTV back in the day. A few great comics and actors came from SCTV such as John Candy, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, and even Martin Short and Dave Thomas. It was inspired by the Second City troupe from Toronto, Canada, and was one of the funniest things that Detroit had to offer in those days. It also helped to really cement the careers of those that made it what it was.
For a lot of us Rick Moranis is really more known for his roles in movies such as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Spaceballs, and even movies like My Blue Heaven and Strange Brew. He’s been more of the type to perform slapstick humor and be the kind of guy that you love to root for because he’s the continual underdog. Obviously he’s not the big, strong hero-type, but he never allowed that to stop him since in films like Ghostbusters and its sequel he filled a niche that allowed him to be present but somehow off the in the background when he wasn’t needed. Rick Moranis was the guy you laughed at because he was genuinely funny and yet so hopeless at times that you just couldn’t help yourself.
He’s been out of show business for a while now, ever since his wife passed away in fact. He doesn’t regret leaving, since his kids needed him and as their father he wanted to be there for them as much as possible. That alone makes you want to like the guy all the more since he’s got his priorities straight. There’s been no rumors about him coming back to film though it might be interesting to see how things would go if he could come back eventually. Aside from the clip above he’s proven that he can sing and act, and is a genuinely funny guy that knows how to get an audience on his side or against him. For example, in the remake to Little Shop of Horrors you really want to see him succeed and get the girl, and are happy when he finally gets up the nerve to confront the killer plant and save the day.
In My Blue Heaven he’s kind of the nerdy FBI guy but is still awesome enough that he can make his presence felt when it counts. Spaceballs is perhaps one of his only real bad guy roles and he hams it up so well that he makes the character more laughable than despicable, even though you find yourself wishing you could punt kick Darth Helmet just to if he’d bob up and down like a demented bobblehead. The point is that the guy was a genius when he was around. Maybe once his kids are grown he’ll come back, or not. In any case he’s someone worth remembering for a long, long time.
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