Top 10 Things Only Adults Notice in the Spy Kids Movies
#10: Shiitake Mushrooms
As a kid, this line is one of the greatest parts of the first film. As an adult, it is still pretty funny. When Carmen and Juni have to go find their parents, they end up in Floop’s castle. In their hunt, they wind up in a hallway with a broken floor and Carmen delivers her iconic line for the first time. It was such a beloved line that the creators put it in the second movie as well. We are definitely happy they kept the little wordplay in the story. Sometimes the best way to get away with saying a four-letter word is to add a few extra letters.
#9: Carla Gugino’s Age
In the first movie, the ex-spy parents are said to have been out of the spy game for 9 years already, and they got out for their family. Well, at the time of filming, Carla Gugino, who played the mom Ingrid, was only 28. So, if her real age was the same as Ingrid’s, that would mean she was only 19 when she quit being a spy! Then again, we guess the company they work for has shown that they are not opposed to hiring children. So, maybe Ingrid herself was a Spy Kid too?
#8: Fegan Floop Is Reminiscent of Willy Wonka
To a kid, Floop is super memorable as that weirdo guy who had thumbs as bodyguards. When rewatching the movies through adult eyes, the eccentric character's resemblance to Willy Wonka is remarkable. To start, they both dress in very loud patterns and velvet jackets. But the similarities go beyond just aesthetics. They both also have really peculiar personalities. Director Robert Rodriguez even said in an interview that he wanted Floop to come off as imaginative and childlike, much like Willy Wonka does in his movie. After seeing more of the character, we definitely think Rodriguez succeeded.
#7: Alan Cumming Is a Star
Top 10 Alan Rickman Performances
Honestly, the first movie is just quality content. Everyone fits into their roles so nicely to provide a wonderfully weird story. But Alan Cumming really outshines everyone and steals the show. To a whole generation, the actor is known as Fegan Floop. Cumming embodies his characters so well and brings life to the whole film. We mean, did you know he is Scottish? Because of his spot-on accent in the film, we didn’t. It might have been the characters' loud costumes that caught our attention, but we really think it was the spot-on acting.
#6: Puns in the Names
In addition to directing, Rodriguez wrote the movies. So, when it came to naming the characters, he was not afraid to have some fun. He named a lot of the characters after members of his own family. Carmen, for example, gets her name from Rodriguez’s sister, Maricarmen. He also based some of the other characters' names on puns. The most notable in the first film are Minion and Mr. Lisp. When Minion ironically becomes the main villain, and when Mr. Lisp's name is pronounced with a lisp, adult audiences get an easy laugh.
#5: Hold On To Your Joysticks, Boys
Top 10 Kids' Movies That Don't Hold Up
When Juni shows up in the virtual reality gaming world, the other players exclaim as if they had been looking for the boy. Does this innuendo really need to be explained? Definitely not to the adult audiences. The third film in the franchise was centered around a virtual reality video game. So naturally, the filmmakers had to throw in a joystick joke for the older viewers. But they definitely didn’t forget their target audience. The entire movie is any video-game-playing kids’ dream. We know we would’ve loved to participate in the game.
#4: Movie References
Top 10 Things Only Adults Noticed in the Barbie Movie
Director Robert Rodriguez is known for a lot of prominent films, including “Sharkboy and Lavagirl,” “Machete,” and “From Dusk Till Dawn.” Being such a cinephile, he decided to reference a few other great films in this franchise. In “Spy Kids 2,” Rodgriguez was even able to get the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol from “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” In an interview, he said that he didn’t even get permission to use the prop. He is just friends with George Lucas and knew it would be okay. What a bold move. Interestingly, the “Spy Kids” and “Lord of the Rings” trilogies both came out between 2001 and 2003. So, it only made sense for Rodriguez to reference Peter Jackson’s films.
#3: Propaganda in Children's Programming
Top 10 War Propaganda Films
There is an underlying theme of propaganda in the film that is definitely not noticeable to a child’s eye. The most prominent example happens in Fegan Floop’s music video in the middle of the first film. The character and the show he creates are supposed to be happy and child-friendly, but it ends up coming off super creepy. It only gets creepier when you listen to the lyrics that seem to be selling kids on finding their joy specifically in Floop’s show. The creepiest part is the similarities this scene has to the power of media over people in the real world. The song definitely gave us the heebeegeebees.
#2: Steve Buscemi’s Famous Line
Top 10 Best Unscripted Steve Carell Moments
Who doesn’t remember the viral post-Tumblr posts with these words and the absolute chaos that broke out online when people found out that it was a line read by Steve Buscemi in one of the “Spy Kids” movies. We certainly remember. And honestly are not surprised people freaked out. This thought-provoking line sounds like something straight out of a philosophy or poetry book. In reality, Steve Buscemi is just talking about the “Jurassic Park” level disaster he has created for himself. That knowledge truly makes the line so much better.
#1: Do What I Showed You Last Night!
Top 10 Things Only Adults Notice in Kids' Movies
Sure, that’s what you showed him last night. During a fight between fathers, two spy families stand aside to cheer their fighter on. But on the Cortez side, Ingrid seems to forget she is standing with her children and parents because she starts getting advice that can really only be twisted one way. Thankfully, she quickly recovers and gives some real fighting advice. Judging by how excited Ingrid was to get back in the spy business in the first film, maybe the Cortez’ really do spend their evenings showing each other fighting moves.
