Cool rider! Grease 2 added motorcycles to its predecessor’s successful musical formula to create a sleeper hit that fans are still falling in love with decades later.
In 1982, the Grease sequel took fans back to Rydell High for a new spin on the high school popular crowd. While Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) and Danny (John Travolta) had graduated, their presence was felt with a new generation of the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds.
In the second film, which was set two years after the events of the original movie in 1961, Sandy’s cousin, Michael Carrington (Maxwell Caulfield), finds himself trying to fit in. With the help of OG Pink Lady Frenchy (Didi Conn), who comes back to finish her degree, he slowly finds his way.
After falling for Pink Lady rebel Stephanie Zinone (Michelle Pfeiffer), Michael realizes that he needs to be more than the helpful tutor on campus. He teaches himself how to ride a motorcycle — which is the vehicle of choice for the new T-Birds — and eventually lands the girl.
While the 1978 original was a massive success and is still beloved today, Grease 2 had a much slower burn. “At the time, I was young and didn’t know better,” Pfeiffer told WENN in 2014 of taking the role. “I hated that film with a vengeance and could not believe how bad it was.”
The Age of Innocence star explained to Entertainment Weekly in April 2023 that there was “a tremendous amount of hype” around the sequel.
“Both Maxwell and I were both unknowns. There was a lot of marketing that was centered around us. I remember there was this one ad that was like, ‘Too hot.’ And I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is so awkward. What if people don’t think I’m hot? I’m being shoved down people’s throats,’” she recalled. “I do remember feeling a lot of pressure on our shoulders for this to succeed. Because the first one was so beloved. It was a really tough act to follow.”
The Batman Returns actress, however, later changed her tune — as did many fans — and embraced the newly dubbed “cult classic” for what it was.
“The movie is a lot of fun and it targets a very specific kind of audience. I am a little surprised that it has this cult following now. But it’s really cool,” Pfeiffer told the outlet. “I guess maybe everything that goes around comes around. With a little distance, people are a little more kind and forgiving.”
Christopher McDonald, who played T-Bird Goose, agreed with his costar, noting that the “expectations were probably too high” but the story line was something that has held up with time.
“Over the years, people have seen how it’s such a different take. It wasn’t the boy’s point of view. It was the girl’s point of view. Girls really responded to this movie,” McDonald told EW. “To this day, they come up to me, and they say how much they absolutely loved it and ask me to sing ‘Where does the pollen go?’ And then they scream.” (The cast famously sings about the birds and the bees while learning about sex education in school.)
Caulfield, for his part, revealed how relieved he was that “over time, it has been reappraised” by viewers. “Realize it’s actually not just a cheap knockoff, it’s a really fun film. I guarantee they’re doing a new series partly because of the cult standing of Grease 2,” the Colbys alum said, referring to the 2023 Paramount+ series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.
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