History Film / Airplane

in 2023 an oral history of the making of the movie was released, titled ''Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!''

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign[=/=]ElSpanishO: There are two lighted signs in the aircraft where the Spanish is just phonetic English. "Fasten Seatbelt" and "No Smoking" are written in English in one shot. Underneath them are "Putana da Seatbeltz" ("put on the seatbelts") and "El No A You Smoko". Then during a dive, there's "Return to Seat" / "Gobacken Sidonna" ("Go back and sit down"), which is more like a stereotypical ''Italian'' accent.

* SoundtrackDissonance: Randy belts out "River of Jordan" while the heart transplant patient frantically tries to plug her own IV back in. May qualify as adult fear, although the ambulance scene at the end implies she survives (at least until we hear [[OffscreenCrash it crash]] and see a hubcap roll by).

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign[=/=]ElSpanishO: There are two lighted signs in the aircraft where the Spanish is just phonetic English. "Fasten Seatbelt" and "No Smoking" are written in English in one shot. Underneath them are "Putana da Seatbeltz" ("put on the seatbelts") and "El No A You Smoko". Then during a dive, there's "Return to Seat" / "Gobacken Sidonna" ("Go back and sit down").

* FoodAndBodyComparison: As the plane flies through a patch of rough turbulence, there's a shot of a gelatin dessert jiggling wildly from the plane's movements. Then the camera pans over to a busty woman, whose chest is [[{{Gainaxing}} bouncing and jiggling just as much.]]

* ShellShockedVeteran: Ted Striker's experiences during the war left him emotionally distant, without personal confidence, and with a "drinking problem." (slosh!)

The film that solidified the team of Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker as comedy icons. [[Creator/ZuckerAbrahamsAndZucker ZAZ]]'s directorial debut,[[note]]They previously wrote ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie'', but John Landis directed[[/note]] ''Airplane!'' (1980) -- titled ''Flying High!'' [[MarketBasedTitle in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan and the Philippines]] -- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-v2BHNBVCs is a comedic remake]] of the 1957 disaster film ''[[Film/ZeroHour1957 Zero Hour!]]'' (itself based on the TV movie ''Flight into Danger'' written by Creator/ArthurHailey).[[note]]In fact, even though lawyers assured the creative team that they were protected under parody, they went ahead and ''bought'' the ''Zero Hour!'' script and license for $2500 just to be sure![[/note]] Subplots from ''Film/{{Airport}}'' (1975) also appear, such as an airline stewardess (or flight attendant) having to keep the plane under control for a while, a singing Nun, and a [[LittlestCancerPatient little girl on-board in need of an organ transplant]].

* OneWordTitle: Also ExcitedShowTitle.

* ExcitedShowTitle: ''Airplane!'' Only fitting since ''[[Film/ZeroHour1957 Zero Hour!]]'' had one as well.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Near the stack of pornographic magazines, Captain Oveur picks up and reads one of the boy's magazines titled "Modern Sperm" from the section marked "Whacking material".

** The look on Otto the Autopilot's face as he's being "re-inflated".

* NoAntagonist: The plot deals with most of the passengers succumbing to food poisoning.

** "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees plays as two girl scouts are fighting in the tough guy bar.

* ThanksForTheMammary: As Ted attempts to regain control of the plane, Otto the Autopilot is seen briefly groping Elaine's breasts.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Girl Scouts brawling in a bar (only Ted seems to be concerned by this, though given that he identifies the bar as a WretchedHive, it's probably a routine occurrence), a man being stabbed and killed in a bar (Elaine likewise is the only one who notices), the plane's pilots being dragged down the aisle by the stewardesses, [=McCroskey=] jumping out a window... the list goes on.

* VisualPun: "Smoking or non-smoking?", "The shit's going to hit the fan," "Okay, boys, let's take some pictures," "Steve, I want every light you can get poured onto that field," "They're on instruments," and "We'll get him down safe," among others. The "check the radar range" pun hasn't aged well, though -- although Amana still makes [=RadarRange=] microwave ovens, it's no longer the best-known brand (and most people nowadays don't know that microwaves were originally known as [=RadarRanges=] because microwave cooking was an accidental discovery made by people developing radars).

** The technician [[RuleOfFunny changing the oil under the airplane's hood]], then falls off the ladder trying to pop it shut, as the pilots are discussing the weather in the cockpit. Then we have Oveur being handed the bill for the repairs and him paying it on the spot. For those too young to remember, the payment transaction plays out exactly the way a full-service gas station transaction would have played out at the time, with the attendant handing the old-style [[https://www.business.com/articles/what-are-credit-card-imprinters/ credit card imprinter]] to the driver through the window (this was before magnetic stripes and swiping your card was possible).

--->'''Air Traffic Controller:''' Captain, maybe we oughtta turn on the search lights ''now!''\\

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Dr. Rumack about to perform what looks to be a pap smear on a female patient on the very crowded plane.

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Three newepapers about the plane in trouble are shown spinning. The last one reads "Boy Trapped In Refrigerator Eats Own Foot".

** When Elaine asks Dr. Rumack if he's a doctor, the camera cuts to him answering her while wearing a stethoscope, with the eartubes in place as though he's listening to the plane's headphones.

* CirclingVultures: They're not circling, but a bunch of vultures perch over the heroes as they prepare to crash-land.

* ClosestThingWeGot: Ted Striker is the only pilot on the plane who isn't sick, even though he a) only ever learned to fly a single engine fighter jet, which is "an entirely different type of flying altogether!" [[note]]"It's an entirely different type of flying."[[/note]] and b) hasn't flown in years.

** The key to the movie's charm. David Zucker has said that the basic concept of the movie was "a comedy without comedians," so they cast two non-stars in the lead roles (it was ex-model Julie Hagerty's film debut, while Robert Hays was best-known as the handsome love interest on the {{sitcom}} ''Angie''), and gave supporting roles to actors famous for playing serious, tough-guy characters: Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Peter Graves, and, believe it or not, Leslie Nielsen, who at the time was considered the handsome, leading man prototype. Then they had them all play as though they were in a serious DisasterMovie.

* ComingInHot: Twice. In the opening, when the plane crashes through an airport glass window and causes people to scream and run away, and towards the end, when Ted and Elaine attempt to carefully land their out of control airplane.

** Later, as media outlets around the world are reporting on the runaway aircraft, a stereotypically Polynesian reporter with very little technology at his disposal relays his story by drumbeat. There is ''a crude, child-like drawing of an airplane'' on the drawing board behind him, instead of a newsroom graphic. Then he's handed a different pair of drumsticks for his next news report, and turns to a different camera.

* CreepyChangingPainting: A comedic version in the inflatable "Otto" pilot doll, although the face of an inflatable doll receiving a blowjob is still fairly creepy.

** Milton ("Milt Ettenhenim. But my friends call me 'Bubbles'"), the eight year old boy wearing a conservative coat and tie, and Bernice, the seven year old girl who likes her coffee (and her men) black, were meant to have a number of scenes together and strike up a relationship together. Most of their scenes were cut.
** Mrs Schiff, the jive talking lady, was meant to have several scenes in which she literally nurses a soft drink.
** Randy's song was meant to be longer, finishing with Mrs Davis being knocked out by the guitar.

** A scene from the landing, in which Randy offers to arrange hotel accomodation and car rental for a passenger, was cut.

** In a later scene, he's giving an OB-GYN exam for no apparent reason -- yes, in flight...with stirrups...and holding a vaginal speculum at the ready.

* EpiphanyTherapy: A rare case of a typically dramatic trope ''not'' being parodied in a film which otherwise parodies every dramatic trope it can. Ted Striker is cured of his fear of flying and saves the day after a RousingSpeech by Dr. Rumack, absolving him of his guilt over his failed Air Force mission during the war.

** Rex Kramer says he wants every light they have on that runway, [=McCrosky=] says it's being done. Cut to shot of a dumptruck pouring lamps onto it.

* FreeWheel: Played for laughs when we see a hubcap rolling across the tarmac after an ambulance crashes off screen.

** Shortly after that, Ted runs into the airport and through security. It's on-screen maybe three-tenths of a second: the security X-ray screen shows a chest X-ray.

** The technician [[RuleOfFunny changing the oil under the airplane's hood]], then falling off the ladder trying to pop it shut, as the pilots are discussing the weather in the cockpit. Then we have Oveur being handed the bill for the repairs and him paying it on the spot. For those too young to remember, the payment transaction plays out exactly the way a full-service gas station transaction would have played out at the time, with the attendant handing the old-style [[https://www.business.com/articles/what-are-credit-card-imprinters/ credit card imprinter]] to the driver through the window (this was before magnetic stripes and swiping your card was possible).

** Plane full of sick people and out of commission pilots? Looks like [=McCroskey=] picked the wrong week to quit smoking...and drinking...and amphetamines...and sniffing glue. *''sniff''*

** When it comes to flight protocol, normally pilots are not allowed to eat the same food (in the film all three pilots ate fish) to prevent the possibility of everyone getting sick. Though like the above example it's played for laughs.

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: Ted has a flashback to his time in the Air Force when he used to hang out in a seedy bar. The scene has sleazy trombone music playing over it as Ted sits at the bar and is looking at the legs of a table dancer; the camera then pans up to reveal said table dance being the one playing the trombone.

* LittlestCancerPatient: The little girl who needs a heart transplant. A horrific moment of BlackComedy (not to mention SoundtrackDissonance) occurs when Randy sings "River of Jordan" to cheer her up and knocks out her IV with her guitar. Twice. The first time, everyone including her mother are so wrapped up in singing that she nearly flatlines, but she manages to pop the IV back in herself. The second time, her mother actually notices and frantically goes to her daughter's aid.

** The older lady who is seated next to Ted understanding why he's longing for Elaine, all while describing her in very sexual terms.

* MarketBasedTitle: It was retitled to ''Flying High'' in most English-speaking markets outside North America, apparently out of fear that it might get mixed-up with ''[[Film/{{Airport}} The Concorde-Airport '79]]''.
* MirrorRoutine: A blink-and-you'll-miss-it gag has Rex Kramer dressing in front of a mirror. In the next shot, we see him seemingly step ''out of'' the reflection; between shots the mirror is switched with a doorway and Robert Stack switches positions.

* {{Narm}}:[[invoked]] The line from ''Zero Hour!'', "We need to find someone who can not only fly this plane, but who didn't have fish for dinner," convinced the Zuckers to make ''Airplane!''

* ParentService: Fellatio, cunnilingus, bestiality, paedophilia, topless women, a young girl who takes her coffee black (like her men), pornographic magazines, suicides, and repeated drug use, and it gets a PG rating? (Granted, PG-13 didn't exist back then...) In an interview on ''Later With Bob Costas'', Robert Stack was amazed A) that ZAZ got away with the 'Shit hits the fan' joke and B) that it made him laugh a lot.

* RaceForYourLove: Ted boards the airplane Elaine is on in order to stop her from leaving to Chicago and to try to reconcile with her.

* TheRemake: The plot, the names of several characters, and much of the "straight" dialogue were taken from ''[[Film/ZeroHour1957 Zero Hour!]]''; which the producers officially acquired the rights for. Here's [[http://www.rogermwilcox.com/zero_hour.html the dialog script]], so you can see for yourself. The lines that also appear in ''Airplane!'' are in boldface.

* ShownTheirWork: It's a gag of all of a few seconds, but the Japanese soldier that Ted talks to commits [[{{Seppuku}} harakiri]] in the proper fashion: thrust blade into belly, drag across, then up.

* SoundtrackDissonance: Randy belting out "River of Jordan" while the heart transplant patient frantically tries to plug her own IV back in. May qualify as adult fear, although the ambulance scene at the end implies she survives (at least until we hear [[OffscreenCrash it crash]] and see a hubcap roll by).

* SustainedMisunderstanding: The conversation between Doctor Rumack and Captain Oveur, persisting for about a half-minute.

** One smash-cut shows a little boy reading a Nun's Life magazine.

* UniversalDriversLicense: Averted. While Ted ''is'' a pilot, his only experience is with single engine fighter planes, which handle very differently from the passenger airliner he's asked to fly in the movie. He does manage to land the craft, but not without help from people on the ground, and even then it's a close call.

** When the flight crew pass out from illness and the plane goes into turbulence, a shot shows a gelatin dessert (shaped like a breast) wiggling on a tray below a female passenger's jiggling breasts.

* AccidentalMurder: As Randy sings "River of Jordan", she accidentally knocks out a cancer patient's IV. Twice.

** A long cut scene would have featured McCroskey and Kramer discussing covering the runway with foam, to allow the plane to land without using its wheels.

** Milton ("Milt Ettenhenim. But my friends call me 'Bubbles'"), the eight year old boy wearing a conservative coat
and tie, and Bernice, the seven year old girl who likes her coffee (and her men) black, were meant to have a number of scenes together and strike up a relationship together. Most of their scenes were cut.

* SuckinessIsPainful: The lines "I haven't felt this awful since we saw that Ronald Reagan film" and "I haven't seen anything like this [violent illness] since the Anita Bryant concert" both carry the premise that terrible entertainment induces physical ailments.