Radio Flyer

Radio Flyer is a 1992 American drama-fantasy film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Mickey Evans. It stars Lorraine Bracco, John Heard, Elijah Wood, Joseph Mazzello, Adam Baldwin, and Ben Johnson and is narrated by Tom Hanks. Evans was to make his directorial debut on the film but was replaced by Donner. Michael Douglas and Evans were executive producers. Filming locations included Novato, California, and Columbia Airport in Columbia, California. Plot Mike (Tom Hanks) observes his two sons fighting, with one insisting that a promise doesn't mean anything. To help them understand that a promise does mean something, he tells them the story of his youth. In 1969, 11-year-old Mike (Elijah Wood), 8-year-old Bobby, their mother, Mary, and their German Shepherd, Shane, relocate from New Jersey to Novato, California after their father/husband leaves them. There, Mary weds a new man who the children call "The King". Unbeknownst to Mary, The King is an alcoholic who often gets drunk and beats Bobby. The King also repeatedly plays Hank Williams’s "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" on his record player. Seeing that Mary has found happiness at last with The King, Bobby swears Mike to secrecy about the abuse. Instead, the two boys seek adventures to occupy the time that would otherwise be spent with The King; they recount the "seven great abilities and fascinations" of childhood while exploring their new surroundings and dealing with the neighborhood bullies. An unsupervised incident in the kitchen leads to Bobby being hospitalized by The King, but Shane gets revenge on The King by violently biting him on the arm. After spending time in jail, The King is released following the death of his mother and returns to their house with flowers and chocolates promising never to drink or abuse Bobby again; he violates his promise while the boys are at school and nearly kills Shane. As a result, the brothers devise a plan for Bobby to escape The King once and for all. Mary also starts to catch on to The King's true nature and finally requests a divorce. Inspired by the urban legend of a boy named Fisher who attempted to fly away on his bicycle over a cliff nicknamed “The Wishing Spot”, the two convert their eponymous Radio Flyer toy wagon into an airplane in the hopes of sending Bobby and Shane away from harm. They draw up a schematic diagram with wings and an engine and scavenge numerous parts, secretly using The King's tools to build the aircraft in their shed.