Fans are only just realising this popular 80s film is based on a true story

It dominated the container bureau successful 1984 and catapulted Kevin Bacon into fame, but it’s a little-known information that Footloose is really based connected a existent story.

The movie follows Ren McCormack, played by Kevin, present 66, arsenic helium and his household relocate from Chicago to the tiny municipality of Bomont, wherever they look a bid of caller and unexpected challenges.

The biggest of them all? The municipality assembly has banned dancing and stone music, meaning his caller precocious school isn’t capable to clasp a prom.

After falling for Ariel, played by Lori Singer, 66, Ren is determined to transportation the assembly to alteration their minds and situation their law.

But contempt his champion efforts, the seemingly unusual instrumentality remains. Ren isn’t enactment off, though; if anything, helium is much determined than ever, and the radical of teenagers determine to propulsion their prom anyway.

It’s a communicative with a blessed ending, made adjacent happier by the information that it is based connected existent events.

Founded by James Elmore successful the 1860s, Elmore City, a tiny municipality successful Oklahoma with a colonisation of conscionable implicit 700 people, lived done the main events successful Footloose.

After their assembly attempted to power intoxicant depletion by outlawing dancing successful 1898, the citizens of the municipality weren’t legally allowed to creation until 1980 erstwhile the set was lifted.

But it wasn’t an casual choice, and it would not person been imaginable without the assistance of the section precocious schoolhouse students, peculiarly Mary Ann Temple-Lee and the precocious Leonard Coffee.

Leading the charge, the brace created contention amongst their neighbours and attracted attraction from media each astir the country, each successful the sanction of dance.

‘It was truthful volatile successful the community. … And we conscionable wanted to creation and to person a existent prom,’ Mary, 60 told The Oklahoman recently.

The brace were precocious schoolhouse sweethearts astatine the clip and determined to person a existent prom. They were sick of raising money, decorating the schoolhouse cafeteria, having a meal and past going bowling. They wanted to dance.

‘I asked, “Well, wherefore can’t we person a prom similar different schools do?” And it went similar wildfire. Right aft I asked that question, the remainder of the people was, like, ‘Yeah, we privation to bash that,’ Leonard said successful a 2010 interrogation with the quality outlet.

As the lawsuit would beryllium taking spot astatine schoolhouse and frankincense classed arsenic a backstage event, the teens would person to person their schoolhouse committee to guarantee it happened, a committee of which Mary’s dada was the president of.

The committee was divided 50/50 with her begetter being the swaying ballot for the teens to person their prom, luckily for them, helium was connected their side.

‘I was truthful arrogant of him,’ Mary explained. ‘But we had truthful overmuch unit connected us. … We had to amusement that the prom was a good, affirmative thing. It was showing that kids tin person a level head, kids tin beryllium calm, kids tin bash the close thing.’

Due to the value of the board’s decision, the prom was attended not lone by the school’s students and household members but besides media.

It rapidly caught the attraction of songwriter and screenwriter Dean Pitchford, who was truthful intrigued by the communicative that helium travelled to the municipality for probe purposes earlier penning the publication and soundtrack.

Becoming an planetary sensation and grossing $80 cardinal (£61.1m) astatine the container office, the seventh highest-grossing movie successful 1984, it was besides nominated for 2 Academy Awards for champion archetypal song, 5 Grammy awards and 1 Golden Globe.

‘It’s an unthinkable movie. It conscionable didn’t represent america the mode we were. I’ll enactment it that way,’ Mary said. ‘We were highly ornery, but no, we were not wild.’

To proceed connected the bequest of Mary, Leonard and their classmate’s achievements, the schoolhouse has held a prom each twelvemonth since 1980 and successful 2010, began the Footloose Fest, which takes spot each 3rd Sunday successful April.

The deed opus Footloose is besides played astatine each prom.

‘This was the astir breathtaking happening that’s astir apt ever happened successful this municipality … truthful we wanted to bash thing to observe Footloose,’ Mary said.

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