'''Caveman''' is a
1981 slapstick comedy film financed by
George Harrison, written and directed by
Carl Gottlieb and starring
Ringo Starr.
Cast
★
Ringo Starr as Atouk
★
Barbara Bach as Lana
★
Dennis Quaid as Lar
★
Shelley Long as Tala
★
Jack Gilford as Gog
★
Evan C. Kim as Nook
★
Carl Lumbly as Bork
★
John Matuszak as Tonda
★
Avery Schreiber as Ock
★
Richard Moll as Abominable Snowman
Plot
Atouk is a bullied and scrawny
caveman living in "One Zillion BC". He lusts after the beautiful but shallow Lana, who is the mate of Tonda, their tribe's physically imposing leader. After being banished along with his friend Lar, Atouk falls in with a band of assorted misfits, among them the comely Tala and the elderly blind man Gog. The group has ongoing encounters with hungry dinosaurs, and rescues Lar from a "nearby ice age", where they encounter an
abominable snowman. In the course of these adventures they discover drugs, fire, cooking, music, and learn how to walk fully upright. Atouk uses these advancements to lead an attack on Tonda, overthrowing him and becoming the tribe's new leader. He discards Lana and takes Tala as his mate, and they live happily ever after.
Production
The movie was filmed in the Sierra De Organos near
Sombrerete, Zacatecas,
Mexico, and features
stop-motion animated
dinosaurs constructed by
David W. Allen, including one memorable scene where a ''
Tyrannosaurus rex'' becomes intoxicated by a
Cannabis-type drug.
The film's dialog is almost entirely in "caveman" language, which is very simple and can easily be understood by the audience: "ool" is food, "zug zug" is sex, "araka" is fire, "pooka" is broken, "macha" is monster and so on. The only English dialog is used for comedic effect, when it is spoken by a caveman played by Evan Kim who speaks modern English but is understood by none of the other characters.
Trivia
During its theatrical release, cards with translations for the
Caveman language were given to theater customers.
References in Popular Culture
In the 2004 apocalyptic film ''
The Day After Tomorrow'', Jason Evans (
Dash Mihok), in response to his friend (portrayed by
Dennis Quaid) asked do you think we will be able to survive a second
Ice Age, he responds, "You were there for the first one," potentially a reference to his role in ''Caveman''. Interestingly, Mihok plays one of the
GEICO Cavemen.
[1]
External links
★
★
Cavespeak: A Dictionary Of Cavese