Colin Perkins
Chris Farley as Shrek and Other Lost Performances
by Colin Perkins - July 16, 2010 - 1:00 PM

I recently finished reading The Chris Farley Show – a biography of the late, great comedy star. The book features a fascinating rundown of Farley’s life from growing up in Wisconsin to his days onstage in the Chicago improv scene to SNL and through his brief movie career, all told through painfully honest interviews with his family members, best friends and co-stars. Reading it only made me love and miss the genius that brought us Matt Foley the Motivational Speaker, Bennett Brauer and Tommy Callahan all the more.

One of the most interesting parts of the book for me were the few pages which discussed Farley’s work as the original voice of the character Shrek. We all now know Mike Myers as the big, lovable green ogre. But most people don’t know that the role was originally Farley’s – and according to the book, his version was much different than the one we ended up seeing on screen. Plus, it’s implied in the book that the character was designed to look like him.

Locked away somewhere in a vault in Hollywood are the audio recordings of Farley as Shrek. I don’t suspect we’ll ever hear them, but man would I love to. There are so many cases like this – stars recast half-way through a movie, musicians who socked away a partially completed album, novels rumored to exist in the estate of deceased authors.

So, my question for you is this: What hidden pop culture gems would you like to get your hands on?

(For example, footage of Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly.)

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Comments (40)

  1. For all those intersted…
    Shrek came out in 2001
    Farley died in 1997.

    posted by Where in the World is Carmen San Diego on 7-16-2010 at 1:05 pm

  2. So it took 4-5 years to produce that crappy movie?

    posted by Craig on 7-16-2010 at 1:11 pm

  3. There would have been years of prep for Shrek. They may have even started and then stopped work after Farley’s death.

    I’d like to get my hands on the deleted final scene from The Shining.

    posted by Jeremy on 7-16-2010 at 1:19 pm

  4. @Jeremy:
    The Shining is one of my favorite movies. What is the deleted final scene?

    posted by Colin Perkins on 7-16-2010 at 1:26 pm

  5. I do not if anything was ever actually shot, but I would love to see footage of AI that Stanley Kubrik was working on before he handed it off the Spielberg. Supposedly robots designed by Chris Cunningham, which is what lead to the Bjork “All is Full of Love” video.

    posted by Stuart on 7-16-2010 at 1:47 pm

  6. I’m dying to see the unaired American pilot of “The IT Crowd”. And the Eric Stoltz thing, too.

    posted by CJ on 7-16-2010 at 1:51 pm

  7. I love the IT Crowd! They made an American version?

    posted by Amanda on 7-16-2010 at 2:17 pm

  8. It could be just a rumor, but I read somewhere that OJ Simpson was cast to play the Terminator before Swarzenegger (did I spell that right?). I don’t think any footage was ever shot with OJ. Internet rumor or “for reals”? Anyone know?

    posted by Eric on 7-16-2010 at 2:23 pm

  9. How about the weird and controversial holocaust picture that Jerry Lewis made called “The Day the Clown Died? Lewis refuses to discuss the project and the whereabouts of the negative is unknown. Richard Pryor shot part of a film called Uncle Tom’s Fairy Tales or something like that…not much exists of that movie either…and what about Buddy Ebsen as the Tin Man…I think some of that has been available on deluxe editions of Wizard of Oz

    posted by Daryl on 7-16-2010 at 2:34 pm

  10. I’ve heard about this Farley as Shrek thing before. I LOVE Chris Farley and really would love to hear his version of Shrek. I think it’d be fascinating.

    posted by Katie Rose on 7-16-2010 at 2:49 pm

  11. There are very few out there, but posters were made for “Revenge of the Jedi” prior to the movie being called “Return of the Jedi”.

    A friend of mine had one.

    posted by Wayne on 7-16-2010 at 3:02 pm

  12. I know it’s not exactly a hidden pop culture gem, but I would like to see Stieg Larsson’s fourth novel completed. The Millenium series is a great series, Lisbeth Salander is an intriguing character.

    Here’s a story about the whole thing. I NEED to read this book :(
    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2012368243_larsson16.html?syndication=rss

    posted by rikki on 7-16-2010 at 3:13 pm

  13. I don’t think any actual materials exist outside of the concept, but Face/Off was originally set to star Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. Seriously, just IMAGINE THAT MOVIE!

    posted by Austin on 7-16-2010 at 3:13 pm

  14. @CJ, me too! I started watching it on Netflix and loved it, searched online and saw the NBC IT Crowd “Coming this fall” page. Unfortunately it was for Fall of 2008 and it never happened. Moss from the British version was to reprise his role, and the guy who now stars on “Community” was going to play Roy.

    posted by Witty Nickname on 7-16-2010 at 3:17 pm

  15. Scorsese’s original 1978 vision of “Gangs of New York” with Meryl Streep.

    posted by Aaron on 7-16-2010 at 3:29 pm

  16. I’ve heard rumours that Neil Young and Ronnie Van Zandt (of Lynryd Skynryd fame) were talking about an album collaboration before Skynryd’s helicopter crashed. Would have loved to hear that.

    posted by Bert on 7-16-2010 at 3:39 pm

  17. 1) An anthology of JD Salinger’s short stories including “Hapworth 16, 1924″. They originally ran in magazines like the New Yorker but are near impossible to find now.

    2) The original Beach Boys’ _Smile_.

    posted by Kevin on 7-16-2010 at 4:11 pm

  18. I’ve seen the pilot to the American version of The IT Crowd. It was bloody awful. However, they’re back to airing new episodes (of the British version, of course) after what seems like an eternal wait. I had pretty much given up hope that the show would be back. All is now right with the world.

    Anyone seen the original version of Big Bang Theory? Same actors for Sheldon and Leonard, but pretty much everything else about the show was reworked, thankfully. The original version was absolutely cringeworthy!

    posted by Michigan Mom on 7-16-2010 at 4:15 pm

  19. I want a Butcher cover of one of The Beatles albums.

    I also want Pepsi Cola Addict by June Gibbons. It’s a rare book written by a woman who was mute and spent time in a mental institution with her twin sister.

    posted by Dany on 7-16-2010 at 4:49 pm

  20. The rest of Mozart’s Requiem, as he intended it.

    posted by jon on 7-16-2010 at 6:30 pm

  21. I wouldn’t mind hearing The Beatles’ lost track, “Carnival of light”. A couple of recordings have been put on Youtube which claim to be the genuine article, but the truth is “Carnival” has never been released to the public. Supposedly, it’s even creepier-sounding than Revolution 9, if that can be imagined. But still, sounds interesting to me.

    posted by Araxie on 7-16-2010 at 7:44 pm

  22. A copy of Sasaki Isao’s Ballad of Ultraseven ~Real Spirit Version~.

    They use the Ballad for the actual show, but on compilations they use a ‘standard’ version with changed lyrics. A bit sad, because I really like the lines they changed out; they speak of family and balancing courage with mercy.

    posted by Bwee on 7-16-2010 at 9:28 pm

  23. …And by actual show, I mean the later Ultraseven OVAs. Sorry, brainfart.

    posted by Bwee on 7-16-2010 at 9:31 pm

  24. This car.

    http://johnnycat.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/nimoy_64_buick_riviera21.jpg?w=450&h=557

    posted by Johnny Cat on 7-16-2010 at 9:55 pm

  25. @Bert I’m pretty sure Lynyrd Skynyrd hated Neil Young… hence the line in “Sweet Home Alabama”

    Well I heard mister Young sing about her
    Well, I heard ole Neil put her down
    Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
    A Southern man don’t need him around anyhow

    that’s what I had always known anyway..

    posted by Richard the IV on 7-16-2010 at 11:30 pm

  26. Eric-

    That’s actually true about OJ Simpson being James Cameron’s first choice to play the T-1000 in The Terminator. The idea was to make him blend in, to be more stealthy. For whatever reason, Cameron changed his mind and went with Ah-nuld.

    posted by Anthony on 7-17-2010 at 12:23 am

  27. Shrek was designed to look like Michael Eisner, not Chris Farley. It was Jeffrey Katzenberg’s (Dreamworks principal) F-you to Eisner, as payback for Eisner firing Katzenberg from Disney.

    posted by minnehaha on 7-17-2010 at 12:23 am

  28. I hate to sound like the nitpicking nerd (tho let’s be honest, would I be writing this if I wasn’t?), but James Cameron never wanted O.J. Simpson as the Terminator. He was, however, the studio’s choice for the role. Fortunately, Cameron fought against it and won, tho I suppose it would have added an unintended dose of reality to the movie.

    posted by Lev on 7-17-2010 at 1:21 am

  29. I remember reading that Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and REM’s Michael Stipe were in the process of writing an album together when Cobain killed himself. I would have loved to have heard the music those two would have made together.

    posted by dan j on 7-17-2010 at 2:34 am

  30. @Richard the IV:
    I don’t know if Skynard “hated” Neil Young, per se. The lyrics you mentioned reference Young’s song “Southern Man” but (I’ve heard) Young liked “Sweet Home Alabama” enough to actually cover it on stage. That doesn’t mean that Skynard didn’t hate Young or hold a grudge, but it leans against those ideas.

    posted by VitaminD on 7-17-2010 at 1:40 pm

  31. There is a lost scene from Dr Strangelove where all the muckity mucks in the war room get in a huge pie fight like the old Marx brothers movies. They scrapped it b/c they were all having so much fun and laughing and Kubrick wanted it to be played straight, like the other funny scenes of the movie.

    posted by Boobus on 7-17-2010 at 9:46 pm

  32. John Hughes was rumored to have put together a three hour version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

    posted by BKReporter on 7-18-2010 at 12:41 am

  33. Personally, I’d love to see Buddy Epson’s footage in the Wizard of Oz (FYI, He was the original tinman cast but had to drop out after getting sick from the face paint)
    That or Shirley Temple as Dorothy, as she was originally considered for the role.

    Also, Cameron Diaz in Mortal Combat. She broke her wrist in auditions.

    posted by Jen on 7-18-2010 at 2:37 am

  34. I’m sure there’s no footage, but I know that The Three Amigos was supposed to be with John Belushi. As much as I love that movie as is, I’ve always wondered how it would have been with Belushi. He would have been hysterical as the former child star, Ned Nederlander, though I can’t remember who he was slated to play.

    posted by shirleyfeeney on 7-18-2010 at 4:29 am

  35. actually, Jen, I seem to recall years ago seeing the footage of Buddy Ebsen in costume for The Wizard of Oz. He had a violent reaction to the makeup, but…you know, I think it was part of a video I had that went with the 50th Anniversary edition of the movie, though that would have been on VHS. If memory serves he had this shock of black hair on top of his head, and I think he was actually dancing in the costume so they could see how it was coming along.

    posted by shirleyfeeney on 7-18-2010 at 4:32 am

  36. RE: Skynyrd/Young feud –
    Legend has it that Van Zant was buried in a Neil Young shirt as a final thumb of the nose to the singer. However, I don’t know if there’s any truth to the statement. It’s just something I’ve heard.

    posted by ahi on 7-18-2010 at 7:49 am

  37. There’s a US version of “Spaced” somewhere on the internet, but it’s not very good. I guess it never got aired because it blew, but it’s out there.

    posted by Mike on 7-19-2010 at 11:09 am

  38. Actually, Neil Young and the members of Lynard Skynard were good friends. The line in Sweet Home Alabama was a playful rib towards their friend.

    posted by Craig on 7-25-2010 at 8:17 pm

  39. It is released on the Clerks X DVD but one of the most shocking endings(thankfully changed). In which the quickstop gets robbed and Dante is killed. Kevin Smith was thankfully urged after the initial smaller showings to change the ending, and did obviously :)

    posted by nathaniel on 10-13-2010 at 2:43 pm

  40. Stuart Townsend was the original actor to be given the role of Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Townsend was present throughout pre-production training (sword-handling, etc.) along with the other actors, but was replaced at the last minute by Viggo Mortensen. Dodged a bullet there.

    http://archives.theonering.net/movie/cast/townsend.html

    posted by dagnabbit on 10-13-2010 at 5:07 pm

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