Calgary Expo: Back to the Future again? Maybe not, but Fox, Lloyd love reliving the past with you
Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd reunited at Calgary Expo on Friday to reminisce about Back to the Future, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and its two sequels. (Damien Wood / CTV News Calgary)
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Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Bringing McFly's Gibson back from the past, er, future
The cherry-red Gibson ES-345 Michael J. Fox plays as Marty McFly in the 1985 film Back to the Future is, to use an overused word, iconic. It's also been missing for decades. And now, in honour of the movie's 40th anniversary, Gibson wants to find it. The guitar brand has launched a worldwide missing-guitar campaign complete with a tip submission website and 1-800 line to assist with the search, which will be featured in a forthcoming documentary called Lost to the Future. Jason Goodrich photo Huey Lewis (left) and Michael J. Fox took part in a teaser video asking for the public's help in finding the guitar. Jason Goodrich photo Huey Lewis (left) and Michael J. Fox took part in a teaser video asking for the public's help in finding the guitar. Gibson also released a buzzy teaser video last week featuring Back to the Future stars Fox, Lea Thompson, Christopher Lloyd and Huey Lewis — who had a cameo in the film — asking the public for their help. 'We're trying to find the guitar I played in Back to the Future,' Fox says in the video. 'It's somewhere lost in the space-time continuum, or it's in some Teamster's garage.' 'This is a global search that we're inviting fans to embark on with us. We're taking this to the back alleys of London and the pawn shops of Brazil, the prop houses of L.A. to the streets of Winnipeg,' Gibson's media director Todd Harapiak tells the Free Press. Harapiak, as it happens, is from Winnipeg. 'Who knows where this guitar is?' It's a guitar that's long captured the imagination of filmmaker Doc Crotzer, who is directing Lost to the Future. He even has photographic evidence of himself as a little kid recreating that famous scene of Marty McFly performing Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, sliding across the floor. '(The idea) traces back to when we each first saw the movie, honestly, and it inspired each of us, like so many other kids of our generation, to pick up guitars, to get into rock 'n' roll,' says Crotzer, whose 1983 birth year puts him squarely in that demographic. 'The through line of the documentary, of course, is the search for this instrument. But the heart of the documentary is what the movie and that scene and that guitar means for an entire generation of people who were inspired by it in so many different ways.' Mark Agnesi, Gibson's director of brand experience, has been looking for that guitar for 16 years, fascinated by the lore and mystery surrounding it. Steve Rose photo From left: Mark Agnesi, Gibson's director of brand experience, Gibson's media director Todd Harapiak, and filmmaker Doc Crotzer Steve Rose photo From left: Mark Agnesi, Gibson's director of brand experience, Gibson's media director Todd Harapiak, and filmmaker Doc Crotzer How the story goes: Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis realized the guitar was missing when it was needed for 1989's Back to the Future: Part II and it's been lost ever since. 'My story with it starts in 2009 when I became the general manager of Norman's Rare Guitars in Los Angeles,' Agnesi says. 'Norm rented them the guitar for the movie. 'And obviously that guitar is the reason why I play guitar. That scene is the whole reason that has sent me on this journey.' Universal Pictures Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly: playing the Gibson 'like a-ringin' a bell.' Universal Pictures Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly: playing the Gibson 'like a-ringin' a bell.' Agnesi figures Marty McFly's guitar would be a late 1960 or 1961 model. They do not have the serial number for it, which makes things a bit more challenging, because there are hundreds of red 345s from that era floating around. But this one has a distinguishing feature. 'Gibson ES-345s have what we call split parallelogram inlays — two parallelograms with a little piece of wood in between there. All of them have this,' Agnesi explains. All of them except the cherry-red Gibson ES-345 in question. 'If you look at the 12th fret, you will notice there is a solid parallelogram that's not supposed to be there,' Agnesi says. 'That's the smoking gun.' Since the tip site went up last week, Gibson has seen about 100 people per hour either signing up to stay updated or submitting tips, which the team will now have to sort through and vet. They fully expect to be sent on some wild goose chases, but that's part of the fun, too. Any tip is a good tip, Agnesi says. 'Did you see it in the '90s? Did you see it at a store? Did you see it at an auction? Did you see it on the wall somewhere? Do you know somebody who has it? Like any kind of tip that we can get to piece together what happened from 1985 and the chain of command all the way to where it is now.' The hopeful outcome is that they find it and are able to display it somewhere so that other fans can enjoy it. They also hope to reunite it with Fox. Steve Rose photo Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd takes part in the documentary Lost to the Future. Steve Rose photo Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd takes part in the documentary Lost to the Future. 'We don't expect whoever has it to just hand it over to us,' Crotzer says. 'But there's something poetic, whether it's for an hour or forever, about reuniting the guitar with Michael J. Fox, especially in the documentary when you hear how he talks about that guitar and how special it was to him.' When all three men talk about meeting Fox, they are instantly transformed into '80s kids again. 'Yeah, the whole 'don't meet your heroes' saying? Does not apply,' Crotzer says. 'One of the things that I really hope that we can accomplish with this, too, is I want Michael J. Fox to get his due as a guitar hero,' Agnesi says. 'He's a lot of people's guitar hero, and because he wasn't in a band, he's always overlooked. But Michael J. Fox needs to get his proper due as the guitar hero that he is.' And if they don't find the guitar? 'Oh, we're going to find it,' Agnesi says. 'I don't know where, but we're going to find it.' Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Jen ZorattiColumnist Jen Zoratti is a columnist and feature writer working in the Arts & Life department, as well as the author of the weekly newsletter NEXT. A National Newspaper Award finalist for arts and entertainment writing, Jen is a graduate of the Creative Communications program at RRC Polytech and was a music writer before joining the Free Press in 2013. Read more about Jen. Every piece of reporting Jen produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print – part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Global News
04-06-2025
- Global News
Search for lost ‘Back to the Future' guitar back on, 40 years after film debut
Marty McFly grabbed a guitar in Back to the Future and rocked out with the band at a 1950s high school dance, helping him narrowly avoid blinking out of existence before time-travelling back to the 1980s. The guitar, in real life, wasn't as lucky. Filmmakers went looking for the instrument while making the movie's 1989 sequel, but even now it's nowhere to be found. Four decades after the blockbuster film debuted, the guitar's creator has launched a search for the iconic Cherry Red Gibson ES-345. View image in full screen Michael J Fox leaping in air with guitar in a scene from the film 'Back To The Future', 1985. Universal / Getty Images Gibson, which is based in Nashville, is asking the public for help tracking it down as the movie turns 40 and as the company produces a new documentary about the search and the film, Lost to the Future. Story continues below advertisement In a video by Gibson, with the movie's theme song playing in the background, Back to the Future stars such as Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Harry Waters Jr. make a cinematic plea. There's also a surprise appearance by Huey Lewis, whose band Huey Lewis and the News performed the soundtrack's headliner song, The Power of Love. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Lloyd, in the cadence of Doc Brown, says in the video that the guitar has been 'lost to the future.' 'It's somewhere lost in the space-time continuum,' says Fox, who played McFly. 'Or it's in some Teamster's garage.' 1:21 Michael J. Fox plays 'Johnny B Goode' with Coldplay during show in New York City In the film, McFly steps in for an injured band member at the 1955 school dance with the theme 'Enchantment under the Sea' playing the guitar as students slow dance to Earth Angel. He then leads Marvin Barry and the Starlighters in a rendition of Johnny B. Goode, calling it an oldie where he comes from, even though the 1958 song doesn't exist yet for his audience. Story continues below advertisement Fox said he wanted McFly to riff through his favourite guitarists' signature styles — Jimi Hendrix behind the head, Pete Townshend's windmill and the Eddie Van Halen hammer. After digging and dancing to Johnny B. Goode, the students at the dance fall into an awkward silence as McFly's riffs turn increasingly wild. 'I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet,' McFly says. 'But your kids are gonna love it.'
CBC
04-06-2025
- CBC
Guitar company wants to find Marty McFly's Gibson in Back To The Future
Marty McFly's iconic guitar, used for the Johnny Be Good musical number in the 1985 comedy Back To The Future, went missing shortly after filming 40 years ago. Doc Crotzer made a new documentary about the missing instrument called Lost to the Future, and Mark Agnesi from Gibson guitars says that numerous viewers have gotten in touch with tips.
