It’s been 40 years since Kevin Bacon yelled “Let’s Dance!” in a grain mill at his senior prom.
“Footloose” was released in 1984. It follows Ren McCormack, portrayed by Kevin Bacon, as he moves from Chicago to a small conservative town. He clashes with just about everyone, including the town minister, when he tries to overturn the ban on dancing. It also starred John Lithgow, Lori Singer, Dianne Wiest, and Sarah Jessica Parker in one of her first roles!
“Footloose” was a big box-office hit, and its popularity is still going strong today. The film’s soundtrack is guaranteed to get you up outta your seat with songs like “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” by Deniece Williams, “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler, and of course, “Footloose,” by Kenny Loggins.
The movie is loosely based on the town of Elmore City, Oklahoma, but it was actually filmed in Utah County, Utah and Payson High School.
The school still has photos from the movie in the hallways, Ren’s green locker has a plaque that reads “Congrats! You’ve got Kevin Bacon’s locker!” and Bacon’s clothing is on display, too!
Now, in honor of the film’s 40th anniversary, students at Payson are hoping to pull off something really big. They’re calling it “Footloose Year at Payson High” and they’re hoping to get Bacon to come to their prom on April 20!
Students are encouraging people to use the hashtag #BacontoPayson when posting on social media, they’ve held a bacon cook-off, and recreated several of Bacon’s films. Utah Governor Spencer Cox even formally invited Bacon to Payson’s prom with a short video on X, formerly Twitter. “Utah’s preserved the legacy this film left on our state, so we’d like to formally invite you back to the Beehive State to celebrate four decades of ‘Footloose’ with us,” Gov. Cox said.
Payson already has Bacon’s charity, SixDegrees, lined up to be at the high school the morning of April 20 to put together humanitarian kits. Bacon himself told “Entertainment Tonight” a few months ago to “stay tuned” regarding any potential 40th anniversary celebration.
So we’re thinking the odds are looking pretty good for Ren McCormack to bust out those dance moves once again! We will for sure stay tuned – just about two months and counting!
