The Films of 1989
Trivia, Word Search, and a Quiz
On October 13 Look Who's Talking is released and becomes the fourth highest grossing film for the year. This romantic comedy stars John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, and Bruce Willis who voices the thoughts of a wise-cracking baby named Mikey. Bruce Willis is reportedly paid $10 million, which is the highest fee to date for voice-over work on a film.
In sad news, on July 10 animation voice actor Mel Blanc dies at the age of 81. Under his exclusive contract with Warner Brother, he voiced most of their major characters including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Same, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, and The Roadrunner. He would later voice such memorable characters as Barney Rubble, Dino the Dinosaur, Cosmo Spacely and others for Hanna-Barbera.
Here's some more trivia from the world of cinema in 1989:
- Actors Rory Culkin and Daniel Radcliffe are both born in July, two days apart. Future star Brie Larson is also born this year.
- Stars making their film debuts include Adrien Brody and Kirsten Dunst in the anthology New York Stories, Bryce Dallas Howard in the comedy-drama Parenthood, Tobey Maguire in the teen adventure The Wizard, John C. Reilly in the war drama Casualties of War, Sam Rockwell in the horror film Clownhouse, Tom Sizemore in the prison drama Lock Up, and Emma Thompson in the comedy The Tall Guy. Michael Moore makes his directorial debut with Roger & Me.
- On November 8, Japanese electronics giant Sony acquires Columbia Pictures for $3.4 billion.
- Jessica Tandy, at age 80, becomes the oldest performer to ever win a Best Actress Oscar. This was for her performance as Daisy Werthan in Driving Miss Daisy.
- Director Sergio Leone and Lee Van Cleef both die this year. Leone once directed Van Cleef in his epic spaghetti western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). Also dying this year are Bette Davis, star of All About Eve (1950), and John Cassavetes of Rosemary's Baby (1968).
1989 Films Word Search
The films in the following two word searches were films released in 1989. Just like all the films on this page (unless otherwise noted).
The first word search is easy: 20 film titles hidden in a small 22 × 20 letter grid. The second is more challenging: 36 film titles in a large 34 × 32 letter grid.
So load your printer with standard 8.5" × 11" paper, download, hit print and start solving. Our PDF files print out beautifully and are always free to download on our site.
More Word Searches
These word search puzzles are on particular films from 1989. They each have 36 terms hidden in a large 34 × 32 letter grid.
Uncle Buck Field of Dreams Dead Poets Society Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
10 Question Quiz on 1989 Films
How well do you know what came out on the Silver Screen in 1989? Take our quiz and find out. There's no time limit and no scoring. Just have fun!
1. Which unfortunate comic actor was first offered the role of The Joker in Batman in order to bait Jack Nicholson into ultimately accepting and starring in the film?
2. Complete the following quote from Kevin Costner's Field of Dreams: "If you build it ___."
(Careful, this is often misquoted!)
3. How does toddler Gage die in Stephen King's Pet Sematary?
4. All of the following stars had cameo appearances in Ghostbusters II, except for one who had his scene entirely deleted from the final cut. Who was this?
5. What does Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox, hop onto when trying to get away from bully Griff in Back to the Future II?
6. Where does Clark Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, take his family in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation?
7. In one memorable scene in Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, a miniaturized film character drops into a bowl of cereal which now appears gigantic. What brand of cereal is this?
8. When does Harry (Billy Crystal) first meet Sally (Meg Ryan) in Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally?
9. How does John Candy make a living in Uncle Buck?
10. Which of the following are animated feature films released in 1989?
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