Marty McFly

Martin Seamus "Marty" McFly[1]
Back to the Future character
Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly
Portrayed by	Michael J. Fox
Voiced by	David Kaufman (The Animated Series) AJ LoCascio (The Game) Michael J. Fox
Appeared in	Part I, Part II, Part III, The Animated Series, The Game
Information
Occupation	Student
Original time	1985
Time traveler	Yes
Years visited	1885, 1955, 1985A, 2015

Martin Seamus "Marty" McFly, Sr. is the protagonist in the Back to the Future film trilogy, and is portrayed by actor Michael J. Fox. Marty was also the protagonist in the animated series where he was voiced by David Kaufman. In the videogame by Telltale Games, he is voiced by AJ LoCascio.^[2]

Eric Stoltz was originally cast as Marty McFly, but after five weeks of shooting scenes for the first film, director Robert Zemeckis and executive producer Steven Spielberg chose to re-cast the role to Fox.

Biography

Marty was born in Hill Valley, California in 1968^[3] to a family of Irish descent. Little is known about Marty's life prior to the first Back to the Future film, except for the fact that he accidentally set his parents' living room rug on fire when he was 8 (which we know from a statement of Marty's to his future parents).^[3]

In 1985, Marty plays lead guitar with his group The Pinheads^[3] and likes listening to Huey Lewis and the News, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Van Halen. He is also a talented skateboarder and proven to be an excellent shot with a gun, honed by endlessly playing shooting games such as Wild Gunman at his local 7-Eleven.^[4][5]

Although Marty is often accident prone and sometimes thought to lack critical thinking skills, he is nevertheless brave in the face of danger and can be very resourceful and clever. He has shown some good and basic street fighting skills in the movies. He often throws punches in hand-to-hand confrontations. His major character flaw is his pride, which causes him to take unnecessary risks to show others that he is not chicken, as demonstrated throughout various points throughout the trilogy.^[5] However, in the third film, when his ancestor Seamus McFly points out that Seamus's brother, Martin, was killed in an argument where someone questioned his bravery, Marty began to re-think his stance on what other people thought of him. This was highlighted when Marty refused to race Needles, despite Needles goading him into a race, thus avoiding the "automobile accident" involving the Rolls Royce, therefore changing his future for the better.

Family

Marty is the youngest of three children from George and Lorraine McFly. He has a brother Dave and a sister Linda. His secondary entourage consists of girlfriend Jennifer Parker and best friend Emmett Brown, a scientist whom Marty and Jennifer call "Doc." There is an impression that Marty is embarrassed by his family and does not spend much time at home, preferring to hang out with Doc, Jennifer, or the guys in his band, The Pinheads.^[3]

How exactly Marty and Doc met has never been explained, although a draft script for the first film states that, in 1983, Doc turned up at Marty's garage one day and offered him $50 a week, plus free beer and use of his record collection, to clean his garage.^[6] This explanation is not accepted by most fans, as it contradicts the characterizations of Marty and Doc as seen in the finished film. Writers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale say they once considered expanding on their relationship, but decided against it, reasoning that children and adolescents are often drawn to eccentric or mysterious neighbors.

By 2015, Marty has married his girlfriend Jennifer and they had twins, Martin "Marty" Jr. and Marlene, who were born on April 28, 1998 (both played by Michael J. Fox).^[4] However, the events at the end of Back To The Future Part III, where Marty avoided the race with Needles, may affect the outcome of events as seen in Part II.

Back to the Future: The Animated Series

In the animated series, Marty and Jennifer study at Hill Valley College after graduating from Hill Valley High School. Marty spends a lot of time visiting the Brown house where Doc, Clara, and their sons now live. He continues to travel through time alongside Jennifer, Doc, and the rest of the Brown family on many of their adventures, in the process learning a lot about his family's ancestry and future.

The animated series says that Marty has not completely overcome his "chicken" problem established in the films. For instance, in the episode "Roman Holiday", Bifficus Antanneny taunts Marty into a chariot race by calling him "pullus," the Latin word for "chicken."

An episode set in 2091 ("Solar Sailors") establishes that Marty's music becomes famous to Elvis-like proportions, as there are Marty impersonators mimicking his act on stage. His great-granddaughter Marta remarks, "If only my great-grandfather was still alive to see that his music continues on..."

Legacy

In 2008, Marty McFly was selected by Empire magazine as the 39th greatest movie character of all time.^[7]

The British band McFly was named after Marty McFly because the vocalist Tom Fletcher is a fan of the Back to the Future trilogy.^[8]

Relient K wrote a song about Marty McFly called "Hello McFly" on their eponymous first album.

New Found Glory did a song based on Marty McFly called "Back To The Future" under their side-project International Superheroes of Hardcore^[9]

Canadian skate punk band "Darryl's Grocery Bag" wrote a song about the character entitled "Marty", which was released on the 1998 compilation "Wet Feet", put out by the independent Canadian label "Meter Records". ^[10] The song starts out with a voice snippet of Biff Tannen from the first "Back To The Future" movie.

References

1. ^ Telltale, Incorporated. Back to the Future: The Game - Episode 3: Citizen Brown. (March 28, 2011)
2. ^ Back To The Future Episode 1: It's About Time Video Game, Exclusive Behind The Scenes Part II: Hey McFly! Gametrailers
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Back to the Future (DVD). 1985. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Back to the Future Part II. 1989. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Back to the Future Part III. 1990. 
6. ^ The "Back to the Future" Universe - kristensheley.com
7. ^ "Empire's The 100 Greatest Movie Characters". Empire Magazine. http://www.empireonline.com/100-greatest-movie-characters/default.asp?c=39. Retrieved 2010-05-21. 
8. ^ "McFly - Harry chats to ilikemusic.com". ilikemusic.com. September 2004. http://www.ilikemusic.com/interviews/-684/7. Retrieved 2007-11-23. 
9. ^ Lyrics of "Back To The Future" by ISHC
10. ^ "Wet Feet" compilation album track list

External links

• Marty McFly at the Internet Movie Database