The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns
Encyclopedia
The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns is a 1999 Hallmark Entertainment made-for-TV fantasy movie. It stars Randy Quaid
, Colm Meaney
, Kieran Culkin, Roger Daltrey
, Caroline Carver
and Whoopi Goldberg
. The film contains two main stories that eventually intertwine: the first being the story of an American businessman who visits Ireland and encounters magical leprechauns and the second, a story of a pair of star-crossed lovers who happen to be a fairy and a leprechaun, belonging to opposing sides of a magical war. It contains many references to Romeo and Juliet
such as two lovers taking poison and feuding clans.
Emma Townshend
's song "We Can Fly Away" was the theme song for the film.
), ostensibly wants to spend a calm holiday in the sleepy Irish
town Kerry and rents a little cottage
there. He is overworked and wants to use his holiday to relax. During a hike, he sees Irish beauty Kathleen Fitzpatrick (Orla Brady
) swimming naked. Kathleen catches him and chases him off, but Jack is smitten with her beauty. That evening, Jack tries to drown his sorrows in Irish whiskey, when he has an encounter with an invisible leprechaun
. They struggle for the bottle of whiskey, and Jack falls, knocking himself unconscious. The next morning, he sees the little man again and chases him to a nearby river, where the leprechaun falls in. Jack jumps in after him, saving his life (because water is the only thing that can kill the immortal leprechauns), then Seamus Muldoon (Colm Meaney
), the saved leprechaun, becomes Jack's new friend. Seamus introduces Jack to his wife Mary (Zoë Wanamaker
) and his son, Mickey (Daniel Betts), and shows him the mystical world of the leprechauns.
The "solitary fairies" (which includes leprechauns) are a happy people, who love to play tricks on others—most of all on the snobbish "trooping" fairies
. The leprechauns and the trooping fairies have been enemies for ages, but the Grand Banshee
(Whoopi Goldberg
) has decreed that they must stop fighting each other. Jack gets used to the little people he shares the house with, because they help him to get to know Kathleen.
While out taking photographs of the houses in this sleepy town, Jack comes upon Kathleen hanging out her laundry and playing with her dog. He accidentally takes a picture of her and she sicks her four brothers on him. He runs away, finally taking refuge in a church. Later, Jack offers to drive Kathleen's cart for her in a beach race because she's not allowed to on account of her gender. Jack wins and convinces Kathleen to take him on a tour of the local environs. While on their walk together, they share a kiss.
Meanwhile Mickey, along with his friends Sean Devine (Tony Curran
) and the brothers Jericho (Kevin McKidd
) and Barney O’Grady (Kieran Culkin) sneak into a masked party in the flying castle of the trooping fairies. There Mickey sees the pretty fairy-princess, Jessica (Caroline Carver
), the daughter of the fairy-king Boric (Roger Daltrey
) and queen Morag (Harriet Walter
). Jessica eventually finds out that Mickey is a leprechaun, but they have already fallen in love. Jessica's cousin, Count Grogan (Jonathan Firth
), discovers their presence, and the leprechauns flee.
Later Count Grogan seeks out Mickey and attempts to fight with him, but Mickey declines. Sean steps in and battles Count Grogan, eventually losing. The Grand Banshee appears and takes Sean's life as punishment for breaking her decree. Micky attacks Count Grogan, killing him, too. After Jessica’s parents learn that Mickey has killed Count Grogan, they send her with her governess
, Lady Margaret (Phyllida Law
), to a hidden underwater-castle. Mickey eventually finds her, rescues her, and flies with her to his uncle Sir Jantee (Stephen Moore
), the butter-fairy. Jessica’s parents think Mickey kidnapped her and they start a war with the leprechauns. The Grand Banshee continues to take their lives.
Jack and Kathleen have a problem too, because she finds out that he is in Ireland to buy up homes in Carrick for his company to build a holiday-park. Jack does not want to do that anymore (and loses his job because of it), but Kathleen does not believe a word he says.
In the human-world nature starts to collapse: in the summer it starts snowing and there is torrential rain. This happens because the fairies aren't taking care of nature anymore because of the war. If things don't change, Kathleen claims that they'll be done for. Jack and Kathleen decide to help Jessica and Mickey to seek out the Grand Banshee and ask her to help them end the war. The Grand Banshee reveals to them that Nature is dying because of the war and if it doesn't stop, soon, everything will be destroyed. She also says she cannot stop the leprechauns and trooping fairies from doing what they really wanted to do.
As the war escalates, Mickey and Jessica decide to do something radical: they obtain a poison
from the butter-fairies(after they bribed them with English butter) and threaten to take it if their parents won’t stop the war. Their parents took them seriously but were unable to make peace, so they take the poison. Their bodies are brought before their parents who immediately become distraught. Jack convinces the warring parties to make peace. Both Muldoon and Boric agree. Kathleen immediately rushes to give an antidote
to the lovers but an attack-tunnel dug by general Bulstrode (Frank Finlay
) collapses. Kathleen brakes her carriage to avoid the pit. The vial
with the antidote flies from her hands and breaks. Jack runs to help and falls into the pit, knocking himself out. Kathleen panics until she learns that he's okay. The Grand Banshee says she can still save them, but only if everyone agrees to peace. Eventually they all do. The Grand Banshee then brings back not only Jessica and Mickey, but all of the lost leprechauns and fairies (with the exception of Count Grogan who the Great Banshee decides to keep so there wouldn't be trouble caused because of him). In the end Mickey and Jessica marry, Jack and Kathleen are reconciled, and the long-lasting war is finally over. It contains a number of references to Romeo and Juliet
such as the two lovers taking poison and rival clans feuding with each other
Randy Quaid
Randall Rudy "Randy" Quaid is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, as well as his numerous supporting roles in films, including his Oscar nominated performance in The Last Detail, Independence Day, Kingpin and Brokeback Mountain...
, Colm Meaney
Colm Meaney
Colm J. Meaney is an Irish actor widely known for playing Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is second only to Michael Dorn in most appearances in Star Trek episodes. He has guest-starred on many TV shows from Law & Order to The Simpsons...
, Kieran Culkin, Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
, Caroline Carver
Caroline Carver (actor)
Caroline Carver is an English actress. Best known for the roles of many British television/movies including Ingrid in The Aryan Couple and Sandy in My First Wedding and Princess Jessica in the TV movie The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns. She is married to fellow actor Kenny...
and Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
. The film contains two main stories that eventually intertwine: the first being the story of an American businessman who visits Ireland and encounters magical leprechauns and the second, a story of a pair of star-crossed lovers who happen to be a fairy and a leprechaun, belonging to opposing sides of a magical war. It contains many references to Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
such as two lovers taking poison and feuding clans.
Emma Townshend
Emma Townshend
Emma Townshend is an English writer, journalist, musician and lecturer, and the elder daughter of The Who's Pete Townshend. She has taught courses since being a postgraduate at Cambridge in 1994, most recently for the Department of Continuing Education in Oxford.Townshend also appears as a regular...
's song "We Can Fly Away" was the theme song for the film.
Plot
An American businessman, Jack Woods (Randy QuaidRandy Quaid
Randall Rudy "Randy" Quaid is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, as well as his numerous supporting roles in films, including his Oscar nominated performance in The Last Detail, Independence Day, Kingpin and Brokeback Mountain...
), ostensibly wants to spend a calm holiday in the sleepy Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
town Kerry and rents a little cottage
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
there. He is overworked and wants to use his holiday to relax. During a hike, he sees Irish beauty Kathleen Fitzpatrick (Orla Brady
Orla Brady
-Early life and career:The second of four children born to Dublin publican Patrick Brady and his wife Catherine who had appeared in amateur productions at the Gate Theatre, Brady first became interested in an acting career after reading works by Germaine Greer and Simone de Beauvoir.Brady drifted...
) swimming naked. Kathleen catches him and chases him off, but Jack is smitten with her beauty. That evening, Jack tries to drown his sorrows in Irish whiskey, when he has an encounter with an invisible leprechaun
Leprechaun
A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...
. They struggle for the bottle of whiskey, and Jack falls, knocking himself unconscious. The next morning, he sees the little man again and chases him to a nearby river, where the leprechaun falls in. Jack jumps in after him, saving his life (because water is the only thing that can kill the immortal leprechauns), then Seamus Muldoon (Colm Meaney
Colm Meaney
Colm J. Meaney is an Irish actor widely known for playing Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is second only to Michael Dorn in most appearances in Star Trek episodes. He has guest-starred on many TV shows from Law & Order to The Simpsons...
), the saved leprechaun, becomes Jack's new friend. Seamus introduces Jack to his wife Mary (Zoë Wanamaker
Zoe Wanamaker
Zoë Wanamaker, CBE is an American-British actress. She has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company; in films, including the Harry Potter series; and in a number of television productions, including a long-time role as Susan Harper in the sitcom My Family.-Early life and family:Wanamaker was...
) and his son, Mickey (Daniel Betts), and shows him the mystical world of the leprechauns.
The "solitary fairies" (which includes leprechauns) are a happy people, who love to play tricks on others—most of all on the snobbish "trooping" fairies
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
. The leprechauns and the trooping fairies have been enemies for ages, but the Grand Banshee
Banshee
The banshee , from the Irish bean sí is a feminine spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld....
(Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
) has decreed that they must stop fighting each other. Jack gets used to the little people he shares the house with, because they help him to get to know Kathleen.
While out taking photographs of the houses in this sleepy town, Jack comes upon Kathleen hanging out her laundry and playing with her dog. He accidentally takes a picture of her and she sicks her four brothers on him. He runs away, finally taking refuge in a church. Later, Jack offers to drive Kathleen's cart for her in a beach race because she's not allowed to on account of her gender. Jack wins and convinces Kathleen to take him on a tour of the local environs. While on their walk together, they share a kiss.
Meanwhile Mickey, along with his friends Sean Devine (Tony Curran
Tony Curran
Anthony "Tony" Curran is a Scottish actor.Curran was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He is an alumnus of Holyrood Secondary School and is a graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama....
) and the brothers Jericho (Kevin McKidd
Kevin McKidd
Kevin McKidd is a Scottish television and film actor and director. Before playing the role of Owen Hunt in Grey's Anatomy, McKidd starred as Lucius Vorenus in the historical drama series Rome, and provided the voice of Captain John "Soap" Mactavish in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the sequel...
) and Barney O’Grady (Kieran Culkin) sneak into a masked party in the flying castle of the trooping fairies. There Mickey sees the pretty fairy-princess, Jessica (Caroline Carver
Caroline Carver (actor)
Caroline Carver is an English actress. Best known for the roles of many British television/movies including Ingrid in The Aryan Couple and Sandy in My First Wedding and Princess Jessica in the TV movie The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns. She is married to fellow actor Kenny...
), the daughter of the fairy-king Boric (Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
) and queen Morag (Harriet Walter
Harriet Walter
Dame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE is a British actress.-Personal life:She is the niece of renowned British actor Sir Christopher Lee, as the daughter of his elder sister Xandra Lee. On her father's side she is a great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The TimesShe was educated at...
). Jessica eventually finds out that Mickey is a leprechaun, but they have already fallen in love. Jessica's cousin, Count Grogan (Jonathan Firth
Jonathan Firth
Jonathan Firth is a British actor best known for his roles in such noted British television productions as Middlemarch, Far from the Madding Crowd, and Victoria & Albert.-Early life:Jonathan Firth was born in Essex, England...
), discovers their presence, and the leprechauns flee.
Later Count Grogan seeks out Mickey and attempts to fight with him, but Mickey declines. Sean steps in and battles Count Grogan, eventually losing. The Grand Banshee appears and takes Sean's life as punishment for breaking her decree. Micky attacks Count Grogan, killing him, too. After Jessica’s parents learn that Mickey has killed Count Grogan, they send her with her governess
Governess
A governess is a girl or woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not on meeting their physical needs...
, Lady Margaret (Phyllida Law
Phyllida Law
-Personal life:Law was born in Glasgow, the daughter of William and Megsie Law, who divorced after World War II. She was married to Eric Thompson from 1957 until his death in 1982. Their two children Emma and Sophie Thompson are both actresses...
), to a hidden underwater-castle. Mickey eventually finds her, rescues her, and flies with her to his uncle Sir Jantee (Stephen Moore
Stephen Moore (actor)
Stephen Moore is an English actor, known for his work on British television since the 1980s. He is known for his appearances in Rock Follies and other TV series such as The Last Place on Earth, the children's series The Queen's Nose and the drama Mersey Beat and the British TV comedy series Solo,...
), the butter-fairy. Jessica’s parents think Mickey kidnapped her and they start a war with the leprechauns. The Grand Banshee continues to take their lives.
Jack and Kathleen have a problem too, because she finds out that he is in Ireland to buy up homes in Carrick for his company to build a holiday-park. Jack does not want to do that anymore (and loses his job because of it), but Kathleen does not believe a word he says.
In the human-world nature starts to collapse: in the summer it starts snowing and there is torrential rain. This happens because the fairies aren't taking care of nature anymore because of the war. If things don't change, Kathleen claims that they'll be done for. Jack and Kathleen decide to help Jessica and Mickey to seek out the Grand Banshee and ask her to help them end the war. The Grand Banshee reveals to them that Nature is dying because of the war and if it doesn't stop, soon, everything will be destroyed. She also says she cannot stop the leprechauns and trooping fairies from doing what they really wanted to do.
As the war escalates, Mickey and Jessica decide to do something radical: they obtain a poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
from the butter-fairies(after they bribed them with English butter) and threaten to take it if their parents won’t stop the war. Their parents took them seriously but were unable to make peace, so they take the poison. Their bodies are brought before their parents who immediately become distraught. Jack convinces the warring parties to make peace. Both Muldoon and Boric agree. Kathleen immediately rushes to give an antidote
Antidote
An antidote is a substance which can counteract a form of poisoning. The term ultimately derives from the Greek αντιδιδοναι antididonai, "given against"....
to the lovers but an attack-tunnel dug by general Bulstrode (Frank Finlay
Frank Finlay
Francis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...
) collapses. Kathleen brakes her carriage to avoid the pit. The vial
Vial
A vial is a relatively small glass vessel or bottle, especially used to store medication as liquids, powders or in other forms like capsules. They can also be sample vessels; e.g., for use in autosampler devices in analytical chromatography.The glass can be colourless or coloured, clear or amber...
with the antidote flies from her hands and breaks. Jack runs to help and falls into the pit, knocking himself out. Kathleen panics until she learns that he's okay. The Grand Banshee says she can still save them, but only if everyone agrees to peace. Eventually they all do. The Grand Banshee then brings back not only Jessica and Mickey, but all of the lost leprechauns and fairies (with the exception of Count Grogan who the Great Banshee decides to keep so there wouldn't be trouble caused because of him). In the end Mickey and Jessica marry, Jack and Kathleen are reconciled, and the long-lasting war is finally over. It contains a number of references to Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
such as the two lovers taking poison and rival clans feuding with each other