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Toby Huss may have cemented King of the Hill’s Kahn Souphanousinphone as one of TV’s most iconic animated characters, but Hank Hill’s next-door neighbor almost sounded a whole lot different, according to a new rumor.

On Wednesday, Redditor nogodsnomasters_666 headed to the King of the Hill subreddit with an alleged piece of behind-the-scenes Koth lore, claiming that late Karate Kid legend Pat Morita was originally tapped to take on the role of Arlen’s resident systems analyst.

Kahn/Toby Huss origin story

byu/nogodsnomasters_666 inKingOfTheHill

“Originally Kahn was going to be voiced by Pat Morita (Mr. Myagi),” they recalled of the story they’d heard from “another uncle” during a recent family get-together. “He had auditioned and (a) contract was signed.”

These efforts to bring Morita to Rainey Street were ultimately short-lived, though. After signing, Morita’s agent reached out to King of the Hill’s production...

“Wax on, wax off.”

This classic line from The Karate Kid is ingrained in our minds as the epitome of cinematic martial arts lessons. It captures the elfin broken English of Mr. Miyagi in all his humble and quirky charm. Miyagi won our hearts as the kindly sensei, and the role earned Noriyuki “Pat” Morita (1932-2005) a nomination for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. But did you know that Mr. Miyagi was based on a real person? Actually, he was based on three people, all famous karate masters. Here are their stories.

The Legendary Grandmasters of Karate

Mr. Miyagi gets his name from Grandmaster Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953), the founder of an Okinawan style of karate called Goju-Ryu. Goju means “hard-soft,” and Ryu in this context means “school”. Goju-Ryu is still a popular style of karate, practiced worldwide to this day.

“It’s no coincidence that when Hollywood was looking to create the archetypal karate master,...

The Fighting Spirit Film Festival is a unique festival dedicated to Martial Arts films. Through martial arts cinema the organisers aim to entertain and inspire people, promote martial arts culture, and support those who have chosen it as a career. Now in its sixth year, the London edition returns with a full action-packed weekend at Stratford East Picturehouse! The 2021 edition and its poster are dedicated to martial artist Max Repossi and filmmaker/musician Steven Santa Cruz, who prematurely died this past year.

In addition to screening five feature films, it will also be showcasing 32 short films by independent film makers and artists from all over the world. On top of that, there will be live Martial Art demonstrations from various clubs throughout the two days. Attendees will be able to meet and mingle with all the performers, and also with actors and production staff from the films who will be at the event.

Noriyuki "Pat" Morita broke many barriers on his way to becoming an American pop culture icon. He will forever be remembered as the wise, kind, and ass-kicking mentor, Mr. Miyagi, in The Karate Kid and its three sequels. But Morita's life story and decades-long career was much more than this legendary role. More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story pulls back the curtain to reveal a complex, supremely talented, and troubled man. He fought racism and Hollywood stereotypes with charm and humor, but was unable to conquer his addiction to alcohol.

More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story is told through archival interviews, remembrances from numerous co-stars, industry colleagues, and his third wife of eleven years, Evelyn Guerrero; who was with him at the time of his death in 2005. Noriyuki "Pat" Morita was born near San Francisco on June 28, 1932 to Japanese parents. He was diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis as a...

“I didn’t really think there were that many people out there who were interested in Mr. Miyagi,” Kevin Derek says. “But (it turns out) millions and millions of people are.”

Derek is a martial artist, producer, and documentarian, whose latest documentary, More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story, seeks to humanize the man behind some of pop culture’s most mythical characters. The timing for such a doc couldn’t have been better, but it turns out that was simply good fortune.

“We started shooting this back in 2016, so it was a year before Cobra Kai was even in production,” says Derek. “They didn’t even know that they were going to shoot Cobra Kai.”

Everyone knows Pat Morita from his beloved Oscar-nominated role as Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid franchise, and many remember him as Arnold in the hit TV show Happy Days. However, Morita’s TV...

"He had a lot of inner demons." Love Project Films has debuted an official trailer for a documentary titled More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story, made by filmmaker Kevin Derek. This is Derek's first film about Morita, but not his first about Karate Kid connections - he also made Empty Hand: The Real Karate Kids and The Real Miyagi (about karate master Fumio Demura). The beloved Japanese-American, Oscar nominated actor best known for his role of Mr. Miyagi, left behind a painfully revealing autobiographical record of his much-too-brief time here on earth. Tracing his journey from being bed bound as a boy to the bright lights and discrimination in Hollywood. Deep inside that sweet, generous, multi-talented performer seethed an army of demons, that even alcohol and drugs couldn't mask. Pat Morita passed away in 2005, but this film seems to beautifully brighten his legacy and share his entire life story with us.

The life and legacy of The Karate Kid franchise star Pat Morita will be explored in the upcoming documentary More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story. In the movie, filmmaker Kevin Derek details Morita's early days struggling with spinal tuberculosis to his battles with drug and alcohol addiction as an adult, all the while celebrating the actor and comedian's work on the big and small screens. Love Project Films has released the official trailer on YouTube.

Per the official synopsis: "The Oscar nominated actor best known for his role of Mr. Miyagi, left behind a painfully revealing autobiographical record of his much-too-brief time here on earth. Tracing his journey from being bed bound as a boy to the bright lights and discrimination in Hollywood. Deep inside that sweet, generous, multi-talented performer seethed an army of demons, that even alcohol and drugs couldn't mask."

During production, a sneak peek clip from the documentary was released,...

Montreal’s genre film festival to showcase 135 features and almost 300 shorts across its three-week run from July 14-Aug 4.Scroll down for line-up

Fantasia International Film Festival has unveiled its full line-up for its upcoming 19th edition which kicks off next Tuesday [July 14].

Over its three-week run, the Montreal-based genre film festival will showcase 135 features, including 22 world, 13 international premieres and 21 North American premieres, and almost 300 short films.

Shinji Higuchi’s Attack on Titan will receive its Canadian premiere as the closing film of this year’s edition on Aug 4. The live-action film is based on Hajime Isyama’s steampunk fantasy war opera manga series.

Additional highlights of the final wave of titles include the world premieres of Malik Bader’s thriller Cash Only and Ken Ochiai’s Ninja the Monster, as well as the Canadian premiere of Jonathan Milott & Cary Murnion’s horror comedy Cooties starring Elijah Wood.

A trio of Sion Sono films will also be shown at this...

The 19th Annual Fantasia Film Festival is only a week away, beginning July 14 and running through August 4. And as promised for today, they’ve revealed their full line-up of films screening at 2015’s festival in Montreal.

This year’s line-up boasts 22 World Premieres, 13 International Premieres, and 21 North American Premieres. Both Marvel’s Ant-Man and the animated Miss Hokusai were previously announced, but now they’ve added the much anticipated Attack on Titan movie as their closing night film. Other highlights include the Sundance darlings Cooties, starring Elijah Wood and Rainn Wilson, Cop Car, starring Kevin Bacon and directed by the upcoming Spider-man director Jon Watts, and a trio of films from horror auteur Sion Sono.

See the full line-up announcement of films below via Fantasia’s Facebook page, and be sure to check out their website at fantasiafestival.com for additional information.

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Fantasia 2015:

36 Countries, 135 Features, and Nearly 300 Short Films

- Including 22 World Premieres,...