When it comes to great movie trilogies, Back to the Future may stand on its own. The original film is seen today as a classic, and while the sequels may not have been quite as perfect, as a series, it’s one of the best. One need only take a look at how popular it still is all these decades later. Fans recently showed up at a fan convention and got a double dose of Back to the Future in the form of both Michael J. Fox and one of his amazing co-stars.
While we’ve occasionally seen Fox reunite with Christopher Lloyd or appear with Lea Thompson, there’s another member of the Back to the Future cast who is often overlooked, despite the fact that he appeared in all three films just like the others. James Tolkan played Principal Strickland in the first two Back to the Future films, and Marshal Stickland in the third film. He and Fox both recently attended Fan Expo New Orleans and got a picture together recreating a famous pose.
As somebody who still remembers seeing the original Back to the Future in theaters when it was released, I am absolutely loving this picture. James Tolkan is 93 years old, and here he is wagging a finger at 63-year-old Michael J. Fox. It makes me feel so old, but seeing these two having fun all these years later is just adorable.
James Tolkan is one of the great character actors of the last few decades. In the 1970s, he appeared in classics like Serpico and the original The Amityville Horror. In the ‘80s, he was in WarGames and Top Gun. However, he is likely known, first and foremost, as the angry bald high school principal in Back to the Future. Tolkan has mostly retired from acting, having not appeared on screen since 2015’s Bone Tomahawk, save playing his old character in a fan remake of Back to the Future.
Add to this the fact that it’s just great to see Michael J. Fox continuing to make public appearances whenever he’s able to do so. Nobody would mind if the actor, who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, kept his appearances to a minimum, but he regularly appears at fan conventions, allowing his fans to see him, get pictures and see amazing moments like this one.
Back to the Future is so iconic that today it is still incredibly popular, despite the fact that we’ve seen nothing new from the franchise in decades. Discussion of sequels or remakes or reboots have never fully gone away, but when the original is this good, how do you even try to do it again?