Xanadu

Where time stops and the magic never ends.
—Xanadu tagline.

What has Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly, that guy from The Warriors, roller skates, lots of glowing blue people, quasi-disco music, and is nothing but a string of Non Sequitur Scenes?

The 1980 movie musical Xanadu is a timeless story about a frustrated artist named Sonny Malone (the guy from The Warriors) who paints album covers for a living and is unhappy about it. By tossing some of his drawings into the wind, he somehow brings a painting on a wall of nine girls to life. One of them—Kira—finds and kisses him. Shortly after, he meets Danny McGuire, a former big band leader. The two strike up a friendship and, with encouragement from Kira, make plans to convert an abandoned building (The Pan Pacific Auditorium) into a roller disco. Sonny and Kira meanwhile fall in love, with there being the slight complication that she's actually Terpsichore, the Muse of Dance and Choral Singing (yes, really) and was only sent to bring Xanadu into creation. Soon, she will have to return home, just as Xanadu will be opening.

The roller disco (and film's) title comes from the poem "Kubla Khan" and refers to a province where Khan establishes his pleasure garden.

Widely panned by critics, it found a cult audience with adolescent girls and gay men. It has now been adapted into a stage musical that doesn't even bother to hide how camp the whole thing is.

Tropes used in Xanadu include:

Danny: Opening night...whatever you want, it's on the house! You know, I've always wanted to say that line!

  • Intergenerational Friendship: Danny and Sonny.
  • Interspecies Romance: Sonny and Kira.
  • Landmark of Lore: Pan Pacific Auditorium and the Hollywood Sign.
  • The Muse: Kira, literally.
  • The Musical: The only thing that was considered quality work was the music—everything else, not so much.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: Sort of; in the opening title, there's a slight implication of aliens in the form of a UFO flying across a picture of Earth, which is further helped along by a robot-like thing showing up in a musical number. However, unless you're The Nostalgia Chick, you may not have noticed.
    • The "robot-like thing" was likely supposed to be a train pulling in—though one could see how the Chick might've been seeking any respite at that point...
  • Notable Original Music: The soundtrack for this movie was a huge success and several cuts from album got air time on radio; see Breakaway Pop Hit above.
  • Phosphor Essence: Olivia Newton-John's character, due to being The Muse.
  • The Power of Love
  • Present Day: In 1980.
  • Screen-to-Stage Adaptation: A Broadway musical in 2007 that, unlike most examples of the trope, had its tongue planted firmly in its cheek.
  • Shallow Love Interest
  • Shared Universe: Implied. Prior to this film, Gene Kelly also played a character named "Danny McGuire" in the film Cover Girl (no relation to the cosmetics company). This film is later referenced in Down to Earth (the sequel to Here Comes Mr. Jordan), which features Rita Hayworth (who was also in Cover Girl) as "Terpsichore", but uses the name "Kitty" in her Earth form. It should be mentioned that all three of the films in question were released by Columbia, while this movie was released by Universal.
  • Shout-Out: Gene Kelly's character has the same name and much of the same backstory as the character he played in the 1944 film Cover Girl; Danny's backstory in Xanadu sounds suspiciously like a version of Cover Girl without the happy ending.
  • Stop Trick
  • Sugar Bowl: This may be an adult version of this.
  • The Television Talks Back
  • Tron Lines
  • What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?
  • You!
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