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  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

  • [LIQUID POURING]

  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

  • What's up, everyone?

  • This is "Disney+ Deets," where we break down everything

  • you need to know about your favorite Disney+

  • movies and series.

  • I'm Kenneth.

  • And I'm Marcellus.

  • And not toot our own horns, but we're pretty much the biggest

  • Disney+ fans out there.

  • No, let's do it. Toot!

  • Toot! Beep!

  • Beep! That's right.

  • Let's get into it.

  • KENNETH: Pop quiz, Marcellus.

  • If you were being chased by mobsters, where would you hide?

  • MARCELLUS: Um, in my closet, or maybe under my bed.

  • KENNETH: OK.

  • You wouldn't last a day, unlike sister Mary Clarence in "Sister

  • Act," who hid out at a convent.

  • MARCELLUS: That was absolutely my second choice, Kenneth.

  • Today we're off to the nunnery to tell

  • you all about "Sister Act."

  • KENNETH: Man, we are off to my happy place, my childhood.

  • I love this movie.

  • MARCELLUS: Oh, beautiful San Francisco.

  • KENNETH: First of all, "Sister Act" has left

  • an indelible mark on my life.

  • MARCELLUS: Oh.

  • KENNETH: We love Auntie Whoopi Goldberg.

  • MARCELLUS: Yes. KENNETH: Here we go.

  • Where to first, Marcellus?

  • MARCELLUS: We're going all the way

  • back to the Renaissance days.

  • Convents have always been for those

  • dedicating themselves to a life of religious servitude.

  • But they also served as safe houses,

  • tucking away people who were in trouble.

  • Who said convents were boring?

  • KENNETH: Not me.

  • Turns out these same convents can provide

  • the perfect ambiance for a great comic premise,

  • if the one seeking refuge is Whoopi Goldberg as a nightclub

  • singer on the run from the mob.

  • MARCELLUS: Ooh, those heels aren't

  • slowing her down not one bit.

  • KENNETH: When your life's on the line, you got to make it work.

  • Academy Award-winning director Emile

  • Ardolino immediately recognized the humor of the situation.

  • I mean, who couldn't?

  • A streetwise lounge singer, basically opposite of a nun.

  • You know, this is nothing but comedy gold right here.

  • MARCELLUS: And she's forced to hide in the convent to protect

  • herself from criminals, Ken. KENNETH: [LAUGHS]

  • MARCELLUS: Nuns and criminals.

  • That's a genius idea.

  • KENNETH: Absolutely.

  • MARCELLUS: Like, I love it.

  • KENNETH: Ardolino previously directed the box office

  • hit, "Three Men and a Little Lady,"

  • another heartfelt '90s movie.

  • Ardolino was a master of emotional comedy.

  • I'm a sucker for Dolores's journey of friendship,

  • love, and discovering her own self-worth, all in a place

  • where she least expects it.

  • (CRYING) It's truly moving.

  • MARCELLUS: Um, pull it together, Ken.

  • We have a show to do. KENNETH (CRYING): I'm sorry.

  • I'm so sorry.

  • Give me a minute.

  • OK.

  • When life gives you angry criminals--

  • MARCELLUS: Make friends with nuns,

  • and start a singalong at a convent.

  • [LAUGHS] Come through, proverbial phrases.

  • Let's get into these characters.

  • KENNETH: OK.

  • MARCELLUS: Ardolino cast the nuns as an ensemble that would

  • work together, but made sure each nun emerged

  • as an individual person.

  • KENNETH: Already an Oscar winner at the time of filming "Sister

  • Act," Whoopi would go on to voice Shenzi the hyena in Walt

  • Disney Animation Studios' "The Lion King,"

  • and was named a Disney Legend in 2017.

  • MARCELLUS: "Sister Act" was Kathy

  • Najimy's first major role.

  • She reprised her character as Sister

  • Mary Patrick in 1993's "Sister Act II: Back in the Habit."

  • She also starred in "Hocus Pocus" as Mary Sanderson.

  • KENNETH: Yes.

  • The Sanderson sisters.

  • We have to mention that.

  • Kathy hit those high notes, those opera notes.

  • [OPERATIC SINGING]

  • MARCELLUS: Those Sunday morning choir notes.

  • Hallelujah!

  • Ken, I not only grew up in church,

  • but I used to direct the choir.

  • I can hit those high notes.

  • KENNETH: Oh, I know.

  • Marcellus can sing, y'all.

  • And Madame Maggie Smith.

  • MARCELLUS: Oh, she's great.

  • KENNETH: She was flawless. MARCELLUS: Flawless.

  • KENNETH: I loved how she was just

  • trying to restrict Whoopi Goldberg's character

  • throughout the whole film. MARCELLUS: So much.

  • KENNETH: But at the same time, you know that she really

  • had this genuine love for her. MARCELLUS: Mm-hmm.

  • KENNETH: To calm her nerves while auditioning for Sister

  • Mary Robert, Wendy Makkena surprised

  • the casting team with three backup singers of her own.

  • MARCELLUS: Makkena said that she was so nervous,

  • she could barely get a sound out.

  • She could sense people in the room

  • feeling badly for her because of all the nervous giggling.

  • And at that moment, she let out a high-pitched whistle,

  • and three backup singers hit the room.

  • And the music really kicked in.

  • KENNETH: Everyone just fell on the floor.

  • They were laughing so hard, she couldn't hear herself sing.

  • It was really very exciting.

  • MARCELLUS: See?

  • Sometimes you got to get creative.

  • And she did what she had to do.

  • KENNETH: I'm not mad at her.

  • If it had been my audition, I would

  • have brought my own organ. [GASP]

  • Harvey Keitel!

  • MARCELLUS: Yes. KENNETH: Yes, sir.

  • MARCELLUS: And you will recognize him from

  • the "National Treasure" films.

  • KENNETH: And our very own "National Treasure"

  • episode of "Disney+ Deets."

  • MARCELLUS: That's right.

  • One of my favorite things about "Sister Act"

  • is that the late Carrie Fisher, who

  • played Princess Leia in "Star Wars,"

  • helped rewrite this screenplay.

  • KENNETH: She is indeed a Disney legend.

  • There was nothing that this woman couldn't do.

  • [SINGING]

  • MARCELLUS: Nope. Stop.

  • No.

  • KENNETH: Uh-oh.

  • MARCELLUS: Leave that to Whoopi, who by the way,

  • did her own singing in the film.

  • She said they worked on singing an hour

  • every day for about a month, but she's still more comfortable

  • singing in the shower.

  • KENNETH: I love Whoopi's voice.

  • It's so rich, especially that part when she sang--

  • [CLEARS THROAT] MARCELLUS: Uh, no.

  • No, no, no, no.

  • KENNETH: Oh, really?

  • MARCELLUS: Let's just move right along,

  • KENNETH: Let's talk about Whoopi's outfit.

  • She said that wearing the nun costume

  • made her life quite simple.

  • These outfits are very hot.

  • Even still, she was better off than the other actresses.

  • She wore jeans underneath.

  • They had to wear traditional undergarments.

  • MARCELLUS: OK, the jeans underneath definitely explains

  • her range of movements here.

  • KENNETH: Generally, nuns don't do any extraneous movement

  • in their habit.

  • Their hands are actually quite still, and usually at the side.

  • They also must lift aside the back panel, or scapula,

  • whenever they sit.

  • MARCELLUS: Whoopi missed that memo.

  • KENNETH: Look at her [SMACK] double-dutching and stuff.

  • You better get it, Whoopi!

  • MARCELLUS: Oh, Ken, can I tell you,

  • this part got me so much, because when they all sat down

  • and they got that food, I remember thinking, that's all?

  • [LAUGHS]

  • KENNETH: Wait.

  • MARCELLUS: You know I need to eat.

  • Among the numerous locations used in this film

  • are the Hollywood United Methodist Church, which

  • provided the convent interiors.

  • St. Paul's Church in Noe Valley of San Francisco, which doubled

  • as St. Catherine's, and Fitzgerald's

  • Casino, which played host to Dolores's lounge act in Reno.

  • KENNETH: And I love how the production even

  • hired a professional lookalike to play the Pope!

  • MARCELLUS: There is no question why this film was one

  • of the most financially successful comedies

  • of the early 1990s, grossing more than $231 million

  • worldwide.

  • KENNETH: If you have not seen "Sister Act,"

  • do yourself a favor.

  • Grab some popcorn, and watch this perfect movie.

  • MARCELLUS: It's literally a film that will always

  • be engraved in my history.

  • KENNETH: A classic.

  • MARCELLUS: Take care of yourselves, and the planet,

  • and we'll see you next time.

  • Marcellus and Ken signing off.

  • KENNETH: Marcellus, are you going to join the convent?

  • MARCELLUS: Oh, no.

  • Probably not, because you can't eat whatever you want, huh?

  • [LAUGHING] Nope, can't do it.

  • [LAUGHING]

  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

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