Tom Hanks’ First TV Movie and Its Connection to Michigan State University
Tom Hanks is obviously known as an international superstar.
And it's obviously because of great movies like:
"Big" ("I wish I was big").
"A League Of Their Own" ("There's no crying in baseball").
"Forrest Gump" ("Stupid is as stupid does").
"Saving Private Ryan" ("Earn this").
"Toy Story" ("There's a snake in my boot").
Yes, I'm sure that maybe we all have a favorite Tom Hanks movie or movies and some memorable Tom Hanks movie quotes, too. Well in fact I could go on and on but for the sake of saving you some time and getting to the point I'll move on.
Of all of the tremendous success Mr. Hanks has enjoyed these many years he, like all of us in whatever our jobs or careers are or become, we all have to start somewhere. No, in this case about Tom Hanks I'm not talking about "Turner & Hooch" or even the TV comedy series, "Bosom Buddies" (am I dating myself here?).
I'm talking about his very TV first movie. It was called "Mazes and Monsters". It debuted on CBS back in 1982 and "Mazes and Monsters" was based on what was the "Dungeons and Dragons" craze that was sweeping the nation at the time and according to fandom.com, it was especially popular on college campuses.
And that is where the whole Michigan State University connection comes in. The movie "Mazes and Monsters" was based on a book by the same name which itself came about because of a Michigan State University student by the name of James Dallas Egbert III and his disappearance in the late 70's that some connected to "Dungeons and Dragons". That ended up not being correct. However the whole saga is pretty interesting and is worth spending a few minutes with. Maybe you even remember when it happened. I know I do.
James Dallas Egbert III grew up not far from where I did in Ohio and his disappearance and the resulting events were a huge news story there at the time.
Check the story out here about the Tom Hanks movie and it's inspiration at fandom.com.