In 1987, Mannequin was released and was quite successful, bringing in 42 million from its 6 million dollar budget. Mannequin tells the timeless tale of a troubled department store stock boy who falls in love with a mannequin that he created. It's also worth noting that the mannequin comes to life, and only he can see her that way. Now.. before you roll your eyes and laugh at the 80's cheese, let me inform you of something. Mannequin was nominated for an Academy Award. I sh*t you not. It was for Starship's awesome Nothing Gonna Stop Us now song, but still Mannequin gets credit for having an Academy Award nomination.

 
So, Andrew McCarthy plays Jonathan, an artist who just has nothing going right for him. He can't keep a job because he takes too much time and pride in his work. He ends up creating a mannequin that is perfect, but is fired for deviating from the pattern. Apparently, his employers didn't respect the artistic liberties.

  One night Jonathan notices his perfect mannequin in a department store window. He runs over to tell it how it was the first thing that ever made him feel like a real artist. In all his excitement, he falls asleep next to the window. And just as luck would have it, the next morning he manages to save the owner of the department store (Estelle Getty) who rewards him with a job.

The devious Vice President Richards (James Spader) is none to happy with the hiring of Jonathan and assigns him to be a stock boy. While stocking, Jonathan befriends the overly flamboyant Hollywood (Meshach Taylor) who works with him to create an elaborate window display centered around his beloved mannequin. The display ends up being very successful. It's worth noting, that during this time the mannequin starts coming to life when no one else is around.

  Jonathan's mannequin is possessed by the soul of an ancient Egyptian woman who was being set up in an arranged marriage. She prayed to the gods to find her true love, and so they made her vanish for a few thousand years. Somehow she made it inside the mannequin and now that Jonathan has come into her uh.. plastic life, she has become real because Jonathan's her true love. Yeah, yeah... it sounds stupid.

  So Vice President Richards who is actually a spy for a rival department store, notices the greatness that is Jonathan's window displays. Richards pushes for Jonathan's dismissal, but the board ends up promoting Jonathan to visual merchandising and eventually vice president himself. During this time, Jonathan begins to spend more and more time with Emmy, the mannequin. They have some awesome montages where they utilize all the various setups in the department store to pretend to be gangsters and Mozart and stuff. It's so strange, you just got to see it for yourself. Luckily, someone has put it up on YouTube.

 
They even leave to go on a date on Jonathan's motorcycle one night.

  They have to be careful though, because there is a big, mean security guard whom VP Richards assigns to keep an eye on Jonathan who is always prowling around. The time Jonathan spends with Emmy does not go unnoticed. There are several disturbing encounters where Hollywood will walk in on Jonathan kissing Emmy, who of course, turns back into a mannequin once Hollywood enters. Jonathan is viewed as being incredibly strange, but he's just so good at window displays, people it go.

  One morning all the mannequins have been stolen. They assume the other department store did it and of course, they did. There is a lot of chase scenes, fire hosing, and an epic damsel in distress situation where all the mannequins are on a conveyor belt heading towards an incinerator. Jonathan leaps onto the belt, with no regard for his own well-being, to grab Emmy who comes to life in his arms. Richards gets fired, Hollywood gets promoted, and Emmy and Jonathan get married in the window display.

 

I love this movie. I've loved it for years. I actually saw the sequel first, Mannequin 2 - On the Run. Mannequin was out of print at the time, so I had to search various video stores until finally coming across a beat up old copy. Once I finally found it, I was shocked at how much better it was than Mannequin 2, and I must have watched it at least thirty times. Is it stupid? Hell yea. But it's fun. It's one of those movies that is corny, but doesn't take itself too seriously. Other than Starship's song, that actually gave the love story some credibility the movie is just one goofy gag after another, with some overacting and cheesy set ups. Kim Cattrall is great as Emmy. She plays it with just enough naiveness and vulnerability, but still comes off sexy. She channels Kelly LeBrock ala Weird Science, as a teenage boy's fantasy. She even flashes Jonathan (although the viewer doesn't get to see) at one point in the movie.

  In 2012, a remake was announced, but I haven't heard anything about it since then. I'm sure the project is already dead, and I'm okay with that. The 80's had this happy, anything goes type mentality that just doesn't exist in our negative society today. I just don't see a remake being nearly as successful as the original was almost thirty years ago. I think a Weird Science remake would go over much better.