The Thirteenth Year
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| The Thirteenth Year | |
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 Video cover |
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| Directed by | Duwayne Dunham |
| Produced by | Thom Colwell Heidi Wall Mike Jacobs Jr. |
| Written by | Jenny Arata Robert L. Baird Kelly Senecal |
| Starring | Chez Starbuck Courtnee Draper |
| Music by | Phil Marshall |
| Cinematography | Michael Slovis |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Original channel | Disney Channel |
| Release date | May 15, 1999 |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
The Thirteenth Year is a 1999 Disney Channel Original Movie. It was released May 15, 1999 and is a mix of comedy and fantasy. The film was directed by Duwayne Dunham, who has directed other children and Disney movies, including Little Giants and Halloweentown.
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[edit] Plot summary
Cody Griffin is an adopted teenager. His real mother is a mermaid who left him on the Griffin's boat when he was a baby. As she left, she was spotted by Mr. Wheatly, who has since become obsessed with finding mermaids. Cody establishes himself as a quick diver in the town he lives in, attracting the attention of a girl named Sam. Cody is under a lot pressure from a big swim meet coming up and because he's failing biology. He's partnered with Jess Wheatly, the class geek who is a marine biology expert.
After Cody's thirteenth birthday, he begins to feel strange. As he wakes up in the morning, he goes to turn off his alarm clock and zaps it. Thinking nothing of it, Cody goes downstairs and starts to drink milk, noticing his hand getting stuck to the container. He goes to Jess for help who agrees to help figure out what's going on with him as long as Cody teaches him to swim in return.
Jess runs various tests on Cody and learns that Cody can generate electricity, climb walls, talk to fish, swim extremely fast, and sometimes, when he gets wet, scales appear on his hands and arms. Eventually, he comes to the conclusion that Cody is turning into a merman.
In spite of the strange reactions of his body to water, Cody decides to attend the swim meet. He not only wins the meet and beats Sean, but breaks the state speed record, sprouting fins in the process in addition to the scales. Sean sees the scales and surmises that Cody is cheating: he follows him to the locker room to confront Cody and get a better look. Cody avoids discovery by cimbing to the ceiling, but Sean calls out to him that he saw and will find him out. Cody safely makes it out of the stadium and goes home, but the scales on his arms aren't going away. Jess shows up and says that people are talking about Cody and that some may have seen something.
Sam shows up at Cody's house and faints at the sight of his scales. When she comes to, she is freaked out. Cody tells her that he's still the same guy and to not be afraid. While sworn to secrecy for Cody's safety, Sam is disturbed by the discovery and leaves.
Sometime later, Cody finds Sam at the beach. He shows her his regular arms, and tells her he wants to show her something. They go into the water: after a moment, Cody is able to contact his mermaid mother. Cody suddenly gasps in pain and stumbles back to the shore. While lying on the ground, he tells Sam to go get his parents.
After she leaves, Cody's legs start to turn into a tail and then someone throws a blanket over Cody. Jess comes down to where Cody was, but sees that he's gone. He then sees his father's boat and panics because his father had seen Cody's fins at the swim meet earlier. Jess's father is planning on using Cody to lure in the mermaid. Jess comes on board and he and Cody try to warn the mermaid to swim away, but Jess's father drops a fishing net on her, capturing her.
Jess then takes a knife and jumps into the water to cut the net. He frees the mermaid, but the net gets caught on his leg, pulling him under. Jess passes out, but Cody jumps in and brings him to the dock where Jess's father, Cody's parents, and Sam are. Once Jess is pulled out of the water and Mrs. Griffin and Sam do CPR on him, but Jess doesn't respond to it. Cody then shocks Jess's heart with his hands and Jess comes to.
Cody's mermaid mother shows up again and Cody tells his parents that she wants him to go with her and that he has to because she's the only one that can help him with his changes. Cody's mother realizes that Cody must go, but agrees with the mermaid that he'll be back before school starts.
After saying goodbye, Jess tells Cody that he and his dad want to know about everything that happens while he's gone and Sam tells him not to fall for any mergirls. Cody goes into the water and meets his birth mother for the first time and they hug. He swims back up to the surface and waves goodbye before swimming off.
[edit] Cast
- Chez Starbuck - Cody Griffin
- Bridget & Kendra Byrd - Cody as a baby
- Justin Jon Ross - Jess Wheatley
- Courtnee Draper - Sam
- Brent Briscoe - Big John Wheatley
- Tim Redwine - Sean Marshall
- Dave Coulier - Whit Griffin
- Lisa Stahl - Sharon Griffin (as Lisa Stahl Sullivan)
- Brian Haley - Coach
- Kristen Stewart - Extra
- HBHS Marching Band - Background Band
[edit] Production
The film was shot in 1998. The ocean scenes were primarily shot in the Newport Beach communities of the Balboa Peninsula and Corona del Mar.
[edit] External links
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