How Cocoon Won an Oscar and Was Quickly Forgotten

The big 80s blockbusters, the type that win hearts, minds, and Oscars, often have a life much longer than that found on the cinema screen. They are repurposed into merchandise for the modern age, remade, then sequelled, and pushed on streaming platforms.

Yet Cocoon has done the opposite. A tale of mortality and extraterrestrial affairs, it has almost vanished from public view despite original critical praise. 

The Plot

The plot centres on a group of aliens who arrive in Florida and attempt to blend in by disguising themselves as locals. Their aim is to retrieve cocoons from the seabed, which are filled with life-giving energies. The aliens rent a place next to a rest home, and it is not long before some of the neighbourly residents trespass to use the pool in which the cocoons are being stored. Absorbing the energies, they set about a chain of consequences that leads to some big decisions based on life and death.
 
The game of bingo is used to great effect in one scene, as one of the pastimes the residents enjoy once the energy has revitalised them. It points to a bigger question: why didn’t Cocoon become a brand and get revitalised itself? Movies such as Dirty Dancing, also with its own bingo scene, were reworked as a stage show, had TV remakes, and even got a 2004 prequel.

Even bingo clubs themselves have joined in, with venues hosting themed nights including Dirty Dancing and Grease. When you play bingo online, you also often find a host of games that hold licenses from retro movies. This shows how long a film’s legacy can run when its brand is kept alive. 

Critical Acclaim

Cocoon had a budget of $17 million, and managed to make $85 million worldwide. It won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, and Don Ameche, one of the stars, won the trophy for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Even today, it has a high score of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

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Its lack of popularity today may come down to director Ron Howard himself. His views on the movie have flip-flopped throughout the years, moving from outright dismissal to acceptance. Despite being late in his career, he often cites the film as being difficult to make. He said: “I was suddenly working with people who’d had decades of success, though most of them weren’t household names,” and he grappled with how to deal with them.

The Legacy of Cocoon

Its only real lasting legacy was embodied in an internet meme, based on actor Wilford Brimley, who was a mere 50 during production. Many compared him to Tom Cruise, who had just turned that age and was still in the Mission: Impossible franchise. 

While it did get a sequel in 1988, Howard did not return to direct it, and it had none of the impact found with the first. Since then, its rights and who owns it have become somewhat unclear. This makes it unlikely Cocoon will be revisited in the near future, but the original, if a little dated, can still be found online.