Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum


Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer. Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending.

It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow..

For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing Bobby, and the mother turns a blind eye. The end of the film shows the boys building their Radio Flyer (named after the red wagon they have) for Bobby to fly away and be free of The King. He succeeds, and we are being told this story by the adult Mikey, who in turn is telling it to his own children. Now, I’ve read people’s opinions on the ending, and these are the most common ones I’ve found. Please excuse me if I’ve left one out.

1) Bobby was actually killed by The King, and this is just Mikey’s way of coping with it. But telling his children that his brother really did fly away in his wagon.

2) There was no younger brother, it was all in Mikey’s head. This was just a way of him coping with his own abuse. He imagined that he had a weaker younger brother that was really the brunt of all the abuse.

3)There was no older brother, same situation as the previous, only it’s the abused child pretending he has a strong older brother.

4) The kid actually did fly away in his magic wagon.

Now, I was five when this movie came out, and I remember seeing it on TV around the age of seven or eight. So at my young age, the thought of Bobby actually flying away in a wagon wasn’t too far-fetched (hell, the clown from The Poltergeist seemed pretty real to a seven year old) I thought okay, it was a fantasy film and that’s how it ended. Then re-watched it as an adult, and it got me thinking. This wasn't the film I remembered.

I see it now as reason 1. Bobby really died after a particularly intense beating from The King. (Though some think he died when he plummeted to his death in the Radio Flyer, but the beating makes more sense to me) When elder Mikey is telling this story to his children, they question his ending. He says he can change it since he’s the one telling the story, which to me meant that his children were aware their uncle was dead, but he wasn’t revealing exactly how. The “letters” that Mikey gets as an adult from his brother, that I couldn’t really explain. Maybe he writes them, maybe his mother felt guilty and wrote them. (though that’s a bit extreme to continue it into adulthood) What do you think? I’ve heard theories that when Mikey is being beat up during the game of football he is playing with the neighborhood kids is just his way of handling the beat down from The King. Good point, I can see that. Some people point out during the film that the mother really doesn’t address both boys at the same time. (which I disagree with) I think there were two boys.

I’m interested in hearing your opinions.

Thanks for reading!

ETA: Since I published this post back in 2010, This popped up about a year later. It's referenced a few times in the comments, but I figured I would edit my original post to show that I have indeed read it. 

Comments

  1. Bobby is real for 2 reasons, the mother introduces him to her aunt, and Tom hanks mentions him even before telling the story. Now if bobby simply ran away, his mom/police would find him in a second. This leaves bobby dying in a crash as the only possible ending, but is too sad so he makes up the flying part and writes the postcards on behalf of him

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    1. I always thought he was real as well. I just can't decide if it was because of the beating, or because of the radio flyer. I lean more towards the beating.

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    2. Dunno, if Bobby is a figment of Mike's then he'd have imagined anything he told in the story and given the severity of it all, he probably kept Bobby as a coping mechanism his whole life. So he probably spent years making up the perfect story in his head as a coping mechanism.

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    3. I think a lot points to him being real, but since Bobby being imagined is a popular theory, I included it in this post.

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    4. The handwriting on the post cards and goodbye letter are the same.

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    5. Now I need to go back and re-watch this 😂

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    6. The post cards were written by printing, the goodbye letter was cursive

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  2. I have to go with the fact that Bobby died from The King, because Adult Mikey has Samson, who was in the Radio Flyer with Bobby, only Shane the dog got out of the Radio Flyer.

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    1. Thanks for commenting! I think you're right. That's a good point about Sampson.

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    2. I was under the impression that the ending was the "holy crap!" Moment... where you think Mikey is telling the story but in fact it's actually Bobby. Just the hesitation when asked "is that where we got Samson?" Instead of questioning "if bobby flew away, why do we have Samson?"

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    3. Oh that's interesting. I never thought of it from that POV.

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    4. I agree, I just rewatched it as an adult and 😳 I never caught on as a kid but the ending just slapped me.

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    5. I love how we're all re-processing this movie as adults. lol

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    6. Or Tom Hanks was really Bobby in the movie. Since the kids said they had Samson, maybe Bobby actually made it and later on became a real pilot and that's why they were sitting at the airport or wherever they were when he was telling them the story.

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    7. I think you're right about him being bobby. Sad movie....

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    8. That's a popular theory too, and he very well could be!

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  3. at first i interpreted it as bobby dying as well. i just read an interview w/ the writer who said he intended bobby and mike's contraption to ACTUALLY work. the last scene was supposed to be the adult bobby and mike (played by tom hanks) reuniting at the smithsonian museum. someone higher up decided to leave the ending more ambiguous and open to interpretation (which i personally think is better). here is the interview:

    http://davidmickeyevansblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-happened-to-bobby.html

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    1. Interesting, thanks for sharing that! I agree leaving it open was a better choice. It presents all these questions. Thanks for reading my post.

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  4. i really do think the king killed bobby bc when he is arested the cops say somthing to the effect of "youre going away this time"... and even tho this movie is in the darker side of the grey area of kid or adult film its still not bad< i have seen it a couple of times and it waent till later i saw the underlying message amd concoultion.

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    1. Thanks for commenting! Yes, it took me awhile to kind of see it for what is was too. But I agree, I think The King killed Bobby.

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  5. I just watched this movie for the first time as an adult, and I couldn't stop crying throughout the whole damn thing! Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazzello turned in some really great performances for being so young.

    I read the writer's interview. I think the way the film was ultimately made, you can come away with any interpretation you want. There is definitely evidence for Bobby being fake or him dying, as when Tom Hanks says something along the lines of 'history is determined by the person telling it' and 'that's how I choose to remember it' to his sons at the end of the film.

    I just think this is too horrible an ending, so I'll go with the writer's original ending, that Bobby and Mikey reunited at the end, with the Radio Flyer hanging in the museum, held up by nothing. Magic is real in this world, and Direct TV info guide lists the film as "fantasy," so I'm going with this ending. I could have sworn they were going to reunite at the end of this movie, but I guess I must have been thinking of some other movie.

    --Jared,
    jaredtequila@gmail.com

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    1. Thanks for commenting! Yeah, when I saw this as a kid I totally accepted the magic part of it.I do feel like the director kind of copped out when he was interviewed about the ending. Clearly he had a very different vision than the studio.

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    2. I was reading through all these comments and this just made me realize that Bobby did in fact die because the writer said in the interview that Nike was going to meet Bobby in the museum and the Radio Flyer would just be there floating magically so that would mean that the meeting and the floating Radio Flyer where all and Mikey's head. So it would have been like he was meeting the ghost of his dead brother all grown up and the Ghost of the Radio Flyer so the interview and the writer's comments to me confirms that Bobby did in fact die

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    3. I've seen that too. Like I've said before, Bobby dying fits the most. I'm glad they didn't have the radio flyer in a museum though. I was never a big fan of the "fantasy" element in the film.

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  6. Tom Hanks says "You see what I mean when I say history is in the mind of the teller?" When speaking to his kids at the end, meaning the story is what ever he wants it to be. He also says, "that's the great thing about promises, they last forever". What is the one thing Mike promised Bobby? He promised he would never tell their mother about the abuse Bobby was a victim of by "the King". So when Bobby was killed by "The King" Mike lived up to his promise and never told his mother (even though she knew) and created an imagined story to swear by which was that Bobby flew away like magic to travel the world and even went to the extent of writing those letters on Bobby's behalf long after. All becuase a promise is a promise. Tom Hanks mentions "whenever the thoughts of Bobby start to fade away another postcard would arrive. What he really did was make Bobby into a imagined inspirational world venturer in effort to prevent what he remembered of his brother from ever fading away. Which turned into the book he was typing just before the end.

    I would say the Radio Flyer was a toy given to both boys and when they would go to the wishing spot and had the local Fisher boy as someone known, the imagined story Tom Hanks spoke of was the one the two boys fathomed up before Bobby was killed. So after he was killed it was the story Mike chose to remember as the real thing as opposed to what had really happened.

    Child abuse was an ignored thing mostly around the time so I guess for a way for kids to grasp it as well as adults the movie did a good job.

    -Justin

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    1. Great comment, Justin! I like the part about him turning his postcards into a book at the end. That's one thing I never considered. Thank you for stopping by.

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    2. Thank you. I thought he was killed as well. I like your take on it. I cried through most of the movie and still crying as I write this. This brought me right back to my childhood trying to cope with my brothers. I'm glad thus thus movie effected others as much as it did me.

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    3. Same! I'm glad you found your way here. :)

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    4. Resurrecting an old thread, I have to agree with Justin. At the moment of the start of the flyer's takeoff... and the moment of "the King's" greatest rage, you see the king pick up a rock and Elijah looking at him as if the King was going to hit someone with the rock.
      Then, as if it is too huge and heavy of a memory (hint, hint), the King gets knocked out and the story turns on a dime from an act of intense violence to Bobby becoming free of the violence he endured. The cops cuff the King as he got mailed by the dog in defense of the kids.
      ...so...now thattI'm actually writing this and thinking about it...was it actually a killing by "the King" or a suicide by a child who could no longer stand the abuse, and a brother who understood the pain and was didn't know any better and helped his brother commit suicide...and is blocking all of it out as he continued his life as Justin says in his last two paragraphs... and the Mom finally "understands" that the older brother is "cured" of his demons because he transferred and rationalized his guilt into post cards from a brother who is traveling, instead if being dead.

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    5. A suicide would be super bleak, even more so than it already was. Yikes.

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    6. Its funny and amazing how you perceive things differently when you're a child versus adulthood... The film wasn't what I thought it was... I was (10) in '92... What a sad movie... Unfortunately, I do believe bobby died at some point. I believe when "mike" was playing w/kids and getting his butt beat it was actually being done by his stepfather. If there was a launching of the radio flyer... It might've been was empty, or bobby did die as a result of the crash... It might have been empty (bobby never survived beating that led him to the hospital bed scene) Plus, Mikey was standing w/shane on the wishing rock... Maybe it was a send-off to bobby... idk... Although, there is a scene when stepdad looked at motorcycle and side mirrors were missing and he mentioned "boys"... either way I looked and never saw "adult" bobby. So he died... Not all stories can be explained real or fiction. The power of this film still drawing discussion on a thread for many, many years is pretty cool. So... Backtracking Abit (if someone said this... I apologize, but agree with) maybe Mike actually left his brother alone and played w/kids and from that point on is where bobby had died. When retelling the story... When kids beat mike, it was actually bobby's beating/death, and when mike returned and saw things... That's when the coping started... Hence, the building, note, send off and standing on wishing rock. Tramatic incidents could've made mike think he saw and spoke w/bobby daily, etc.

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    7. Its funny and amazing how you perceive things differently when you're a child versus adulthood... The film wasn't what I thought it was... I was (10) in '92... What a sad movie... Unfortunately, I do believe bobby died at some point. I believe when "mike" was playing w/kids and getting his butt beat it was actually being done by his stepfather. If there was a launching of the radio flyer... It might've been was empty, or bobby did die as a result of the crash... It might have been empty (bobby never survived beating that led him to the hospital bed scene) Plus, Mikey was standing w/shane on the wishing rock... Maybe it was a send-off to bobby... idk... Although, there is a scene when stepdad looked at motorcycle and side mirrors were missing and he mentioned "boys"... either way I looked and never saw "adult" bobby. So he died... Not all stories can be explained real or fiction. The power of this film still drawing discussion on a thread for many, many years is pretty cool. So... Backtracking Abit (if someone said this... I apologize, but agree with) maybe Mike actually left his brother alone and played w/kids and from that point on is where bobby had died. When retelling the story... When kids beat mike, it was actually bobby's beating/death, and when mike returned and saw things... That's when the coping started... Hence, the building, note, send off and standing on wishing rock. Tramatic incidents could've made mike think he saw and spoke w/bobby daily, etc.

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    8. It is funny how differently we understand things when we're a kid vs an adult. Since it's been over 10 years since I initially wrote this post, I should watch this again.

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    9. I agree with Justin and a few others. But something I just thought about is how Mikey is telling the story so when you say the mom call the boys or the King called the boys that’s just Mikey possibly coping and so he makes it so that Bobby was always there even though maybe Bobby was made up. Idk. All I can say is that now that I have children I could barely watch this movie without shedding a tear. For me it’s hard to tell but I do think Bobby was real and I do think he died but Mikey is coping with his death the best way he could.

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    10. I've become a parent since initially writing this post too. It does make for an even tougher watch. Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. I just finished watching this movie and i def have a different take away now then when i watched it as a kid. After watching it tonight i to belive that bobby was killed by the king & mainly because what tom hanks says at the end to his boys & how emotional he was. I think tom hanks character created the story of bobby escaping on the radio flyer as a coping mechanism sort of the same way victims of abuse can completely repress past memories. I to read the directors article & i like the idea of them meeting as adults & everything being ok but real life isnt always neat & pretty.

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    1. Exactly. I feel the same way. Thanks for commenting! :)

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  8. Just watched this again and realized something. At the end of the movie, the two kids asked if that is where they got Samson from. The father said yes and the kids made him pinky promise. If they have a dog named Samson now, it could not be the same dog from his childhood. He got the "character" Samson in his story from the dog they currently have now. With that realized, when the stepfather was trying to stop Bobby from flying away, Samson attacked the King. When the policeman handcuffed the King, he was full of blood. If there was no dog in real life at that time, the blood was most likely Bobby's blood and not the King's. It is better for Mike to remember it as the King's blood instead of Bobby's blood.

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    1. Samson was the turtle. I can't remember the dog's name, but I'm sure that exisited and the King really did kill it.

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    2. Except Shane was the dog and Sampson is the tortoise that Bobby flies off with in the radio flyer,
      So either Bobby really is killed, and never takes off with the tortoise,
      The radio flyer crashes and the tortoise is recovered from the wreckage,
      Bobby was never real
      Either way I think between production and all the other channels they didn't check their stuff and left the tortoise loophole....
      Sampson the dog wouldn't live so long as to see a 10 year old into grandfather hood however a tortoise can easily span lifetimes, so very real possibility Bobby never existed, or Bobby died or they both over came and lived on they do show the memoribikia at the end with Bobby stuff...
      I think they should have to give the answers to make several.million off a film!

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    3. Clearly enough people still wonder about it. The only thing I'd be afraid of is disproving my pet theory and my own personal annoyance. lol

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    1. Yes, Shane. Thank you, apparently I was too lazy to Google when I left that last comment. ;)

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  10. So I just rewatched this, and I have a little different take.

    Bobby is real and very alive. I do think the Radio Flyer was the coping mechanism for the abuse, so while I don't think he flew away, I do think it helped him escape in the stories.

    The main reason I think he is alive is because of Fisher at the end. I think Fisher was also a victim of abuse and came up with the fantastic flying story that was shown on the news article. He was the hope and what validated to the boys that you can pull through the evil they were in. He was obviously handicapped because of his abuse, but overall was happy. I think them going out that night was the night Bobby planned to run away, and they got caught, Bobby subsequently got beat, and the cop really showed up with mom and caught the King.

    Having said that, he pointed to the sky in the movie at this point which is generally indicative of heaven, so that could totally blow my theory out of the water. Haha

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    1. I really like your take on Fisher, him being an abuse survivor is something I never thought of. Thank you for reading! :)

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    2. That is my take on the story as well. I only add two different wrinkles. Either he was placed into foster care, which wouldn't make much sense because the "King" was hauled off. Or he became a pilot and as an adult and started to travel the world. That post cards are real, it is Bobby's real life escape. Sampson was gifted to his nephews, as land tortoises can live well over a hundred years. However for years I believed Bobby died as a result of the eminent crash or beatings. As I have aged, my outlook has become more positive. Regardless, this story tears me up, as I was a subject of singled out abuse as a child.

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    3. That's awful, I'm sorry that happened to you, but I like that your outlook as gotten more positive as the years have gone on.

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  11. I saw this movie at a young age, and loved it (I still do). But seeing it as a 30+ year old, it feels different. As a youth, I really believed that Bobby flew away and found safety... because I believed in miracles (I still do). I negated his need for logical elements, like money, food, sleep, etc. Bobby was 8, with limited education... so how could he explain why/how he was flying around in a flea market airplane with one wheel. It's funny how young minds work.

    I recently watched this movie again... as an adult, and the logic was bothering me so much that I had to ask Google for answers... which lead me here.

    I have read a few articles and bunch of comments... all leading me to my theory.... Mike made up Bobby as a way to cope with the abuse and explain the abuse to his kids. Think, how hard is it to relive childhood abuse? And how difficult would it be to explain to your kids? Also, as a kid, how do you make sense of abuse? Often, it manifest as "what am I doing wrong?" or "what is wrong with me?", and it would be easier for Mike to look at himself as another person when asking those questions and making sense of things.

    I imagine the incident at the hill played out as Mike trying to "fly" away on his wagon and the King catching him before he endangered himself (potentially committing suicide)... however the police officer shows up in time to witness the King's abusive handling of Mike, and arrests the King (ending his reign). The mother's cries of "Where's Bobby" was imagined by Mike... he misinterpreted her frightened tears mixed with tears of joy and assumed she was crying about his "Bobby". But now he and "Bobby" were safe, and he lost touch with the abused victim side of his life as Bobby flew to freedom. And the postcards that Mike receives are metaphorical for him both rediscovering and losing his innocence. There are no postcards, he just gets random reminders of both the abuse and his childhood rationalization of the abuse. And as he matures, he makes better sense of things, but doesn't want to lose that piece of him... so in his real life, it manifests as "postcards" from the victim saying "everything is ok now". That's his way of confirming that he's ok now.

    In closing, I think this explains all the logical holes in the movie... like the mother's response to losing a child, the narrator's kids never meeting their uncle, etc. It's definitely on some Fight Club level logic.

    His interaction with Fisher at the gas station is a reminder that their are some adults who still believe in miracles. It's a sign, confirming that the night of the "fly" is in fact a special night where everything changes. Keep in mind, Fisher clearly states "you got a chance"... yes, it was wrapped in a flying advice, but that's just Mike's way of making sense of it. And then the Jackie Robinson card is the ultimate metaphor for "things can and will change". It's all there.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your theory! I wonder if the writer of this movie realized as he was making this that people would still be contemplating the ending 20 years later? It's interesting to think about.

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    2. Ian, I agree with you. Bobby is Mike's inner child personified. We all guard our hearts and protect our emotions by hardening them when we are mistreated. I think the director did a poor job of bringing this out and just hinted at it vaguely, but it seems pretty clear the entire story is a metaphor and the grain of truth in it is that Mike was abused for the sake of protecting his mother, based on a promise he made to someone to take care of her, and in enduring the abuse he also protected his inner child, personified as Bobby. We'll never know what really happened, but the way he told it, the stepfather was the source of the abuse. The big clue is the scenes with older Mike at the beginning and end saying "history is all in the mind of the teller and truth is all in the telling," and also that Sampson was with Mike's family at the end. There was no literal Radio Flyer and no real Bobby. At 2 hours long, there is a lot of distraction leading to a vague ending, but it is a good movie. I think conveying the theme more clearly would have improved the movie and help viewers move from the literal interpretation of what happened to Bobby at the end, to the more metaphorical or spiritual/emotional interpretation of what happened in Mike's soul.

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    3. Thanks for commenting! I agree that making the theme clearer would've been more helpful, but then I suppose I wouldn't have this post and get to read what all of you think. lol

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  12. My hisband & I just saw Radio Flyer for the first time 30 mins. ago. I'm 57 & my husband 59. I can't believe neither of us had even heard of it, especially my husband, the oldest of 5 adventurous boys. Movies like this are ones we would have wanted our children, being the the perfect preteen ages to see it when it came out. What a loss they missed it as children. Can't wait to recommend it to them & get their interpretations, especially my son's.
    Upon the ending, wiping tears, I asked my husband's thoughts, he said he'd need to think about it. His view will certainly be different than mine. I am an Artist/Creative/casual writer & easily can mentally "climb right into a movie, story, my keen imaginations can always bring many interpretations with details many miss catching them all. My thoughts have covered all I have read here, but my first, knee jerk opinion was that Miky was Bobby & removed himself from the abuse & giving himself strength as being the protector over his weaker self "Bobby". "Bobby" flying away, was him letting "Bobby" go. The football playing facial injuries would be hard to hide from his Mom. With The Kings abuse out in the open, there no longer was a need to hide it, help would be on the way, so he could let "Bobby" go. Now that was my first, uncontiplative view. After considering it all, I'm now thinking about these other scenarios & planning to watch it over on a more "investigative level" than the entertainment level I just watched it as. This is one of those movies like, "I see Dead People", when watching for certain details that were cleverly covered or added to mislead you become clear.
    No matter the writers intent, it was a stoke of geinous to end the movie where the producers did. I just can't believe there wasn't a bigger hype about this film.
    I wish our 3, now adult children had seen this as children. Heck, I wish I had seen a movie like it as a child. I grew up protected from the knowledge of all abuse, never knowing some of the kids that were my friends or any kid could be suffering physical or verbal abuse in silence. If a movie like this had been made during the 50's/60's, that kids of my generation could have been made more aware, proactive movements such as child protection services & CASA would have been enacted much sooner, enpowering & helping the victims of spousal & child abuse along with abusers that much sooner.
    Boy, oh boy, I never thought, watching this little "Fantasy" movie tonight would provoke so much. A complete surprise. Wow

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    1. Thanks for sharing that! :) I'm glad I saw this when I was a child. It's always stuck with me. I wonder if the film makers intended to have the ending be so thought provoking and generate so many discussions, because it doesn't seem like there's many of them that I can find on the net. The film apparently bombed at the box office, which is unfortunate as it's so special to me.

      Every time someone drops by to leave a comment on this post, I want to watch the film all over again.

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  13. We always delete movies & shows we have recorded to our Direct TV recorder because it's always so full. I auto erased Radio Flyer as soon as it finished out of habit. I'm so aggravated I did that!!!! Gotta find again so I can watch it with a critical eye. I think I saw where it was in book form.
    From one Radio Flyer lover to another, happy watching!

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    1. Yes, I haven't read the book it was based on. It wasn't in any library near me. I think I made a mental note to check on scribd and amazon then completely spaced it. I hope it comes on TV again so you can record it.

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  14. I just can't wait until Elijah Wood finally grows up to be Tom Hanks.

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  15. The story was metaphorical to me, in every shape and form. That being said, I'm on the side where I believe Bobby is real and alive.

    How? Why would they need to get money in order to build a hunk of junk that wouldn't logically fly? Because that isn't what they were building up for. If I can recall my childhood, the most mundane things were 'magical' in a sense.

    The machine they were building, was completely symbolic. They didn't build the radio flyer (and if they did, it probably didn't even look like that) but what they were getting was tickets out of there to fly out of the airport.

    The King came back earlier than planned, before they had enough money to both get out of there. So it was Bobby who was sent on a plane. This is why right as their mother gets done reading their note, you hear a plane fly over head. Bobby is on that plane.

    Children don't have the sense of time like adults. Memories as you get older, get blurred together. The whole movie in fact, recalled the most 'important' aspects in their memories.

    What Mikey was remembering, was likely his goodbyes at the airport. He ran back to the wishing spot afterward, where the King finding him. The airport, seeing this disturbing display of the children going to this desperation, called authorities but Bobby was already on the plane flying the moment it went over their mother's home.

    What we see afterwards, with the infamous Radio Flyer scene, is likely a flashback. The mother was already driving there. We don't know if the mother actually called authorities or not, but if she did -- I think a lot of their speediness had to deal with the fact some people at the airport were greatly concerned. (And it was clear that the one police officer knew something was wrong throughout the movie, but couldn't do anything about it because the children would not say a word about the subject. He likely knew immediately what was wrong and was right there on the scene.)

    The walkie talkie was likely how they kept connected to say their goodbyes properly, before he was long out of distance. The shaking was turbulence from the plane going up and I assumed Bobby already had dreams of being an aviator so he got into the role like he was.

    This is also ties into why the authorities so conveniently at the right time stopped the King. Mikey likely ran up to the wishing spot to see him fly off in the distance and try to keep contact with him.

    Why it took so long to find Bobby because he might have been picked up by authorities wherever he landed where he was properly questioned. But after a while they finally did get contact with him again because he was soon put into foster care and where he was able to fulfill his dream by becoming an aviator who traveled all over the world.

    The plane that flies over head at the end, with Tom Hanks and all -- is likely his little brother and they are visiting him to see him fly. It's important there is no implication that Bobby is dead the way the children talk about him.

    Mikey likely told this 'magical' story is because this is how he genuinely had to cope with the abuse, but I don't think any of the things were outright lies.

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    1. That's an interesting theory, it's one I haven't heard before. My only thing is, a minor can't get on an airplane without an adult dropping them off, and an adult retrieving them, having flown as an unaccompanied minor myself. I suppose a movie could ignore that logic of how air plane tickets work. Thanks for sharing that! I love hearing new opinions so many years after I wrote this post.

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    2. It's an interesting movie. I also went with in mind, the creator himself said Bobby had survived, which made me thinking of it in a metaphysical sense. Otherwise, I was assuming he was dead too.

      This goes into the idea it was Fisher who bought the ticket. There was an odd focus on him despite him being a relatively 'minor' character and just being an urban legend. He appeared to be an older teenager/young adult, so he may have been the one who did it and just lied saying someone would pick him up over there.

      The plane with Bobby on it likely was notified immediately when it was up in the air, so when it landed the local authorities picked him up. There he probably explained the whole abusive situation, they found the mother incompetent to take care of the child and thus why he got put into the adoption situation.

      On the flip side, Mikey and his mother were likely kept under close watch from then on, in case their mother fell back into old habits and ended up with another abusive guy. It thankfully didn't happen.

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    3. Interesting about Fisher. That would be kind of nice for the boys to have the local legend assist with an escape. Thanks again for sharing this theory here. :)

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  16. I've never seen The Boy Who Could Fly. I'll have to check that out so I can better understand your comparison. Thanks for visiting!

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  17. In a recent article, David Mickey Evans explains how the ending was changed... here is a quote on how he intended it to end: " The most glaring change was the end of the film, the original script ended with a reunion of sorts between Mike and Bobby, grown up, in the Smithsonian National Aerospace Museum where the Radio Flyer is on display next the The Wright Flyer -- with the exception that is has no visable means of support (no wires, nothing... just hovering in mid air proudly). I wrote it because I intended it to mean that the Radio Flyer had actually worked -- whatever the machinations of how Bobby survived notwithstanding. Mr. Donner's opinion was that the ending should be a "Rorschach Test" for the audience. I believe that is entirely wrong."

    Apparently Bobby lives and the radio flyer worked though he never thought of logistics on how a child that young survived on his own. I saw the movie as a child and loved it until my mean stepfather told me "HE DIDN'T LIVE HE DIED." I always thought he had died...

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    1. I think the fantasy elements of this movie are what worked the least. Like the giant buffalo talking to Mikey in his dream, so I can see how that ending probably would've bombed. lol

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  18. One of my favorite childhood movies. I always believed Bobby lived and later became a pilot. Never saw it any other way.

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    1. That's a happy way to look at it! Thanks for stopping by.

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  19. Just watched Screen Junkies with Elijah Wood as a guest and I think he mentions that Bobby committed suicide, with the whole flying thing as a metaphor for it. Although I do know that the writer intended for him to live.

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    1. Really? Wow I'm going to have to look up that interview now. Thanks for mentioning it.

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    2. Interesting that hardly anyone else mentions suicide, when that seemed to me the more likely explanation. The whole problem with the Radio Flyer is that they never could have built the thing in the first place, much less make it work. When the mother sees Mike in the 'wishing spot' and asks where Bobby is, I got the impression that he had jumped from that spot-the spot where his wish to escape could come true. Mike just says that he is 'gone' and that he had escaped- flown away. Throughout the story, Mike continues to mention how Bobby had this idea in his head for a while before putting it into action. So Bobby knew when the King came back that it was time for him to go. Just a theory. But it does explain the whole metaphor about flying.

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    3. I think suicide probably doesn't come up as much because Bobby was so young and it can sometimes be hard to think of a child that young being able to contemplate suicide. He was what, 6 or 7?

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  20. Here's an interview with the original writer (supposed to be director) of the film. It'll provide some insight. I really wish I could have seen his
    version of the story. httpdavidmickeyevansblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-happened-to-bobby.html

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  21. Anyone know if the buffalo had a name?

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  22. what was the bison's purpose? (And yes, it is a bison, not a buffalo)

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    1. I'd guess convenience? They drove by the statue so that's what had to appear to Mikey in his dream?

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    2. I was about to ask that myself. But I think the Mike saw how unhappy the bison was because he was all alone - the last of his kind. So, when it comes to him in a dream and tells him he has to help Bobby, I think it means that Mike's compassion for his brother compels him to try to help him escape his pain. P

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    3. That's a nice way to think of it. That makes sense to me. I like it. lol

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  23. I just watched this again as an adult.I thought wow was Mikey a imaginary friend ..when the husband was finally gone ,Mike was gone too.I just read a article where the writer originally meant there kids to live in a magic world only children live in,believing animals talked and you could fly in a pretend airplane.Only the movie studio made him change it and actually changed directors three fourth's of the way through filming.They cut out talking to the dog as in the Buffalo scene.They cut the end where the writer intended to have a reunion of the boys as men with Mike as a Airforce Officer and the flyer floating next to the Wright Flyer at in the Arospace museum.Proving magic did exist at least in the minds of two young boys.I really like a movie that makes you think and it would have been way better if the movie was filmed as it was intended by the writer.

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    1. That would've been a completely different movie tonally it seems like. I'm glad they took the more realistic approach personally though that would've been interesting to watch too.

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  24. I just watched this with my 8 and 9 year old grandchildren. The 8 year old said at the end of the movie I think Bobby was killed.He wasn't sure if he died in the Flyer or was killed by the stepfather. I never thought about Bobby not being real.A framed picture is shown of just the mother and the dog. I am puzzled about that. Why wouldn't both boys be in the picture or anyway Mike? I don't think it is possible two boys that young, I am guessing 6 and 8,could build a contraption like that.Bobby says he knows the end is near. He has the premonition of his death.Not sure about the postcards actually being sent by anyone. Sad movie. Don't really like movies that leave me hanging. Also sad that kids today can't grow up free range like I did.

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    1. That's an interesting thought from your grandchild. Like I said, I took it at face value when I was that age. I love that someone that young is being so perceptive.

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  25. So to explain the letters one of 3 things happened. One, Bobby ran away and Mikey straight up told his mom this story and she called the police thinking the King killed him. The King went to prison, Bobby ends up in the system or with some adult they knew who was willing to hide him from their pathetic mom and her inability to protect her kids. Second both kids end up in foster care with Mikey being returned to their mother but Bobby never being returned.

    The 3rd darkest possibility is the radio flyer isn't built to fly away but a plan to kill the king. Succeed or not the King is either dead or ends up in prison because their mom realizes how bad things are once they try to kill him, Bobby admits fault and goes to a school for boys until he is 18, then joins the military.

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    1. Well the boys trying to kill King is certainly a dark turn. lol

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  26. When I just saw this for the first time, it definitely left me with some questions... Before I googled the ending and found this, I initially thought Bobby was real, and did fly/run away....the camera seemed to focus on the picture of the first postcard for a long time...my first thought was that he went back to the wild west museum and was taken in by Ben Johnson. Cant remember his movie name or if they even introduced him lol. There was definitely a reason for that scene in the movie other than the buffalo dream imo, and Ben Johnson was clearly a good person. I do think that Bobby became a pilot and travelled the world afterwards tho

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    1. Aww that's a nice thought too, that he went back there.

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  27. Why is no one mentioning Buffalo Bill? I think he is the key to the ending. My take is that Bobby 'flew' away but really ran away and Buffalo Bill took him in. Bobby sent his first post card from Buffalo Bills ranch! Who knows if the flyer really flew or what happened, but I think Bobby ended up being safe and became a pilot. Hence, Tom Hanks speaking of Bobby in the present tense and being at an airfield.

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    1. That would be a nice way to end it. I often forget about Buffalo Bill, to be honest.

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  28. With Boy Who Could Fly, I always felt the ending to be literal, but within the same conversation of Radio Flyer I can see the comparison. I always felt I don't need to see him fly away at the end with the whole town witnessing it. He just needed to "metaphorically" fly away, where to, don't need to know, just that he's free now. The Boy Who Could Fly is a very dark, and underrated film, total double feature with Radio Flyer.

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  29. I still haven't watched that. I need to get on it. Nearly four year old recommendations are not a good look. lol

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  30. Seen this when I was a kid and remember the magic. So wanted to watch with my kids, realizing the end might have not been so magical.

    When he begins to tell his kids the story of Bobby, it was if he was talking about the uncle they never met, but knew about. He explains to them there’s details of the story he wasn’t ready to share, but felt they were ready to hear.

    So I realize he’s telling his children of Bobby’s abuse/possible death, but that he chooses to remember the the ending differently. His tone as he states that clues that the real ending wasn’t so pleasant. The kids clearly understand what their dad is trying to say, as they know that uncle Bobby is dead, but this is how he copes.

    When his brother died I think was on the cliff before trying to escape. I don’t think he’d drag on the abuse in his fantasy ending. Step dad got out early, drank too much and stopped the attempt to get away, or might have even killed him before he ever did get to cliff. Would make sense to why they have Samson, because Samson never left with Bobby.

    Super depressing to be an adult and miss the magic 😭

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    1. I get you, I never questioned anything when I saw this as a kid either.

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  31. I took to believe Bobby was taken away from the home after the severe beating and he and his brother communicated secretly and intermittently by radio. He remained under foster care until adulthood where he became a flyer, sending postcards himself.

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    1. That sounds like a lovely ending. Not glooming and dooming like I take it now. lol

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  32. All great theories, however; you have to view it from a different perspective folks. Sampson was the tortoise. Bobby took flight accompanied by Sampson ( Not Shane). Bobby didn't die- he survived and went on to travel the world. Tom Hanks is telling the story to his kids in 3rd person. Tom Hanks is Bobby. His kids asks Tom Hanks ( Bobby), " So is that where we got Sampson from ?" Remember...Sampson flew off with Bobby at the point as Mike ( Older brother) looked on. Don't over analyze things; it's dangerous. Simply connect the dots.

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    1. That's a new theory that I haven't heard, but it's quite depressing. That means Bobby is writing letters to himself in the 3rd person and not being honest with his family about who he is.

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  33. Well Tom Hanks can't be Bobby because he tells his kids the story of Uncle Bobby. If you mean he is Mikey but was the victim of the abuse, and Bobby was imaginary, then that could make sense how he still has Sampson.

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    1. It would also make sense for him to have Sampson as well if Bobby died and wasn't entirely imaginary.

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  34. I think this entire story is being told from the mind of Samson the turtle , and Tom Hanks is really the dog Shane, in human form of course, this whole movie was made up in the turtle's mind

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  35. I think the whole point of this was to just build up a discussion just like were doing. But I do think that Bobby died and when Mike mom caught wind of what he was doing to cope with what happened, she just decided to go along with it. When he brought that letter in from the mail box, she tried her hardest to act surprised and went along with it.. and thats what made him possibly keep going with it as he got older as far writing the post cards and sticking to the story of how things happened to his little brother. Because the one and only time he left his brother got em killed and even when Bobby tried his hardest to get him to stay.. possibly haunts til this day because he said the Bobby was his responsibility eversince he found out he was being abused..

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    1. I appreciate everyone who leaves a comment to discuss on this post! I really do. :)

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  36. Since the movie was altered before release, it came across alot more ambiguous than it was meant to be. The writer of the film has already confirmed both Bobby and Mikey survived, thank goodness! The other theories are pretty dark, but i could understand why people let their imaginations fly.. ;)

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    1. With what we get in movies nowadays, I don't judge either. lol

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  37. I watched this as a kid many times and later as an adult too. I still choose to see the ending I did as a kid. Bobby flies off in the radio flyer and is raised by the man at the Buffalo place with his mom giving him custody of him because Bobby wanted it and she felt guilty for the abuse he indured from the King. He did write to Mikey about his adventures and He grew up to be a pilot. I always assumed Mikey's kids have a tortoise named Sampson because he wanted them to have a pet like he did at their age - we had a Sammy dog just like our mom did before getting married.
    Growing up with a parent that was abused by her parent may have helped me see the ending as plausible and likely because our mom was able to overcome the trauma she indured to have her own family.

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    1. I'm sorry your family had to go through that. I do like the idea of seeing this film as one with a happy ending where he escapes. That's how I saw it as a child too.

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  38. I fell like it was mostly all an allusion to cope with his own abuse or a fabricated story so his kids didn’t get scared or feel bad for him because he hallucinated about the Buffalo and other things and he got both pets some how

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    1. That's what I believe too. Thanks for stopping by!

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  39. I agree with Ian Ford's take on the movie. I did see this movie as an adult and it moved me to tears.

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  40. Well I won’t hold anyone with a repeated theory. Looks like we’ve been here since 2010 lol but radio flyer just started streaming on HBO max so here I am. Very different than when I remember seeing it. It was magical to me and he flew! (Back then I was maybe 8-9) but now being that the relationship was so close and strong there is no way that Bob never came back to Mike or the Mom is simply impossible. He loved them way too much. Bobby died. I can’t say when though because his mom asked Mikey at the take off spot where he was again. Then when the post card came he told his mom and she was shocked and excited to see he had made it back to see the buffalo where they went on the road trip. In my mind back then, he went back to the man with the buffalo attraction. Stayed there and grew up (but again that’s wishful thinking because I think he did die) a lot of people are saying he died while Mikey was playing but so much happened after that, he couldn’t have been dead. I think Bobby didn’t make it off the cliff because clearly that wagon couldn’t fly. But it was a kids movie so of course we wouldn’t see a child fall to their death. Nevertheless the movie is still GREAT it’s a must watch and a classic! I’m here for a remake with a clear ending. Being that things are more talked about today! Thank you for making this!

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    1. Thank you for visiting and letting me know this is streaming on HBO Max! I'll be happy to watch it again.

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  41. I remember when Bobby was in the hospital after the beating he received from the King and his mom left the room and didn't even address Mikey. She then left the room and Mikey was left with his brother. Which leads me to believe one of the brothers was imaginary.

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  42. There are many posts about bobby being imaginary. But there is too much evidence to support he was real, i.e. introduction to his aunt, talking to his sons as an adult about their uncle bobby, etc.

    I believe bobby died up on that hill. By the king or by crash. The arresting officer does make it seem that the stepfather does cause it, though.

    The postcard at the end of the movie had no zip code. Meaning it couldn't have made it to its destination.
    Also, mikey said he rushed home that day to get the mail. Is it because he had found an old postcard from when they visited geronimo Bill's and wrote the postcard himself.

    All these subtleties lead me to believe that mikey is doing it to cope with his brothers death. Regardless of how he died, bobby died.

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    1. I just saw Radio Flyer for the first time in more than 20 years. As a kid I thought Bobby flew away, and as an adult I realize in reality there is no way he could’ve flown away in that wagon. Both endings are correct, and it’s emphasized several times throughout the movie. Bobby didn’t die from The King, he definitely went down that hill, it’s why the opening with Fischer attempting to fly on his bike was shown in the first place. Fischer almost made it, but he was too old by then, he lost the magic that little kids know, he lost the ability to “fly”. There is a common theme of time passing by in the movie, Bobby celebrates a birthday, Bobby mentions that he doesn’t have much time left, he can feel it. I don’t think this means he doesn’t have much time left to live, it means he is growing up, and soon enough he will lose his ability to fly. When the boys go to the wishing spot, they pray to god that Bobby can fly away, surrounded by airplanes, but surrounded by the welcoming clouds of heaven as well. Bobby did go up the ramp in Radio Flyer, and he did “fly away”. When mom asks Mikey where Bobby is, Mikey says he’s gone. To adults, in reality, Bobby died in the plane crash, to Bobby, he flew away for a lifetime of adventures (actually flew away to heaven like they prayed for). Mikey promised Bobby he would never tell mom, so he kept that secret forever, believing that Bobby flew away, and keeping the secret that all little boys know, that little boys CAN fly.

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    2. Thanks for visiting and sharing your theory!

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  43. I have a few different theories as well, most of them mentioned…but:
    1) it happened just as the story says- Bobby flew away in the flyer and traveled the world. As a kid I never questioned this but as an adult, there are so many issues- building the thing, a young kid on his own flying and landing around the world, etc. But ignoring the logistics and taking it at face value, this is the ending I’ve usually gone with for the most part.
    2) Bobby is killed by the King at some point and him “flying away” is Mike’s way of understanding he’s free from the abuse and pain and suffering. Now whether Bobby was killed back when he ended up in the hospital and Mike then invented the rest of the story as a coping mechanism after coming home and finding his brother beaten to death, or he caught Bobby on the hill and got to him- both make sense in their own way.
    3) This is sort of a recent realization and I’ve seen it brought up here, but it’s dark- so beware. Bobby commits suicide to end his suffering. Bobby said “it’s gonna happen soon” when he was talking about (what we assume was) escaping alive. When their mom took the king back, I think Bobby knew he would have to endure more abuse, probably leading to his death anyway, so he took matters into his own hands. The way the boys said goodbye was just too final for me, like they’d never see each other again. Now whether he rode down the cliff on the wagon or jumped, no idea. But just some of the wording and their goodbye, and also how he said goodbye to his mom that day, just makes me lean this way- and it’s super heartbreaking to even imagine!

    Sorry I know this is an older thread but this has been bothering me for years and I had to google it after watching the movie tonight!

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    1. Don't worry! This blog is still very much alive so I still read every comment. :) Thank you for stopping by. I agree that suicide theory is super dark. It's one I never considered.

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  44. Why would Mikey have developed a the split personality of bobby as a coping mechanism before the had even met the King?
    Although the crying buffallo representing loneliness lends to the factit was just one boy.
    Such a dark, emotional, inspirational, pyschological and metaphysically epic movie.
    Loved all the theories on here!

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  45. Its also neat to think that the ambiguity of the movie demands that because there is no true story, the interpretation of the movie becomes the truth to the viewer. This theme then beautifully ties everything together. haha
    What a great film. One of the best.

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    1. I agree. There's so many different ways this film can be interpreted.

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  46. If you want to know something wild, I haven't seen this flick in about 20+ years. It was kind of a big deal, because I knew of this abuse dynamic growing up.

    I think about Evans original ending and the idea of an unreliable narrator. The boys meet up as adults and the Radio Flyer is next to the Wright Bros. plane, held by nothing, except for the magic between them. But that doesn't necessarily mean Bobby is alive. It could mean that when Mike sees that Wright Bros plane in the museum, the history is incomplete.

    Or at least his personal history. The stomach aches really got me. They both had them. Shane gets beat to he point he looks dead, but has enough gas in the tank to attack the King one more time.

    When I last saw this decades ago, I thought I remembered a pilot nodding at Hanks and he nods back. But just literally having finished this minutes ago, that isn't there like I remember. So clearly I just hoped we saw Bobby again and that became part of my memory.

    I'm haunted by silly details. The postcard had a Denver punch on the stamp. I'd imagine Bobby already had the postcard because Mikey mentions the cards and postage. But they had no money when they stopped by so it stands to reason that they never had a postcard in the first place.

    I'm going to have to watch it again before I can come to anything concrete on what the movie is trying convey despite its ambiguity. I had questions as a kid as to how Bobby lived a life afterwards. We also tried several attempts at crude flying machines as kids.

    As for what happened to Bobby, I just don't think he made it. I don't know where he ended, but it doesn't matter to the narrator, Bobby lived and that is all that is important.

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    1. I'm do for a rewatch of this as well. I love that this movie is one that just stays with so many of us, apparently. Thanks for stopping by!

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  47. I think its great that the movie came together in ways where there could be multiple outcomes for people to think about. Reading these comments, I never really saw it as the same person with an imaginary brother but that does make a lot of sense.
    For instance, why is Bobby the only child that is beaten while Mikey was never touched? They never hide this for the viewers from the very beginning with even Bobby commenting on it but they never say why.
    Its not like Mikey had a good relationship with his step-father so it does make sense that he could of created a persona to deal with the abuse. Mikey could of saw the younger (weaker) brother as the part of his own self that he created to protect himself mentally. I see the connection with the bison as well because that is how he was feeling internally so he manifested the bison in a dream where he had someone/something to relate to with his feeling of being all alone.
    But like I stated initially, you know its a good movie when it brings people together to discuss and whoever edited the final cut was a genius (especially with mentions of the floating flyer...)

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    1. Definitely! I'm glad for the discussion it's created.

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  48. Thank you for keeping this discussion going for ten years. I just saw this on HBO Max and it affected and disturbed me.

    I think the only way the story works is with two brothers. The Mikey or Bobby is imaginary is not only unconvincing , but counterintuitive to the established themes. And it's a tired twist I saw too many people try to ascribe to too many movies, like Spirit of the Beehive. Fight Club has ruined a generation of film analysts.

    Ultimately, within the movie itself, I suppose the thing to do is take it on it's own face value, without the need for head canon that the wagon did fly. It's magical realism, and it's appalling because as Ebert said, you cannot escape child abuse on a flying wagon. It's surprising to me that Evan's seemed so surprised at the multiple interpretations of the ending especially given Older Michael's bit about truth being in the mind of the storyteller, which naturally invites ambiguity. Ultimately, this sense of whimsy and childhood magic being real worked so much better in his The Sandlot, where I can believe the spirit of Babe Ruth visited Smalls and Hercules lived longer than any dog would, without the baggage of real world traumatic issued.

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    1. Thank you for stopping by! I'm glad people still come to visit after all this time.

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  49. I haven’t seen this movie in years but every once in a while it creeps into my mind, so Google led me here. This movie came out when I was 17. At the time, I always thought that Bobby was killed by the King. Now reading the thoughts on suicide I believe that may be a real possibility as well. It’s also very interesting to think maybe Bobby was Mikey’s coping mechanism for the abuse he sustained. I will definitely have to watch it again now that I am older to see what my take would be. Also, at the time I watched it, I always thought Shane had died too. I felt like Shane was really dead when the boys came home from school and saw him injured and was a bit of foreshadowing of what was to come. I’m not sure why I thought that though.

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    1. I'm glad Google brought you here! It's amazing to read all these different interpretations.

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  50. I just watch this for the first time and I instantly thought Bobby was real and was killed in a crash while trying to escape home.
    Then after a few minutes, I accepted the possibility that the King had killed Bobby and the story of the Flyer was Mikey's way of coping with the tragedy.
    Now, I am hearing how the writer intended the two boys to eventually meet up at the Smithsonian. Although likely not what the writer intended, I can clearly envision this ending. Both boys have an emotional meeting, alluding to Bobby being real and surviving. Then as the scene ends, the camera pans up to the Flyer, magically hovering in mid air. It is at this point the viewer realizes that the reunion is taking place in heaven after Mikey's death (as an old man). And he is finally reuniting with Bobby.

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    1. I wonder how that ending would've played had they actually filmed it? Thanks for stopping by!

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  51. Honestly this movie is so amazing! Its sad but, it does make you think. Its more of the fact that right now I'm only 14 and i see it from the point of view of it making sense that bobby died.. The mother never went looking for him and they never found him that just doesn't make sense.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I agree, I feel he died as well.

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  52. So I've read a bunch of these comments. I just watched the movie last night for the first time, and I was confused about the ending so ended up here. I think there were actually 2 children. The mother acknowledges them separately when introducing them to her aunt. She also asks which one tracked in the dirt or mud, and is taking off the shirt of one when the other one falls into the tub to distract her. Also, The stepfather asks which child's turn it is to hold the fishing pole. I can't imagine him indulging a child's personality disorder in that way. Others have mentioned the possibility that Bobby committed suicide, and Mike assisted. I don't agree with this either, because Bobby packed a suitcase full of clothes which wouldn't have been necessary if he were planning on committing suicide, and Mike gave him his favorite jacket telling him he needed to be warm. That also doesn't make sense if they knew he was committing suicide. So the other three options are that Bobby was killed by the king, and Mike made up the story about flying off the cliff as a way to deal with it. Or, that Bobby died while flying off the cliff. Or a third option is that he actually did inexplicably manage to fly off. I have reservations about each of these options. So in that third option, assuming that magically Bobby was able to fly a homemade airplane, and get away, who took care of him since he had no money or any means of survival? And why wouldn't he have returned once his stepfather was out of the picture? Why continue to be so elusive? In the first and second options where Bobby is actually killed either by the king or by falling off the cliff, I question where the postcards came from. Since those are the most likely scenarios, it doesn't seem like a huge deal, but I would still like to know. I don't like ambiguous movie endings, as I usually feel like I have wasted my time watching the movie. This definitely wasn't a waste of time, but I would really like to know what the ending is supposed to be. Any other ideas?

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! In the years that have gone by, I've always stuck with the King killed Bobby, and the radio flyer story was something Mikey told to cope. That makes the mots sense to me.

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  53. This is one of my favorite movies growing up which came out when I was 12. The magic of the movie is protraying how children see the world, which is not like parents see it. I did not ever consider many of the ideas posted here and i strongly disagree with them. I always saw it as Tom Hanks letting his children know that he was abused growing up - they were old enough now to know. Tom Hanks was the only child and he went through terrible abuse growing up, but he survived due to the magic and imagination that only a child has.

    The critic of the movie by critics like Ebert and others that this was a bad way to portray a child abuse story misses the entire point of the movie, because they are too old to understand. If you watch this movie and don't see the magic, then you're too old and you've grown up which is why you are going to not understand the real story.

    Sammy is there because there was no Bobby. Sammy never left.
    Mikey wasnt keeping a secret for his brother, he was keeping a secret for himself for his mom because of his love for her. He was all he had and he wanted her to be happy more than stopping the abuse. He endured it for her, and he survived with all the magic that exists in the world when you are a child.

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    1. I agree that this wasn't a bad way to portray child abuse. I thought it was very realistic. Especially the scapegoating.

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  54. The movie isn't actually about a promise at all. The beginning just presents an opportunity used by Tom Hanks to tell his story to his children. It is about Tom Hanks telling his children that he was abused growing up, and helping them understand why he didn't tell anyone about the abuse. The truth is that Bobby never existed, and Mikey was the one abused. There are so many reasons for this. For #1 Mikey would NEVER stand by while the King hit Bobby in that movie, not for 1 second. The reason he does is it's not what is really what happened. #2 the radio flyer was a dream for Mikey to escape the abuse he was enduring without hurting his Mom at the same time. The radio flyer represents what the entire movie is really about which is Childhood Magic, as the movie puts it something that all adults lose replaced by thoughts of the opposite sex.

    In the end, we know the children understand what Tom Hanks is really telling him because of an important line when his child says "is that were we got sammy". They know the story says Sammy went with Bobby, but they are letting Tom Hanks know they understand that he was the real victim of child abuse.

    Bobby WAS Mikey. Bobby was the Mikey that was abused, that finally got away from the abuse when the king was taken away in the end of the story. The hero of the story was the Radio Flyer and the magic that kept Mikey alive and able to endure the abuse and survive, and even turn out to be a healthy good father when he got older.

    I do not believe the story is about Bobby being real, or that he was killed. That's the way an adult sees it. You have to look at it like a child. The movie is about the relationship of Mikey with his Mom, and Mikey seperating himself from the abuse in order to survive and continue his life, rather than being a victim of it forever. It is also a story about how powerful the magic of childhood is, something adults lose (as the movie says, and like the peter pan story tells)..

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    1. It's definitely a popular interpretation! I appreciate when that take is brought up.

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  55. You’re all wrong. Bobby flew away and traveled the world and eventually became a sex tourist. How do I know? I am Bobby.

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    1. Thanks for clearing this up, my dude. We've spent decades wondering!

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    2. Here we are, 2023 and still adding to this thread. My eyes are swollen as I have been crying on and off for hours regarding this movie. I don’t know why things like this hurt me so much or affect my mental. I think Bobby was real, I don’t think he was made up. He was real, and he died as a result of abuse, and his brother Barrie’s him with his favorite jacket. The dog died too, but Mike still made him a part of the send off in his head. I just wish we knew more. Where was the dad to these kids, other family? I feel physically sick because this is the reality of a lot of children. Not bowing is driving me crazy.

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    3. Awww, I'm sorry you feel sad, but glad you stopped by to share your thoughts! I'm glad this movie still resonates with a lot of folks.

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  56. This is one of those movies you absolutely have to discuss afterwards.

    Tom Hanks likes planes. He's absolutely riddled with emotional baggage elsewhere, but his view of planes is favorable. If his little brother was beaten to death while building one or actually died on one then he wouldn't view them favorably. The airport was his happy place both as a child trying to escape his reality and as an adult telling his own children a fictionalized version of childhood abuse. My wife noticed that Tom Hanks sat down in a way that suggests he suffered various serious injuries in the past.

    The postcards, little brother, and the radio flyer itself are just how Tom Hanks told the story of being a lonely, abused kid escaping into fantasy. He's at a typewriter so it's obvious that the movie itself is the fictitious story he's writing.

    It seems odd for him to still have Sampson the turtle when the little brother took him in the flyer otherwise. A turtle isn't going to survive a crash and if it's just a coping mechanism to deal with the brother being beaten to death, then why include the turtle in the flyer when he still HAS the turtle?

    I think the younger brother was the personification of his childhood sense of fantasy. It's the younger brother who says he doesn't have much time left when it's the older brother who is approaching the end of the movie's mythical childhood period.

    "Building the radio flyer" involved working to make his own money, which lessened the King's power. In the end, the mom leaves "the king," with Mikey becoming man of the house in the way that was foreshadowed in the beginning. My 0.02

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