Bill & Ted


Bill & Ted is an American comedy sci-fi film series featuring Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted Theodore Logan, portrayed by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, respectively, two metalhead slacker friends who travel through time. The series spans two films: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey with an upcoming third film, Bill & Ted Face the Music set for release in 2020. There have been numerous spin-offs, including an animated television series, a live-action television series in 1992, video games, and comic books. Originally produced by Orion Pictures, ownership moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer following the purchase of Orion in 1997.

Setting

The series follows the pair of William "Bill" S. Preston Esq. and Ted "Theodore" Logan, initially two teenaged slackers living in San Dimas, California in 1988. They want to make their rock band, "Wyld Stallyns", successful but their ambitions and lackadaisical attitudes leaves them close to flunking out of high school and threatening to split the band up forever. Unknown to them, their music will form the basis of a utopian society in the future. The leaders of this society send Rufus to help Bill & Ted pass school with the aid of a time machine that appears as a phone booth, to make sure they pass and assure the future. Later films focus on attempts by others to break up Bill & Ted so that their music will never lead to the utopia.

Films

''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' (1989)

Excellent Adventure introduces Bill and Ted who are trying to write a history report. Rufus, a guide from the year 2688, arrives to provide them the time machine which allows them to travel back in time and meet historical figures in order to learn about key historical events. If Bill and Ted fail to pass, their teacher will have to flunk them and Ted's father will transfer him to an Alaskan military academy, which will lead to Wyld Stallyns never forming, in turn destroying a Utopian future built around their music.

''Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey'' (1991)

In Bogus Journey, Chuck De Nomolos, a resident of the utopia, is sick of it and sends a pair of Bill & Ted robot doubles back into the past to kill Bill and Ted and make a future based on his ideals. Bill & Ted are killed, face the Grim Reaper, and manage to best him at several games, giving them the opportunity to find allies to stop their robot doubles and De Nomolos before an upcoming Battle of the Bands where they must also rescue the princesses they are engaged to and start their musical careers.

''Bill & Ted Face the Music'' (2020)

Since 2010, there had been attempts to write a script and shop around for a third film in the series, with both Reeves and Winter involved along with Matheson and Solomon writing. The script spent several years in preparation, as according to Solomon, they wanted to continue the series and characters properly and not make the sequel look like a simple cash-grab. Negotiations at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival greenlit the film, which is slated for release on August 28, 2020.
The film is expected to follow Bill & Ted, middle-aged adults with their own daughters, coming to realize they have yet to achieve the music that the future Utopian society will follow. Alongside Reeves and Winter returning as the titular duo, William Sadler will reprise his role as the Grim Reaper. Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving will appear as Ted's daughter Billie Logan and Bill's daughter Thea Preston, respectively. Kid Cudi was also announced as a cast member for the film in an undisclosed role, which ended up being himself.

Television

''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure''s (1990–1991)

The first season was produced by Hanna-Barbera and ran for 13 episodes on CBS in 1990, featured the voices of Carlin, Winter and Reeves returning to their roles in the film. A second season of eight episodes ran on Fox Kids and was produced by DIC Entertainment, with none of the original cast.

''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures'' (1992)

A later live-action series, featuring none of the cast from the film, included Christopher Kennedy as Bill and Evan Richards as Ted. This version aired seven episodes in 1992 on Fox. William Sadler additionally reprised his role as the Grim Reaper in "The Assassin", a 1994 episode of Tales from the Crypt.

Cast and crew

Cast

Crew

Other media

Comics

produced a tie-in comic following the plot of the first movie timed to coincide with that film's release on home video. The sequel was adapted by DC's competitor Marvel Comics, published to coincide with the second film's release in theaters. Its popularity led to the ongoing Marvel series Bill & Ted's Excellent Comic Book by Evan Dorkin, which lasted for 12 issues.
There was a weekly 2/4 page semi-adaptation of the animated series published for a year by UK's defunct Look-In Magazine from 1991 to 1992.
In 2015, Boom! Comics revived the franchise in comic form with Bill & Ted's Most Triumphant Return. That success of that miniseries led to two additional miniseries.

Cereal

A cereal based on the animated series adaptation. It was made by the defunct Ralston Purina. It was short-lived, like the cartoon and it included many giveaways and promotions.

Musical

A musical based on the film was produced in 1998 called Bill and Ted's Excellent Musical Adventure.

Video games

There were also, NES and Atari Lynx games released, which were very loosely based on the film's plot. A PC title and nearly identical Amiga and Commodore 64 port were made in 1991 by Off the Wall Productions and IntraCorp, Inc. under contract by Capstone Software and followed the original film very closely.

Home computer

A single player graphic adventure PC game based on the 1989 film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. It was released by Capstone for DOS, Commodore 64, and Amiga systems in 1990.

Game Boy

An action-puzzle game loosely based on Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Atari Lynx

A video game for the Atari Lynx handheld based on the Bill & Ted films and the Saturday morning cartoon.

NES

An action-adventure video game based on Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure that was released in North America by LJN for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Mobile

Wyld Stallyns is an action-RPG video game based on the Bill & Ted universe was released by Built Games in 2018 for iOS and Android devices.

Halloween Horror Nights

Bill & Ted also featured in an annual live-action show at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood during Halloween Horror Nights. Typically the show parodied the past year's worth of notable pop culture events, featuring locally cast performers as the title characters.
In 2013, the Universal Studios Hollywood Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure show was cancelled following allegations by Jamie Lee Curtis Taete from Vice of homophobia and racism in that year's show. The show continued at Universal Studios Florida, until 2017.