50 Fun Facts About Freak the Mighty

What does Kevin aim at the eyes of Max's father in Freak the Mighty, claiming it is full of acid?

A squirt gun is all Kevin has, yet the bluff works long enough for Max to grab him and run outside to the waiting police.

In Freak the Mighty, what does Kevin claim a secret hospital laboratory is building for him?

A new bionic body is the story Kevin tells, saying he will be the first bionically improved human. His doctor later says he invented it to give himself hope.

In Freak the Mighty, what does Kevin call the mechanical bird that Max plucks from a tree for him?

An ornithopter, Kevin lectures, is 'an experimental device propelled by flapping wings', and rescuing it is how the two boys first become friends.

On which night does Max's newly paroled father creep into his room and kidnap him in Freak the Mighty?

Christmas Eve begins happily, with Kevin and his mother joining Max's family for the evening, before Max wakes in the night to find his father standing over him.

In Freak the Mighty, the legends of which ruler inspire Kevin to call the boys' adventures quests?

King Arthur is Kevin's obsession: he nicknames his mother the Fair Gwen after Guinevere and tells Max that armoured knights were like the first human robots.

What 'treasure' do Max and Kevin fish out of a storm drain at three in the morning in Freak the Mighty?

A purse, stolen and dumped by Tony D.'s gang, is the prize, and returning it leads the boys to a couple who once knew Max's father.

What does Max call the basement room where he hides away at his grandparents' house in Freak the Mighty?

The down under sits beside the furnace, so it is always warm, and Max shuts himself inside it for days on end after Kevin dies.

In Freak the Mighty, what does a doctor tell Max caused Kevin's death, days after a birthday seizure?

His heart got too big for his small frame, the doctor explains, and Kevin had known for a long time that his life would be a short one.

Which actress earned a Golden Globe nomination as Kevin's mother in the film of Freak the Mighty?

Sharon Stone played Gwen in the 1998 film, which Miramax retitled because it thought the novel's own title might be offensive.

Which author of the Newbery Honor book The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg wrote Freak the Mighty?

Rodman Philbrick wrote the novel in the summer of 1992, borrowing Kevin's personality from a real boy who was sometimes carried around by a bigger friend.

In Freak the Mighty, what was Max called as a small child for fighting off anyone who tried to hug him?

Kicker was the name Max earned the year his grandparents took him in; by third grade his classmates had swapped it for Mad Max.

What nickname does Max use for the grandfather who raises him in Freak the Mighty?

Grim and his wife, Gram, are the parents of Max's late mother; they always call the boy Maxwell, a name he says he sometimes hated worst of all.

Where does Kevin steer Max to escape Tony D.'s gang after the Fourth of July fireworks in Freak the Mighty?

Into a muddy millpond they go, with Kevin riding on Max's shoulders, and Kevin then gets the attention of a police car that scares the gang away.

In Freak the Mighty, what does Kevin call Max while aiming a crutch at him on moving-in day?

Earthling is Kevin's word: 'Identify yourself, earthling,' he orders, and a terrified Max backs off and heads indoors.

In Freak the Mighty, Kevin says books are like what, because they help you tell real from fake?

Truth serum is his comparison: 'if you don't read, you can't figure out what's real', he lectures on the first afternoon the boys spend together.

In Freak the Mighty, in what does Max tow Kevin over to his house on the day they meet?

A rusty red wagon, an old American Flyer, gives the chapter its title; Kevin is standing in it to reach a tree when Max first walks over.

In Freak the Mighty, which insult does Kevin spell out letter by letter for the bully Tony D.?

Cretin, Kevin announces, is 'defined as one who suffers from mental deficiency', and the insult sets the whole gang chasing the boys.

What street name does the teenage gang leader Tony D. go by in Freak the Mighty?

Blade is at least seventeen and pulls a knife on the boys; after Kevin dies he tells Max he is sorry, and Max would rather stay enemies.

Where did Max first lay eyes on Kevin, years before the boys became neighbours in Freak the Mighty?

At day care, tiny Kevin already wore shiny leg braces, and Max is pretty sure he once whacked another child with a crutch; he remembers him looking fierce.

In Freak the Mighty, why does Kevin's mother hurry him away on first seeing Max?

He looks like his father, a convict the whole town remembers, and she knew the family well: she had been friends with Max's mother.

Which motorcycle gang does Iggy lead in Freak the Mighty, a crew said to scare even the police?

The Panheads answer to Iggy, who backs off the moment he learns whose son Max is, unwilling to cross Max's father.

In Freak the Mighty, what do locals call the run-down tenement blocks where Iggy lives?

The New Testaments began as the New Tenements, and Max has promised his grandmother never to go there, which is exactly where the quest leads.

In Freak the Mighty, what does Iggy's wife call Kevin's father for leaving on hearing 'birth defect'?

A magician is her cruel joke: 'as soon as he heard the magic words birth defect, he disappeared,' she tells the boys in her apartment.

Which cafeteria dish is Kevin wolfing down when he chokes and is rushed to hospital in Freak the Mighty?

American chop suey is Kevin's favourite, 'the gooier the better', and the scare comes on the same day Max hears his father is up for parole.

Mrs. Addison, who tells Max about his father's parole in Freak the Mighty, holds which job?

School principal Mrs. Addison promises Max he will never be forced to see his father, and ends the day telling him he is going to be okay.

Which skill does Max finally master in eighth grade with Kevin's coaching in Freak the Mighty?

Reading comes at last with Kevin beside him in class, though Max still insists that writing is 'a whole other ball game'.

What crime put Max's father in prison years before the events of Freak the Mighty?

Killing his wife earned him a life sentence, and Max, then four years old, saw it happen, a memory that floods back during the kidnapping.

In Freak the Mighty, what legal step does Max's grandfather take when Max's father is paroled?

A restraining order is meant to keep the man away from the house; he also wants to buy a firearm, which his wife flatly refuses to allow.

In Freak the Mighty, which kind of book does Kevin fill with favourite words as a holiday gift for Max?

A dictionary is the gift, hidden in a pyramid-shaped box Kevin built himself, and Max calls getting it 'the best'.

Which member of a famous acting family plays Kevin in The Mighty, the 1998 film of Freak the Mighty?

Kieran Culkin earned a Young Artist Award nomination for the part, playing opposite Elden Henson as Max.

In Freak the Mighty, on which object does Max's father swear his innocence while holding Max captive?

A Bible in hand, he vows 'by all that's Holy' that he was framed, yet Max notices that despite the tears 'there's no crying in his voice'.

In Freak the Mighty, to what does Max's father tie him in the cellar of a burned-out building?

An old boiler holds him, gagged with a rag, until Iggy's wife creeps down the stairs and works the ropes loose.

In Freak the Mighty, Kevin's fake sulfuric acid is really soap, vinegar and which kitchen spice?

Curry powder completes the recipe, and Kevin crows afterwards that the bluff 'worked like a charm' as police lead Max's father away.

In Freak the Mighty, what money-making scheme does Max's father plan for the two of them?

Preaching for donations from a big RV with 'The Reverend Kenneth David Kane' on its side is the dream; he insists money freely given is not stolen.

In Freak the Mighty, which movie villain's costume does Kevin wear on the boys' night-time treasure quest?

Darth Vader, pint-sized, sets out at what Kevin calls 'oh-three-hundred hours', the moment of 'optimum darkness'.

Which actor plays Max's menacing father, Kenny, in The Mighty, the 1998 film of Freak the Mighty?

James Gandolfini took the role shortly before The Sopranos, which debuted in 1999, made him famous as mob boss Tony Soprano.

Which actress plays Iggy's hard-drinking wife in The Mighty, the 1998 film of Freak the Mighty?

Gillian Anderson made the film while starring as FBI agent Dana Scully in The X-Files, a long way from her part here as a gang boss's wife.

Which rock singer plays the biker Iggy in The Mighty, the 1998 film of Freak the Mighty?

Meat Loaf, the voice of Bat Out of Hell, plays the gang boss, an old friend of Max's father whose apartment the kidnapper heads for.

Which singer's title song for The Mighty, the film of Freak the Mighty, earned a Golden Globe nomination?

Sting's song 'The Mighty' also took best original song at the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards.

In The Mighty, the film of Freak the Mighty, Kevin's surname is changed from Avery to what?

Dillon replaces Avery on screen, and the film also relocates the boys to Cincinnati, one of the two cities where it was shot.

In Freak the Mighty, what spares Max from testifying against his father after the kidnapping?

A guilty plea arrives by phone just before the trial, sending the man back to finish his original sentence plus ten more years.

Which phrase does Max's grandfather use for Max's father, giving chapter 21 of Freak the Mighty its title?

An accident of nature, he says, insisting that Max is nothing like the man where it counts, though Max still dreads growing up.

In Freak the Mighty, what gets drawn on the newspaper photo of the boys that Mrs. Donelli pins up in class?

Mustaches appear on the very first day, and Kevin is delighted, saying he looks cool and cannot wait to grow one himself.

In Freak the Mighty, what does Kevin call remembering, claiming to recall the Ice Age?

An invention of the mind, he says: anyone who wants to can remember anything, which is why he sees no need for a time machine.

What birthday present lets Kevin attend school from home over the phone line in Freak the Mighty?

A computer with a modem is the gift, and Kevin is showing Max's grandfather how to play 3-D chess on it shortly before his seizure.

In Freak the Mighty, which TV theme does Kevin whistle through the tracheotomy tube in his throat?

Star Trek is the tune, though Max says you can hardly recognise it; Kevin plays it by holding a finger against the plastic button in his neck.

What does Kevin give Max in intensive care, telling him to record their adventures, in Freak the Mighty?

A blank book, a twin of the handmade Christmas present, waits on the table; Kevin claims he will be too busy to write the story himself.

In Freak the Mighty, whose remark that 'nothing is a drag, kid' finally pushes Max to start writing?

Loretta Lee says it in the street after Max admits he has been doing nothing, and that night he finally sits down to tell the story of the past year.

The author of Freak the Mighty says Kevin has which rare form of dwarfism?

Morquio syndrome brings 'serious medical consequences', in the author's words, which is why Kevin needs leg braces, crutches and regular hospital visits.

Why did producers replace the Freak the Mighty author's own script for The Mighty?

It was too like the book, they felt, so another screenwriter, Charles Leavitt, was hired; the author says he has 'no complaints'.