Karate Kid II Trivia!

Karate Kid II Trivia Updated: 1st April 2001

Interesting facts and behind-the-scenes info about The Karate Kid Part II...

A very big "thank you" to site reader and contributor Chris Lozano for nearly all the following great trivia. Chris is a big KK fan and is incredibly knowlegable about the movies. His favorite of the films is KK II and he also has joined the site as the Official LA Locations scout. You can read more of Chris's excellent work on the KK 1 Locations and KK 2 Locations pages.

LATEST In the scene where Kumiko throws the tomato at Chozen (after he knees Daniel in the stomach), there is just a small mark on his back (about the size of the tomato). But when Chozen takes his shirt off to throw at Kumiko, the mark is huge. [Neil Saha]

D uring the cannery scene, as Miyagi demonstrates the "Drum Technique", there is a shot that is out of sequence. If paying close attention, one will notice that the cork Miyagi uses for Daniel's safety is ALREADY ON what should be the bare net hook as he is pulling it back up into position. Then, in one of the following shots, Miyagi is actually shown placing the cork on the hook. [Chris Lozano]

At the very beginning of the scene where Yukie and Miyagi are on their evening walk, she is heard asking him if he remembers their song. The tune Miyagi sings to her is the same one he lazily sings to himself at the very start of the 'drunken anniversary' scene from the original Karate Kid. Both times, Miyagi is heard singing off camera. [Chris Lozano]

"I'm almost positive that the drunk man Sato takes the jug from during the Obon dance is one of the other Monks seen in the Next Karate Kid... but I can not cross reference the credits to verify because he is not listed." [Chris Lozano]

Another actor, in addition to Pat Morita, appeared in scenes with Ralph Macchio in "The Karate Kid Part II" ... AND with Hilary Swank in "The Next Karate Kid". Actor Arsenio 'Sonny' Trinidad played the part of "Ichiro" opposite Macchio's "Daniel" in 1986. Eight years later, in 1994, Trinidad played the "Abbot Monk" opposite Swank's "Julie" in the fourth installment of the series. [Chris Lozano]

"The Karate Kid Part II" is one of those rare sequels that actually performed BETTER at the box office than the original that spawned it. The original "Karate Kid" earned $90,800,000 to become the 5th top grossing movie for 1984 in the USA. Two years later, "Part II" brought in $115,103,979 to move up one notch and become the 4th top grossing movie for 1986 in the USA. (Data Source: The Internet Movie Database. [Chris Lozano]

If you own the U.S. laserdisc version of "The Karate Kid Part II", you might mistakenly see a warning about allowing children under 13 years of age to view it. This is because the inner adhesive label on the laserdisc is MISPRINTED with a "PG-13" rating (PARENTS STRONGLY CAUTIONED - Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13). The film is actually rated "PG" or simply "Parental Guidance Suggested" under the U.S. Motion Picture Association of America rating system. [Chris Lozano]

Even though William Zabka appeared only briefly as "Johnny" in "The Karate Kid Part II", don't feel too sorry for him because he was still competing against "Daniel"... well, not exactly. "The Karate Kid Part II" was released on Friday, June 20, 1986 in the U.S. Meanwhile, Zabka was appearing in the Rodney Dangerfield comedy "Back to School" that had opened the week before on Friday, June 13 ... and was soon to compete directly against "Part II" seven days later. William was again playing the part of another "blond bad boy" set on causing trouble for the son of Dangerfield's character. The comedy "Back to School" was also a summer success earning $91.258million in the U.S. (Data Source: The Internet Movie Database [Chris Lozano]

"The Karate Kid Part II" opened in the U.S. on Friday, June 20, 1986, continuing the movie series' coincidental ties to a 10 day window between June 20th and the 30th. The original "Karate Kid" had been released on June 22, 1984. Later, "The Karate Kid Part III" was distributed on June 30, 1989. Even though "The Next Karate Kid" was released on September 9, 1994, ironically, it began production on June 26, 1993. (Data Source: The Internet Movie Database & "The Next Karate Kid" laserdisc) [Chris Lozano]

"Glory of Love", the theme from "The Karate Kid Part II", was not the first song originally suggested by singer/songwriter Peter Cetera to be used on the film's soundtrack. Cetera, not interested in a ballad, originally suggested the lively song "They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To" when the representatives working on the soundtrack asked him for ... a ballad instead. Only then did he present them with the unfinished song that would become "Glory of Love". The rest ... is history. The song became a number one hit in August, 1986 and garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Music-Song in 1987. The original suggestion, "They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To" did find a place on Cetera's solo release album/CD "Solitude/Solitaire". (Data Source: The Internet Movie Database & Bronson, F., "The Billboard book of #1 hits", p.643, 1988.) [Chris Lozano]

While Peter Cetera was attempting to finish what would become the theme from "The Karate Kid Part II", the eventual title of the song came quite by accident. His former wife, Diane Nini, mistakenly heard the words "Glory of Love" while she was listening to him sing to the music he was writing. The misheard lyric was what Cetera needed to complete the theme. Peter, Diane, along with David Foster are all credited as the writers of "Glory of Love". (Data Source: Bronson, F., "The Billboard book of #1 hits", p.643, 1988.) [Chris Lozano]

The actress who played "Yukie", Miyagi's reunited love in Okinawa, can also be seen with Pat Morita in the episode "Arnold's Wedding" of the 1970's television comedy "Happy Days". Nobu McCarthy played "Momo", the soon to be wife of Pat Morita's character "Arnold". The episode aired in 1976, ten years before the release of Karate Kid Part II in 1986. [Chris Lozano]

Karate Kid II was Ralph Macchio's least favourite of the trilogy.

The two young boys who ask for Daniel's autograph outside the tournament were Brett and Garth Johnson, sons of Pat E. Johnson. Pat did all the choreography for the fights in all the Karate Kid movies and trained the actors. You can read more about Pat here.

Work was started on Karate Kid II just 10 days after the release of the first film as it had become clear even then that it was going to be a huge hit!

The part of Sensei Sato was played by Danny Kamekona, whose father changed his name from Sato to his wife's name of Kamekona to avoid possibly being held in an internment camp for Japanese (as was Noriyuki Morita who played Mr Miyagi).

The same song that was playing on the radio as Chozen drives Daniel and Miyagi to see Sato was used in the Encino Oaks Country Club scene in the original Karate Kid.

[more coming all the time]