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One of the most beloved stories in the history of the Winter Olympics is of course Jamaica's bobsled team making its debut at the Winter Olympics in 1988.
The island nation's four-man team's appearance at the 1988 Winter Olympics inspired the heartwarming 1993 Disney movie Cool Runnings—but now one of the real-life team's founding members insists there's no need for a sequel if Hollywood ever decides to make one.
"My personal opinion is that Cool Runnings shouldn't be remade, it should be left as it is," Dudley 'Tal' Stokes said in an essay for Newsweek.
"I do think a sequel should be considered, but it would have to be a creative team to craft the right story, and a producer who has a diversity of experience and can pull together something that is worthy of the original," he said.
"I would probably do a cameo in a sequel for the right price, but the original should stand there for all the people who made it. And, that it's still being watched every day of the week—let it run."
Stokes competed at 1988, 1992, 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics on the Jamaican bobsled team and was one of the original team members portrayed on screen, beginning what has been a strong legacy of Jamaican bobsledders at the Games.
The Caribbean country is now competing in the Beijing Winter Olympics after failing to qualify in 2018. Beijing will also be the first time Jamaica has qualified in three Olympic bobsled events including the four-man, two-man and women's monobob events.
The Winter Olympics, for a certain generation of Disney fans, will forever conjure up memories of the movie, which starred John Candy is his last role before his death.
The members of the team in the movie were played by Leon Robinson, Doug E. Doug, Rawle D. Lewis and Malik Yoba.
Stokes acknowledged the cult classic status of the movie and said he's proud to have been a part of its inspiration.
"Cool Runnings has a life of its own. I'm happy to have been involved in inspiring it, but it's gone way beyond me. It really is a cult classic," he said in his essay for Newsweek.
"Cool Runnings will always get a laugh out of people and an emotional reaction. It still shows the spirit of Jamaica. Jamaicans are bold, confident people. Now, I can see that in the movie when I watch it."
Stokes admitted he wasn't a fan of the film when it first came out and noted that the team's real life experience was much grittier and not as goofy and jovial as portrayed in the movie.
"Aside from the many differences in plot, the real life experience was harder; it was tough and gritty. It wasn't much fun and there wasn't much laughing. I personally was very driven because I recognized the kind of mountain that was in front of me, so I was not particularly nice to the rest of the team. As far as I was concerned, I was the ranking officer there and I needed to get things done," he said.
But Cool Runnings eventually won Stokes over when he wasn't so close to the real life events.
"So I didn't like the movie at first. I do understand that it wasn't a documentary about me, but I didn't like some of the way it portrayed what I thought were my efforts. Over time, I have revised my opinion," he said in his essay.
"I didn't know Dawn's [Steel] story, which was fascinating. She was the first woman to head up a major Hollywood movie studio. And, Cool Runnings was John Candy's last movie, so there's a lot of legacy around it and it's a movie that has stood the test of time."
