Skateboard

"Letting himself out the front door, Marty walked a half block before putting the skateboard down and using it. He had discovered once, to his chagrin, how much noise they could make on a quiet evening. On that occasion, about two years ago, he had been sneaking out to meet the guys when his mother heard the sound and came after him in the car. / There was no such repetition tonight. Safely out of earshot, he whirred quickly along the back streets and around corners until he approached the dilapidated garage that was Doc Brown's place."

—From Back to the Future by George Gipe (quote, page 44)

Girl: "What's that thing he's riding?"

Guy: "It's a board with wheels!"

— Lorraine's classmates at Lou's Cafe

Skateboards were a method of transportation during the later half of the 20th century. They consisted of a flat piece of wood with two pairs of wheels attached to it.

History[]

Although Marty McFly could borrow his father's car on special occasions, he usually traveled to school and Doc's garage by skateboard. His brand of skateboard was a Valterra. He was fairly adept at simple tricks such as jumps, skidding to a stop, and stepping on the back end of the board to catch the front. He would also hitch a ride by holding onto the back of cars — even a police car — in spite of the fact that this hazardous practice was illegal. Other teenagers would walk their dogs as they rode skateboards by letting the dogs pull them by the leash.

When Marty traveled back to 1955, he searched for a way to outrun Biff Tannen, and created a homemade skateboard from a young boy's Orange crate scooter. Nobody watching the chase had seen a skateboard before, since they would not be sold in stores until the early 1960s — Marty obviously gave history a push in the right direction!

Note: The following section is considered non-canon or is disputed in canonicity.

While Marty ended up with a Toyota Hilux in the newly revised 1985, he would still use his skateboard as a means of transportation (pointed out by Edna Strickland).

In the 1986G timeline, skateboards weren't allowed in Hill Valley and were among the contraband items stored in the former site of El Kid.

While in 1931, the DeLorean's time circuits were malfunctioning, thus Citizen Brown discouraged Marty from using it to go to young Emmett's lab. To get there, Marty removed the bottom portion of a model train from the Hill Valley of the Future exhibit.

Non-canon or disputable information ends here.

Skateboards had been replaced by hoverboards by 2015, which removed the wheels altogether, thus hover converting the long favorite.

Behind the scenes[]

When Marty skateboards in the films, he ride with a regular stance. In skateboarding terms, this means that the right foot pushes off, while the left foot stays on the board.
Bob Gale went to Venice Beach, California to find skateboarding experts and hired European skateboard champion Per Welinder, and Robert Schmelzer as a stunt double for Eric Stoltz. When Michael J. Fox replaced Stoltz in the role of Marty, Charlie Croughwell performed Marty's skateboard stunts during the refilming, since Fox was six inches shorter than Stoltz.
Although Fox learned how to skateboard for his role in the first film, he had completely forgotten the skill by the time the second film was in production, and other methods had to be found to simulate the hoverboard.
Skateboards would not have been familiar in 1955, although kids did make orange crate scooters from roller skates, lumber and wooden crates.^[1] The Roller Derby Skate Company introduced the Roller Derby Skateboard in 1959.^[2]

Appearances[]

References[]

Back to the Future DVD audio commentary by Bob Gale and Neil Canton. Transcript at www.bttf.com/Forums.

↑ "Skateboarding kicks into mainstream" by Michael Tsai — Honolulu Advertiser.com, Sunday, August 18, 2002 (see 'External links' below)
↑ Roller Derby Skateboard

External links[]

"Skateboarding kicks into mainstream" by Michael Tsai — Honolulu Advertiser.com, Sunday, August 18, 2002

[1] "Skateboarding kicks into mainstream" by Michael Tsai — Honolulu Advertiser.com, Sunday, August 18, 2002 (see 'External links' below)

[2] Roller Derby Skateboard

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