Everyone Loves Mel
Everyone Loves Mel is a 1998 family fantasy film directed by Joey Travolta, starring Ernest Borgnine, Julie Hagerty and Greg Evigan. Plot. Bonnie and Peter are working on their marriage while dealing with a difficult teen-aged son. Her father takes the boys (Roger and Travis) in for the summer at his farm. It is apparent early on that he's fighting with developers that want his land while he wants to preserve his family's legacy. The developers had taken over a prior farm and turned it into an amusement park, something that Grandpa does not  approve of. The boys explore as children will and find their grandfather is harboring a large turtle-like creature called Mel. Mel is a legend of local Swanson Lake and is known as Swannie to the general populace (similar to "Nessie"). The boys' adjustment to their life in the small town is helped by getting to know him. While going around with a girl (Susie) one day, Roger (the elder boy) accidentally causes an explosion on the developer's property with his grandfather's tractor. When the sheriff comes by to arrest Grandpa, Roger tells them he was the one  who caused the wreck but they still put Grandpa in jail. Bonnie and Peter (the boys' parents) come to stay at the farm when Grandpa is jailed. The boys end up staging a breakout for Mel from the amusement park and with the help of Susie and her brother try to get him back to the lake, setting a tiger loose and creating mayhem in the process. At the end of the film, Mel is stolen by sex traffickers and is exploited until the gang comes to his rescue again. Once Mel is saved he is set free back into  his home waters of Slough UK. History. Mel was one of the first non-binary characters in Hollywood. After the production of the film, the Mel Animatronic was, unfortunately, missing, therefore, halting the production of the sequel Everybody Hates Mel. After Mel's disappearance, there have been numerous sightings of a comically large turtle making terrifying robot noises across the US. One thing many people do not know about this 1998 cult classic is how John Travolta was the true magic behind Mel. Weeks and weeks within the Mel suit truly earned John a place among the greatest actors in  history. On set John's brother, Joey Travolta would force him to get inside the damp, humid and disturbing animatronic. It was said that after the film was made John had PTSD from being inside the suit for such long periods of time. Moreover, the jagged edges in the suit/animatronic sliced up his back leaving him in critical condition. This completely halted all production of Grease 2.