The Jimmy Buffett Cameo You Probably Missed In Hook
If you grew up watching Steven Spielberg's 1991 fantasy adventure "Hook" starring Robin Williams as a grown-up Peter Pan and Dustin Hoffman as the titular villain Captain Hook, you might think you know everything there is to know about the film. But there's a cameo in the movie that few young children in the 1990s or today would recognize, and it's from a somewhat unlikely figure from the music world: Jimmy Buffett, who recently passed away at the age of 76.
Of course, given the nature of the cameo itself, even a devoted Parrothead might not spot Buffett in the movie. But u/TheOwlDucken on Reddit helpfully isolated Buffett's appearance as "Shoe-Stealing Pirate" (confirmed by IMDb), so fans of "Hook" and Buffett alike can check it out on its own.
As the scene he appears in makes clear, the "Shoe-Stealing Pirate" is actually more of an attempted shoe thief, since he doesn't quite succeed in snatching Peter's footwear out from under him. Nonetheless, it's a fun celebrity cameo, and far from the only one in "Hook."
Buffett is one of several celebrity cameos in the movie
Glance at the IMDb listings for the cast of "Hook," and you'll notice that Jimmy Buffett is not the only famous figure who makes a cameo in the movie. Buffett's fellow music legend David Crosby, actor Glenn Close, and boxer Tony Burton play pirates, while George Lucas and Carrie Fisher play "Man and Woman Kissing on Bridge."
It's not difficult for a director like Steven Spielberg to secure celebrity cameos for a big studio production like "Hook," but it's likely that Buffett made it into the movie through another channel: producer Frank Marshall. In the book "Jurassic World: The Ultimate Visual History" (via Cinemablend), which deals with another movie that features a Buffett cameo, it's revealed that Buffett and Marshall are good friends who have worked together on several movies.
Buffett makes a cameo appearance in "Congo," also produced by Marshall, and the two co-produced the 2006 Carl Hiassen adaptation "Hoot," in which Buffett appears on screen in addition to providing music.
Now, as fans mourn Jimmy Buffett's passing, it might be a good time to check out or revisit "Hook" with his shoe-stealing cameo in mind.