If the authoritative 1983 holiday movieA Christmas Storytaught us anything , it ’s to be suspicious of BB guns , mall elves , and flagpoles . More specifically : stick your tongue on a frozen flagstaff .
Of course , that ’s the situation slight Flick ( played by Scott Schwartz ) found himself in when he was gainsay to a triple dog daring . luckily , though , the tyke worker did n’t actually have to subject his glossa to ice - cold alloy , CinemaBlendhas reported . Instead , a suction apparatus was attached to the magnetic pole to create the illusion of Schwartz ’s natural language being perplex , without the risk of ripping off chunks of flesh for tangible .
" They made a piece of plastic that they skid over [ the ranging pole ] , " Schwartz explained in a previous consultation . " It had a little hole in it with a suction tube that move into the snow — you could n’t see it , it was a little motor , like a modest vacuum cleaner , [ and ] the hole - opening [ in the charge card ] was about the size of your pinky nail . So when you put your tongue there or digit or whatever , it just stuck . ”
He could easily take out his tongue by pulling back , and the whole scene was painless ( with the exception of the frigid temperatures the young actors had to endure ) .
Every once in a while , some kid who just watched the movie on TV will try this tongue - freeze feat and end up getting “ thtuck , ” just as Flick did . Schwartz is often enquire by reporters to comment on these copycat casing .
“ I get calls every year from [ reporters ] , ‘ Hey , we arrive a tike that gravel his spit to a pole . Can you give us a comment ? , ’ ” Schwartz toldYahoo!in 2015 . " I go , ' Yeah , he ’s a schmuck . ' "
According toSchwartz , A Christmas Storydidn’t use any particular upshot or anything “ that would create buzz or monolithic tending for the film , ” so its subsequent achiever as " an American iconic motion-picture show " was somewhat of a surprise for those involved .
This story has been updated for 2020 .
