Seamus and Maggie McFly

BttFCharacter


name = Seamus and Maggie McFly
role = Marty's ancestors
profession = Farmers
time = 1885
timetraveler = No
movies = "Part III"
film = Michael J Fox and Lea Thompson

Seamus and Maggie McFly are fictional characters in the film "Back to the Future Part III". They are distant ancestors of the protagonist Marty McFly, and though they do not realise that fact, they still offer him aid and comfort when he arrives in the past.

Seamus is played by Michael J. Foximdb name|id=0000150|name=Michael J. Fox] , who also plays Marty McFly. The resemblance between the two characters highlights the fact that they are of the same family, if four generations removed. Interestingly, Maggie McFly is portrayed by Lea Thompson, who also plays Marty's mother Lorraine, [imdb name|id=0000670|name=Lea Thompson] even though these two characters are not blood relatives. Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis explain that they simply did not want to make a "Back to the Future" movie without Thompson, but also offer an "in-universe" explanation — namely that "men are attracted to women who remind them of their mothers", so all McFly men after Seamus took wives who resemble Maggie. [ [http://www.bttf.com/film_faq.htm "Back to the Future" Frequently Asked Questions] at BTTF.com.]

Biography

Through hints in the movie, it is revealed that Seamus McFly and his wife Maggie [ [http://members.lycos.co.uk/hillvalley/bttf3.htm "Back to the Future Part III"] A woman, MAGGIE (Seamus' wife) is next to him.] are Irish Catholics [ [http://members.lycos.co.uk/hillvalley/bttf3.htm "Back to the Future Part III"] Maggie puts down her plate and makes the Sign of the Cross, something taken for granted in Catholicism and related denominations such as Anglicanism but is frowned in most forms of Protestantism. It is thus unlikely that she and her family were Protestants.] and originally hail from Ireland. [ [http://members.lycos.co.uk/hillvalley/bttf3.htm "Back to the Future Part III"] He speaks with an Irish accent.]

At some point before "Back to the Future Part III", Seamus, Maggie and Seamus' brother Martin moved from Ireland to the United States. During their travelling, they went through Virginia City, Nevada. It was there that Martin got stabbed and killed in a saloon fight. [ [http://members.lycos.co.uk/hillvalley/bttf3.htm "Back to the Future Part III"] Seamus: Had a brother. Martin used to let men provoke him into fighting. He was concerned that people would think him a coward if he refused. That's how he got a bowie knife shoved through his belly in a saloon in Virginia City. Never considered the future, poor Martin. God rest his soul.]

Seamus and Maggie ended up settling on a farm outside of Hill Valley. [ [http://members.lycos.co.uk/hillvalley/bttf3.htm "Back to the Future Part III"] Maggie: Well, you're safe and sound, here now at the McFly farm.] Much like his descendants, Seamus is harassed by a member of the Tannen family, Buford Tannen. [ [http://members.lycos.co.uk/hillvalley/bttf3.htm "Back to the Future Part III"] Buford: Hey McFly... thought I done told you never to come in... Hey, you ain't Seamus McFly!] Shortly before the movie, the McFlys had a son, William, the first of their family to be born in America [ [http://members.lycos.co.uk/hillvalley/bttf3.htm "Back to the Future Part III"] Maggie: Aye! William Shaun McFly, the first of our family to be born in America!] and Marty's great-grandfather. [ [http://members.lycos.co.uk/hillvalley/bttf3.htm "Back to the Future Part III"] Marty: Hey, Will. So you're my great-grandfather.]

Seamus and Maggie encountered their descendant Marty McFly when the latter traveled back to 1885. However, Marty conceals his identity under the pseudonym Clint Eastwood, [ [http://members.lycos.co.uk/hillvalley/bttf3.htm "Back to the Future Part III"] Maggie: And what might your name be sir? Marty: Well, it's Mc...(covering) Eastwood...uh...Clint...Clint Eastwood?] and neither of them ever realises Marty's true nature, although Seamus gets a strange feeling about Marty. [ [http://members.lycos.co.uk/hillvalley/bttf3.htm "Back to the Future Part III"] Seamus: Aye, but I've just got a feeling about him Maggie. It's the right thing to do. It's important. Look how the baby takes to him. Little Will never takes to strangers. It's almost as if.....he's connected to us.] [ [http://members.lycos.co.uk/hillvalley/bttf3.htm "Back to the Future Part III"] Seamus: But something inside me told me I should be 'ere. I think my future had something to do with it.]

Family

In the movies, Seamus and Maggie are the earliest known members of the McFly family, which is seen to go on into the 21st Century in "Back to the Future Part II".

The spin-off "" introduced three other characters that may be related to Seamus and Maggie. First are their possible ancestors, Harold and Jennivere McFly. The episode "A Family Vacation" depicts them living in Medieval Britain, although by the end they decide to move to Ireland together.

[http://www.tv.com/back-to-the-future/a-family-vacation/episode/171483/recap.html "A Family Vacation"] recap at TV.com.] The third character is one of their contemporaries, 1897 baseball player Pee Wee McFly, who was the focus of the episode "Batter Up". [http://www.bttf.com/cartoons.htm Back to the Future - The Animated Series] series page and episode synopsis at [http://www.bttf.com/ BTTF.com] , an infotainment site.] However, in all cases, the exact relationship between the animated characters and Seamus and Maggie is never explicitly made clear, and in fact, the very canonicity of the "Animated Series" is debated.

In "BTTF III", Marty is showing Doc (in 1955) a picture of his great-grandfather William McFly. Marty states "Good-looking guy". This was, according to several websites, considered an inside joke, since William McFly was supposed to have been portrayed in the picture by Michael J. Fox. However, in a closer look at the picture, Seamus McFly, William's father, is shown sitting down on William's right-hand side (from our view it is the left-hand side). Michael J. Fox did portray Seamus in the movie, and looked more like Marty than William did.

[ [http://www.bttf.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-20360.html Is the animated series canon in relation to the films?] fan debate in the forum of [http://www.bttf.com/ BTTF.com] , an infotainment site.]

References