In honor of Footloose’s fortieth anniversary, Kevin Bacon is returning to the highschool the place he shot the movie for promenade.

Present college students at Payson Excessive Faculty in Payson, Utah have been pushing for Bacon to make an look at this 12 months’s promenade, not solely due to the anniversary of the movie’s launch, but in addition as a result of Payson Excessive Faculty is shifting. The college is relocating on the finish of this 12 months — which implies the well-known hallways the place Bacon roamed because the iconoclastic, dance-loving Ren McCormack will probably be no extra. If he was ever going to return, it was now or by no means.

To attempt to to persuade Bacon to point out up for the promenade, the present college students of Payson began a “#bacontopayson” hashtag and have been making do-it-yourself movies on social media, recreating scenes from the movie, and internet hosting occasions to learn Bacon’s SixDegrees.org charity.

As we speak on The As we speak Present, Bacon gave Payson college students his reply. You’ll be able to watch what he mentioned — and the scholars’ response — under.

READ MORE: The Finest Film Musicals of the twenty first Century

What did you suppose was going to occur? Bacon was going to go stay on The As we speak Present to inform a bunch of Utah highschool youngsters to buzz off?

Launched in 1984, Footloose turned a shock hit and a generational favourite of ’80s youngsters in all places. Bacon performs Ren, the brand new child in a small city that has banned dancing. He tries to get the city to reverse the ban, which was the brainchild of an area reverend performed by John Lithgow.

The well-known title music was carried out by Kenny Loggins, and the soundtrack additionally contains the enduring ’80s favourite “Let’s Hear It For the Boy” by Deniece Williams. Footloose was remade in 2011 (Kenny Wormald performed Ren in that one) and in addition bought was a musical which performed over 700 performances on Broadway, beginning in 1998.

All these years later, the dancing scenes nonetheless maintain up.