Fantasy Island is an American fantasy drama TV show created by Gene Levitt. It was broadcast on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The show featured Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tattoo. Visitors to the island were given so-called "fantasies" in exchange for a cost.
A one-season revival of the show was broadcast in 1998. A horror-themed prequel movie was released on February 14, 2020. In the same year, it was announced that a sequel to the series was being made for Fox. The sequel began airing on August 10, 2021, and was canceled in May 2023 after two seasons.
Background
Before becoming a television series, Fantasy Island was first shown to viewers in 1977 and 1978 through two films made specifically for television. The original series began in 1978 and ran until 1984. It starred Ricardo Montalbán as Mr. Roarke, a mysterious man who oversaw a secret island near Devil’s Island, French Guiana, in the Atlantic Ocean. People from all backgrounds could visit the island to live out their fantasies—for a price.
Mr. Roarke was known for wearing a white suit and acting politely and with grace. At first, he was helped by a small, energetic sidekick named Tattoo, played by Hervé Villechaize. Tattoo would run up a bell tower to ring a bell and shout, “De plane! De plane!” to announce new guests arriving by plane at the start of each episode. This line became famous because of Villechaize’s lively voice and French accent. Later, Tattoo arrived in a go-kart designed for his size and drove recklessly to join Roarke, causing staff to move out of his way. From 1981 to 1982, Wendy Schaal joined the cast as an assistant named Julie. In one episode, Roarke said Julie was his goddaughter. Before the final season in 1983–84, Villechaize was removed from the series, and Tattoo was replaced by a calmer character named Lawrence, played by Christopher Hewett, who pressed a button to ring the bell instead of climbing the tower.
A Grumman Widgeon aircraft was used for the series. Before guests arrived by plane, Mr. Roarke told his staff, “Smiles, everyone! Smiles!” As each guest stepped off the plane, Roarke told Tattoo (or another assistant) about the guest’s fantasy, often with a cryptic comment that hinted the fantasy might not end as expected. Roarke then welcomed guests by raising his glass and saying, “My dear guests, I am Mr. Roarke, your host. Welcome to Fantasy Island.” His smile was usually warm, but sometimes his eyes showed concern for a guest’s safety.
Mr. Roarke’s age was never clearly stated. In the first episode, he said the guests were “so mortal,” and there were hints throughout the series that he might be immortal. One episode featured a woman from Roarke’s past who had died over 300 years ago. Other episodes suggested he knew famous historical figures like Helen of Troy and Cleopatra. He also interacted with other seemingly immortal beings, such as a genie, a mermaid, and an angel. In some episodes, Roarke faced the Devil, played by Roddy McDowall, who challenged him for a guest’s soul or his own. Roarke always won these challenges.
Mr. Roarke followed a strong moral code and was always kind. He often used guests’ fantasies to teach them important lessons about their mistakes. When guests were terminally ill, he allowed them to live out their final wish. While the island’s fantasies were not always safe, the greatest danger usually came from the guests themselves. In some cases, guests were harmed due to their own mistakes, and Roarke would step in to help.
For example, in one episode, Tattoo was given a fantasy as a birthday gift but ended up being chased by hostile natives in canoes. Roarke appeared in a motorboat, used a grappling hook to pull Tattoo’s canoe away, and helped him escape. In another episode, a guest seeking to fall in love with a man ended up as one of his sex slaves. Roarke and Tattoo saved her and others by calling the police. In a third episode, a guest researching Jack the Ripper was sent back in time to 1888 London and would have been killed by the Ripper had Roarke not stopped him.
Most of the time, Roarke made it clear he could not stop a fantasy once it began and that guests had to complete it. In later seasons, the series included more supernatural elements. Roarke seemed to have special powers, though how he got them was never explained. In some episodes, he gave guests the ability to move objects with their minds or see the future. In one episode, when a guest said, “Thank God things worked out well,” Roarke and Tattoo exchanged a strange look, and Roarke said, “Thank God, indeed.” He also used mysterious powers to help Tattoo with a magic act.
Ricardo Montalbán, who played Roarke, once said in an interview that he had a clear idea about how Roarke created the island’s fantasies but never shared the details. Years later, he revealed that he imagined Roarke as a fallen angel who had sinned through pride and that the island was a place of punishment called Purgatory.
Each episode usually had two or three separate stories about different guests. When the series was rerun, each hour-long episode was split into two half-hour episodes, showing only one guest’s story at a time. This showed that the original episodes were planned so that each guest arrived separately and did not interact with others.
Most episodes focused on adult guests with fantasies suited for them. However, two episodes in Season 2, called Fantasy Island Sunday Special, featured children arriving by hot-air balloon for age-appropriate fantasies.
Many of the island’s fantasies were designed to teach guests lessons, sometimes putting their lives at risk before Roarke stepped in to reveal the truth. For example, a couple who wanted to relive the “good old days” was sent back to the Salem witch trials. Guests were reminded that they could never reveal what happened on the island. A few guests chose to stay permanently, living out their fantasy until death. One such guest was an actor from a 1960s television show called Jungle Man.
The only episode with a single storyline was The Wedding, while other episodes had multiple stories.
Production notes
Executive producer Aaron Spelling said the original idea for the show was a joke. He and his production partner, Leonard Goldberg, were sharing ideas with ABC executive Brandon Stoddard. After Stoddard rejected all of their suggestions, which numbered at least six, Spelling suddenly asked, "What do you want? An island where people can experience their sexual fantasies?" Stoddard liked the idea and supported it.
The network originally wanted Orson Welles to play Mr. Roarke, but Spelling refused because he knew Welles was known for being difficult on set. Spelling also did not agree to adding a sexy female character as a sidekick to Mr. Roarke and Tattoo.
The show aired every Saturday night on ABC at 10:00 p.m., following The Love Boat, another series produced by Aaron Spelling. Like The Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote, Fantasy Island featured many famous guest stars, who often returned for different roles.
Most of the show was filmed in Burbank, California. The opening scenes showing the island’s coastline were filmed on Kauai, Hawaii, including the Na Pali coast and Wailua Falls. The house with the bell tower, where Tattoo rings the bell, is the Queen Anne Cottage, located in the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia. The plane that appears to arrive with the guests was filmed in the lagoon behind the Queen Anne Cottage. Some outdoor scenes were shot at the Arboretum.
Interior scenes were filmed on Stages 26 and 17 at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank. Later, some exterior scenes were moved to the Warner Ranch, which is near the main studio lot. Some footage was also taken from the Coco Palms Resort in Kauai.
The theme music for Fantasy Island was composed by Laurence Rosenthal.
Other projects
In 1998, ABC brought back the series for a new version that aired on Saturdays. Malcolm McDowell played Mr. Roarke in the revival. Unlike the first series, the magical and supernatural parts of Mr. Roarke’s character and Fantasy Island were shown from the beginning, along with some humor that had a spooky feel. Barry Sonnenfeld, who directed The Addams Family movies, helped create the new series. Another change was that the new version was filmed in Hawaii instead of California. The remake focused on the fantasies of at least two of Mr. Roarke’s guests and included a story about members of his staff, such as Cal and Harry. The original series had different writers and titles for each story, but the new series combined multiple stories into one with a single theme and title.
A horror-themed movie based on the television series was released in 2020. Michael Peña played Mr. Roarke in the film, which was made by Sony Pictures and Blumhouse Productions. Jeff Wadlow directed the movie, which was written by Wadlow, Chris Roach, and Jillian Jacobs. The film came out on February 14, 2020, and received very poor reviews from audiences and critics.
A new series was approved in December 2020 as a sequel to the original 1977 series. It was planned to air on Fox in mid-2021 and was produced together by Sony Pictures Television and Fox Entertainment. In April 2021, it was announced that Kiara Barnes and John Gabriel Rodriguez would be part of the main cast. That same month, Roselyn Sánchez was added to the cast as Elena Roarke, a relative of Mr. Roarke. The series began on August 10, 2021, and ran for two seasons.
Syndication
Some episodes from the first, second, and third seasons are free on Hulu. Selected short episodes from seasons one, three, four, five, and six are free on Sony Crackle, along with all episodes from seasons one, two, and three.
The digital TV network Cozi TV announced the series would begin airing on its network in the fall of 2013. The original series was shown on Fridays on the related cable network Universal HD until July 2017, when the network changed to the Olympic Channel.
In Canada, all seven seasons of the series are available on the CTV App. The first five seasons have been remade in high definition, and the first three seasons have been improved to a 1.78:1 aspect ratio.
In May 2021, the series was added to the streaming service Tubi, which has all seven seasons.
In August 2021, the series began airing on the getTV network on Saturday and Sunday nights at 4:00 am ET.
In January 2026, the series started airing on MeTV on Sunday afternoons as part of an Aaron Spelling-themed block that also includes The Love Boat, which previously aired on ABC.
Home media
In 1988, Star Classics released the pilot episode of the series on VHS in the United States and Canada.
In 2005, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released season one of the original series on DVD in regions 1, 2, and 4. This release included the 1977 pilot episode Fantasy Island and the 1978 episode Return to Fantasy Island. However, because of low sales, no additional seasons were released.
In February 2012, it was announced that Shout! Factory had acquired the rights to the series in Region 1. They released the second season on DVD on May 8, 2012. Season 3 was released on October 23, 2012.
In 2013, Mill Creek Entertainment announced they had obtained the rights to re-release the previous season sets of Fantasy Island on DVD.