Sports + Rec: 'Mighty' memories

It's been 20 years since the release of Disney's "The Mighty Ducks," the seminal kiddie hockey flick that was shot right here in the Twin Cities. And because memories such as the Flying "V," hating the Hawks and the nationwide awareness of Edina residents as "cake eaters" are embedded deep within a generation of Twin Citians, we decided to catch up with local Jane Plank -- aka Tammy Duncan, the figure-skating girl Duck. Today, Plank, who turns 33 Friday, works in corporate recruiting and maintains a singing career.

Q: How'd you land the role?

A: It was an open call audition, so it was in the newspaper back in the day, looking for a 12-year-old, athletic tomboy that could figure skate. Over the course of about three months [the filmmakers] went around to different cities and ended up choosing between me and a gal from Canada who looked just like me, like my spitting image. So the two of us said some lines to Stephen Herek, the director, and he thought I was just a little bit more coachable.

Q: How'd you kids get along on set?

A: I was really close with Jesse [Brandon Adams] -- he was one of the two black brothers. I was in seventh grade, so I was in the middle of the pack in terms of age. My brother in the movie; he was actually in fourth grade. Fulton and some of the others went all the way up to ninth grade. I think I was old enough where the older kids considered me cool enough to hang out. Joshua Jackson was there at that time. ... He wasn't overly friendly with everybody.

Q: How was Emilio Estevez?

A: He was learning to juggle during that time, so he was always juggling. He seemed to have a kid heart to him.

Q: What's it like being part of such a generational treasure?

A: It's kind of fun that when you say "Oh, I was in 'The Mighty Ducks,'" everybody gets that kid-like grin on their face. When it's brought up, you can tell people have a lot of good memories associated with it.