Principal photography began inLos Angeles on August 30, 1993, and concluded in October. The film marked the acting debut of Diaz, who was a model with no acting experience prior to filming, while Carrey, who was starring on the sketch comedy seriesIn Living Color and had just wrapped filming onAce Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), was virtually unknown at the time. Their casting led to disputes fromNew Line Cinema executives who expressed concern that the film would be unsuccessful without well-established actors, but the studio ultimately relented following reassurance from Russell that Carrey and Diaz were the right choices.
In Edge City, insecure bank tellerStanley Ipkiss is frequently ridiculed by everyone except for his co-worker and best friend, Charlie Schumaker. Meanwhile, gangster Dorian Tyrell plots to overthrow his boss, Niko, who owns the Coco Bongo nightclub. One day, Tyrell sends his singer-girlfriend, Tina Carlyle, into the bank to record its layout for an upcoming robbery. Stanley is attracted to Tina and she seemingly reciprocates.
After being denied entrance to the Coco Bongo to watch Tina perform, Stanley's faulty loaner car breaks down during his drive home, leaving him stuck at a harbor's bridge. Attempting to rescue a humanoid figure in the water, he finds a pile of garbage concealing a wooden mask. Upon returning to his apartment and donning the mask, he transforms into a green-faced trickster known as "The Mask", who can cartoonishly alter himself and his surroundings at will. With newfound confidence, Stanley indulges in a comical rampage through the city, humiliating several of his tormentors, including his temperamental landlady and the mechanics who gave him the faulty car. Meanwhile, Niko learns of Tyrell's plans and warns him to leave Edge City in a week or face his wrath.
The following day, Stanley encounters Detective Lieutenant Mitch Kellaway and newspaper reporter Peggy Brandt, who are investigating the Mask's activity. To obtain the funds necessary to attend Tina's performance, Stanley dons the mask and raids the bank, inadvertently foiling Tyrell's robbery. At the Coco Bongo, Stanley dances exuberantly with Tina, whom he kisses. Tyrell soon confronts him for disrupting the theft and Stanley flees, leaving behind a scrap of cloth from his suit, which reverts into a piece of his pajamas. After arresting Tyrell and his henchman, Kellaway finds the piece of fabric and suspects Stanley's involvement.
Later, Stanley consults psychiatrist Arthur Neuman, who recently published a book calledThe Masks We Wear; he deduces that the mask may be a creation ofLoki and its powers are only active at night. Neuman believes it is mythology, but he concludes that the Mask's personality is based on Stanley's repressed desires. That night, Stanley meets Tina at a local park as the Mask until they are interrupted by Kellaway, who attempts to capture him. Stanley flees with Peggy after he distracts the police with a mass performance of "Cuban Pete"; Peggy then reluctantly betrays him to Tyrell for a fifty thousand dollar bounty. After Tyrell becomes a bulky and malevolent being when he dons the mask, he has his henchmen force Stanley to reveal the location of the stolen money before turning him in to the police.
When Tina visits Stanley at the station, he urges her to leave the city, but not before she thanks Stanley for showing her kindness and tells him that the mask was unnecessary. She attempts to flee, but Tyrell kidnaps and prepares her for the charity ball at the Coco Bongo, hosted by Niko and attended by the city's elite, including the mayor. Upon arrival, the masked Tyrell murders Niko and prepares to destroy the club with atime bomb. Stanley's dog, Milo, helps his owner escape from his cell by retrieving the keys from the guard. Stanley sets out to stop Tyrell and takes Kellaway hostage to escape the police station.
After locking Kellaway in his car, Stanley enters the club and enlists Charlie's help, but he is quickly discovered and captured. Tina tricks Tyrell into removing the mask and kicks it away; Milo dons it and battles through the henchmen as Tyrell and Stanley fight each other. Stanley reclaims the mask and uses its powers to dispose of the bomb just before it detonates and defeat Tyrell by sending him down the drain of the club's ornamental fountain; the police arrive and arrest Tyrell's henchmen. Kellaway tries to arrest Stanley again, but the mayor intervenes, implicating Tyrell as the Mask and praising Stanley as a hero.
The following day, Stanley, now falsely exonerated and more secure, returns to the harbor bridge with Tina, Charlie and Milo. Tina discards the mask before she and Stanley kiss. Charlie tries to retrieve the mask, only for Milo to swim away with it.
Jim Carrey asStanley Ipkiss / The Mask, a down-on-his-luck bank employee who is mistreated and taken advantage of by people. Carrey commented that he characterized Stanley after his own father: "a nice guy, just trying to get by". When wearing the Mask of Loki, Stanley becomes the titular green-faced trickster, who can cartoonishly alter himself and his surroundings at will.
Peter Riegert as Lieutenant Mitch Kellaway, a slightly cynical police lieutenant bent on capturing the Mask
Peter Greene as Dorian Tyrell, a rogue mafia officer who desires to overthrow his superior Niko. When wearing the Mask, during which the character is portrayed byGarret T. Sato and pro wrestlerJeep Swenson, he becomes a bulky and malevolent being that speaks in a demonically deep voice.
Amy Yasbeck as Peggy Brandt, a reporter looking for a scoop to get her out of the advice column
Richard Jeni as Charles "Charlie" Schumaker, Stanley's best friend. Although usually amiable, the character is shown to be selfish or irrational at times.
Tim Bagley and Johnny Williams as Irv and Burt Ripley, the car mechanics who overcharge Stanley and gave him a faulty loaner car
Nancy Fish as Agnes Peenman, Stanley's temperamental landlady
Reginald E. Cathey as Freeze, one of Tyrell's henchmen and a loyal friend of his
Jim Doughan as Detective Doyle, Kellaway's amiable, but slightly inept partner
Denis Forest as Sweet Eddy, one of Tyrell's henchmen
Cameron Diaz as Tina Carlyle, Tyrell's glamorous and beautiful girlfriend, who becomes attracted to Stanley. She is dissatisfied with Tyrell as a partner, but does not defy him until Stanley has courted her.
Susan Boyd provides Tina's uncredited singing voice.
Blake Clark as Murray, Peggy's supervisor at the city's local newspaper
Christopher Darga as a paramedic
Joely Fisher as Maggie, a client who comes to buy concert tickets and blows Stanley off for her friend
Kevin Grevioux, Richard Montes and Daniel James Peterson as some of Tyrell's lesser henchmen
Howard Kay and Scott McElroy as Niko's bodyguards
Ivory Ocean as Mitchell Tilton, the mayor of Edge City who exercises good governance and has a tough stance against crime and corruption in the city.
Jeremy Roberts as Bobby, one of Tyrell's henchmen employed as the bouncer at the Coco Bongo and a friend of Charlie
Eamonn Roche as Mr. Dickey, Stanley and Charlie's supervisor at Edge City Bank
Ben Stein as Doctor Arthur Neuman, a psychiatrist who tells Stanley about the Mask's origins. He is also the author of the bookThe Masks We Wear, which deals with people portraying themselves differently on the outside to be accepted by others.
Nils Allen Stewart as Orlando, one of Tyrell's henchmen
Max as Milo, Stanley'sJack Russell Terrier. When wearing the Mask, the character becomes quite aggressive and mischievous but is still friendly and loyal to his owner.[4][5]
In 1989,Mike Richardson and Todd Moyer, respectively the founder and Executive Vice President ofDark Horse Comics, first approachedNew Line Cinema about adapting thecomicThe Mask into a film, after having seen offers from other studios. The main character went through several transformations in different script treatments, and the project was stalled a couple of times.[6]
One unusedMask idea, according to Richardson, was to transform the story into one about a mask-maker who took faces off of corpses to put them on teens and turn them into zombies.[7]
Initially intended to become a new horror franchise, New Line Cinema offered the job of directing the film toChuck Russell, who had previously worked on theA Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and the 1988 remake ofThe Blob.[8] Russell found the excessive violence of the comic off-putting, and decided that it wouldn't work in a film; instead, he proposed a more comical, family-friendly tone.[9]
Mike Werb says Chuck Russell tapped him after reading his script for afilm adaptation of theCurious George books forImagine. The two decided to turnThe Mask into a wild romantic comedy.[10] Mike Werb wrote his first draft ofThe Mask in less than six weeks, and less than two months later, it was green-lit.[11]
According to Mark Verheiden, they had a first draft screenplay for a film version done back in 1990. Verheiden then wrote the second draft in early 1991, adding more humor, and that ended up being the only work he did onThe Mask. Verheiden's revised draft included more instances offourth wall breaking like "cameos" by criticsGene Siskel andRoger Ebert, and dark content such as excessive bloodshed and sexual assault. The characters Stanley, Kellaway, and Doyle carried into the final film; Stanley's girlfriend Kathleen (inspired by Kathy from the comics) evolved into Tina Carlyle while Scully and Vitelli became Dorian Tyrell and Niko, respectively.[12] After that, the film entereddevelopment hell.[13]
The dance sequence at Coco Bongo was inspired by the 1943MGM animated shortRed Hot Riding Hood.
In the early stages, various actors were suggested as possibilities for the lead role. Possible leads includedRick Moranis,Martin Short, andRobin Williams. New Line Cinema executive Mike DeLuca sent a tape ofJim Carrey performing a sketch from the comedy showIn Living Color to Richardson, who noted Carrey's energy and highly expressive physicality. Director Chuck Russell had seen Carrey perform live atThe Comedy Store and followed him onIn Living Color and was keen to cast him in the film. Carrey was top of his list and the script had been rewritten for him, butNicolas Cage andMatthew Broderick were also kept in consideration if he declined.[14] Producer Bob Engelman recalled Carrey had theflu during the filming:
Jim did things that, obviously when he became a superstar, he never would do. I remember one night when he was sick as a dog and he was throwing up and he said, "I can't do this." I said, "Look, Jim, they won't let us shut down. If we don't get this, we don't get this." We dragged him out of the trailer and he was a trooper and got it in there delivered and was fantastic. But those are the sort of things that would not have happened when Jim became the superstar that he became.[14]
Russell's first choice to play Tina had beenAnna Nicole Smith; however, she backed out at the last minute to appear inNaked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult instead. A costume director he had worked with recommendedCameron Diaz and they got her toaudition for the part. The character was originally written as a good girl who is actually bad but after Diaz was cast the part was rewritten to make her genuinely a good person. Mike Richardson said toForbes that Diaz proved to be the right choice. "If you watch the film again, you'll notice scenes where Jim and Cameron are together. If you watch her face, oftentimes, Jim was doing something, and she would break out laughing the minute the scene ended".[14]
The Mask's visual effects were handled byIndustrial Light & Magic (ILM) andDream Quest Images. The sequences in the film which involvedcomputer animation were supervised by ILM animation directorWes Takahashi.[15] Although many VFX scenes had to be cut for budget,[11] New Line invested more heavily on the special effects, as Jim Carrey was not yet an established star. Russell videotaped the rehearsals, then worked to design the effects out of Carrey's performance:
I insisted on working off Jim's face, on making the action organic to Jim's performance. No matter how good the effect is, if it's not coming out of character and story, it's not going to be effective ... The guys at ILM said they figured I saved about a million bucks once I got Jim, just on what he was able to do, versus what we intended to do originally.[16]
Makeup effects artistGreg Cannom wanted to bring out Carrey's exaggerated facial expressions through makeup.[17] Carrey's daily makeup sessions took four hours.[18] The costume included fake teeth meant to be used outside of dialogue scenes, but Carrey learned to wear them while talking to play the character more convincingly.[19]
The film was a box-office success, grossing $119 million domestically and $352 million worldwide,[3] becoming the second-highest grossing superhero movie at that time, behindBatman. In terms of global gross compared to budget, the film became the most profitable comic book movie of all time, and it remained so until 2019, whenJoker surpassed it.[20]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 81% based on reviews from 58 critics. The site's consensus states, "It misses perhaps as often as it hits, but Jim Carrey's manic bombast, Cameron Diaz's blowsy appeal, and the film's overall cartoony bombast keepThe Mask afloat."[21]Metacritic gave it a weighted average score of 56 out of 100 based on reviews from 12 critics.[22] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[23]
On the television programAt the Movies,Gene Siskel andRoger Ebert gave the film "two thumbs up".[citation needed] In his column, Ebert, who was underwhelmed by his performance inAce Ventura, thought Carrey found "a perfect vehicle" inThe Mask. He also praised the art design and called Diaz "a true discovery".[17] Siskel, who had a similar dislike forAce Ventura, praised Carrey's performance inThe Mask by stating that he was "better used as an ingredient instead of as the plot". He also commended Diaz's performance, and he overall called the film "the latest example of technique overriding the written word in an American film".[24]
The film was released on VHS andLaserdisc on January 18, 1995, and on DVD on March 26, 1997. The VHS version included theSpace Ghost Coast to Coast episode "The Mask", which features interviews with Jim Carrey and Chuck Russell. The DVD presented a non-anamorphicWidescreen transfer. It was eventually released as a special edition in 2005 with an anamorphic transfer. It was later released onBlu-ray Disc on December 9, 2008.[29] It was the most rented title in the UK for the year 1995 with 3.8 million rentals.[30]
The record labels TriStar Music and Epic Soundtrax released an orchestral score soundtrack toThe Mask after the original soundtrack's release. The score was composed and conducted byRandy Edelman, performed by the Irish Film Orchestra, and recorded atWindmill Lane Studios Ireland.[34]
An animated television series, titledThe Mask: Animated Series, made over 54 episodes from 1995 to 1997, withRob Paulsen as Stanley Ipkiss and his alter ego, the Mask, andNeil Ross as Kellaway. Ben Stein reprised his role as Dr Neuman. Though based on the film and making some minor references to its events, it is set in an alternate continuity where Ipkiss keeps the mask, Tina Carlyle is absent, and the mask works during daytime. Its final episode was a crossover with another Jim Carrey character,Ace Ventura. This would later continue in an episode of theAce Ventura: Pet Detective cartoon series.
After the success of the original, a sequel film was planned, with magazineNintendo Power offering readers a chance, viasweepstakes, to win a cameo role in the film.[35] Carrey eventually bailed on the project, forcingNintendo Power to give the winner of the contest the equivalent cash value of the cameo role instead.[36] A sequel,Son of the Mask, featuring neither Carrey nor Diaz, instead featuringJamie Kennedy andAlan Cumming, was eventually released in 2005. It was a critical and commercial failure upon release, and the franchise was put on hold indefinitely.
On the possibility of a sequel to the 1994 film with Carrey reprising the role of Stanley Ipkiss and Diaz as Tina Carlyle, Mike Richardson said in a 2014 interview: "We've been talking about revivingThe Mask, both in film and in comics. We've had a couple of false starts".[37] In December 2024, Carrey revealed that he was still interested in portraying the Mask in a sequel depending on the idea used.[38] In January 2025, Diaz also expressed interest in returning "if Jim's on board".[39]
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