Marty McFly will be zooming around Sarnia in his iconic DeLorean, with Doc at his side, this Halloween.
King George IV Public School Grade 4 student Easton Oetting, 9, who has a genetic disorder called duplication syndrome, is attracting online attention again this year after sharing his Back to the Future themed costume built around his wheelchair.
Easton's dad, DJ Oetting, was inspired by one of his favourite childhood movies.
"I'm a big 90s kid, so Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Ninja Turtles... those are some of my favourite movies growing up as a kid and obviously the DeLorean's a pretty well-known famous vehicle," said Oetting. "So, it was a no brainer to do that one."
The Imperial employee said building the costume usually takes a month or two, but he was under a tighter deadline this year.
"Normally, I have lots of time to work on it, but I was on a shut down at work," he said. "So, I worked from September 1 to October 24 with only two or three days off. I was working 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. everyday and then coming home after work, eating and then putting a couple hours in on the costumes. So, it took me basically the whole shutdown. There were a couple days where I thought it wasn't going to get finished, but luckily I finished it before Halloween."
Oetting said he and his wife watched the movie with Easton, their only child, a few times to make sure he knew the characters.
"Halloween around our neighbourhood is usually the same every year," he said. "Everybody's out on the street waiting for Easton to come. We usually post the video early, so everybody knows what it is. Everybody's out there waiting for Easton to roll down the street. Usually, we only get to do our street and maybe one other one, because we've got to stop at every single house along the way. It's usually a full night of trick-or-treating around our street."
Oetting said they started the tradition several years ago.
"My wife actually started the first couple [costumes]. One year [Easton] was a hot dog stand and then another year we used his walker and he was the grandpa from the movie Up," he said.
Since then, Oetting said he's built a skid steer, fire truck, Zamboni, the Ectomobile from Ghostbusters, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Party Wagon.
In 2022, a video of Easton's Edmonton Oilers Zamboni costume went viral, getting 6 million views on Instagram after it was shared by the NHL.
CIBC organized a meet-and-greet with team captain Connor McDavid afterward.
When asked if he's heard from Michael J. Fox about this year's costume, Oetting said "not yet."
"A bunch of people have tagged him, and Christopher Lloyd, and a few of the other actors in Easton's Instagram post, and we actually did get followed by Claudia Wells, the original Jennifer Parker in the Back to the Future franchise in the first movie. So, we're hoping one of them reaches out," he said.
Oetting said they'll also be participating in an upcoming parade.
"The London Santa Claus Parade reached out to us and we've been going in that parade and just walking with Easton's costumes every year for the last three years now," he said. "So, we're doing that and we're hoping to do the Sarnia parade this year as well."
To see more of the family's creations, visit their Instagram page.
