When Ken Jennings (of Jeopardy! championship fame) took to Twitter to pose the question of ABBA existing in the Mamma Mia! world, fans began to question everything they knew about the movie. With the release of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again quickly approaching, everyone is turning back to the original movie to prepare.
The idea, though, that ABBA is a real band that exists in this fictional world and this little island in Greece just loves their music, is almost more entertaining than it coming from their own emotional arcs. With jukebox musicals, a lot of the time it’s established where the songs are coming from. For instance, Rock of Ages made it clear that these people are rockstars and that these songs, while not their own in reality, were coming from their desire to be famous musicians.
Mamma Mia! never really bothered to address the issue, and we never really asked, but Jennings is now flipping everything on its head.
does ABBA exist in the Mamma Mia universe
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) July 17, 2018
So, is there an entire world out there that they could have chosen from? Did Donna just cover ABBA songs while she was singing and bring her record to the island with her, and it’s just the only music they have to listen to? Ken went on to ask his Twitter followers their takes on the Mamma Mia! Cinematic Universe.
I’m not an expert on the MMCU, pls sound off in the comments. are these people, in their minds, singing
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) July 17, 2018
Will there be more of an addition to the “MMCU,” as Jennings calls it? Or is this just going to be a fan theory that we all cling to with no real answers? To be honest, the idea that these characters just really love ABBA makes Mamma Mia! that much crazier. Hopefully Donna just left her legacy on the island, leaving behind her vinyls of ABBA singing all their disco-loving hits.
(image: Universal)
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