E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
For the Atari 2600 video game based off the movie, see E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Atari 2600).
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' is an
Academy Award-winning
1982 science fiction film directed by
Steven Spielberg that tells the story of a young boy, Elliott, who befriends an
alien being called E.T. stranded on
Earth and trying to find his way home. This film was produced by
Amblin Entertainment, distributed by
Universal Pictures. It was originally released to
movie theatres in 1982, re-released in 1985, and then "enhanced" and re-released as a 20th anniversary edition in 2002 (see below).
The movie was written by
Melissa Mathison. The design of the E.T. character was created by
artists Drew Struzan and
Carlo Rambaldi, a favorite of
director Steven Spielberg, while the advance and release movie posters were created by
John Alvin.
Taglines:* His Adventure On Earth.
* He is afraid. He is alone. He is three million light years from home.
* The Story that Touched the World! (1985 re-release)
* The mystery. The suspense. The adventure. The call... that started it all. (2002 "20th Anniversary" edition)
An
alien botanist stranded on
Earth is found by 10-year-old Elliot (
Henry Thomas), who, along with his older brother Michael (
Robert MacNaughton) and his younger sister Gertie (
Drew Barrymore), teaches him to communicate and helps him build a device to contact his people to bring him home. When ET becomes sick, a medical facility is set up in Elliot's home as scientists try to study ET. The scientists find remarkable evidence indicating linked brain activity between Elliot and ET.
ET, who had previously been sick after trying to contact his species outside and catching pneumonia (or some pneumonia-esque disease), miraculously recovers. Elliot helps him escape the government facility where he is kept, and the two finally reach the aliens, who have returned after receiving ET's message. Elliot knows he must stay on Earth and not go with ET.
An extended version of the movie,
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary, was released theatrically by
Universal Studios on
March 22,
2002 in the
United States and later that year also on
DVD (along with the original version). The new edition adds five minutes to the film's run time, and includes special effects scenes that were not included in the original because of technical limitations or budgetary constraints.
[Bouzereau, Laurent (writer, director). E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary Celebration (2002, documentary on the E.T. DVD edition)]Examples of these changes include a couple of full body shots of E.T.: one in which he is seen running after his departing spaceship (which is flashier and sparkles more in the new version) and later taking a bath (this scene was shot for the original movie, but did not work out because the E.T. puppet turned out not to be waterproof). In addition, E.T's facial expressions have been digitally enhanced in almost all his scenes, making them more fluid. A previously deleted scene is included that features Gertie unwittingly telling Mary where Elliot was: "Anyway, why would Elliot go the forest? Why would he do such a thing?"
Other changes had a different genesis. In the scene near the movie's end where the kids are fleeing on their bicycles, all the police officers' guns have been digitally removed and replaced with
walkie-talkies, because Spielberg now finds himself uncomfortable with scenes of policemen preparing to use guns around children
. A second prominent change is the replacing of the word "
terrorist" with the word "
hippie" in one scene where Mary forbids Michael to dress up as a terrorist for
Halloween; the wording change was reported to have been made to fit with a "post-9/11 environment",
although it had been edited out of earlier television airings as well..
*
Henry Thomas as Elliott
*
Dee Wallace as Mary
*
Peter Coyote as Keys
*
Robert MacNaughton as Michael
*
Drew Barrymore as Gertie
*
K.C. Martel as Greg
*
Sean Frye as Steve
*
Tom Howell as Tyler
*
Erika Eleniak as Pretty Girl
*
David O'Dell as Schoolboy
*
Richard Swingler as Science Teacher
*
Frank Toth as Policeman
*
Robert Barton as Ultra Sound Man
*
Michael Durrell as Van Man
While Spielberg repeatedly stated that he had no intentions of doing a
sequel to
E.T.; a
treatment has circulated titled
E.T. II: Nocturnal Fears, supposedly written by Spielberg with
Melissa Mathison. The legitimacy of this treatment is disputed. More recently, in 2005 it was rumored that Drew Barrymore was trying to persuade Spielberg to do a sequel as she "thinks the world needs another feel-good movie like 'ET' right now"
[Barrymore and Spielberg discussing E.T 2?. Clint Morris, Moviehole (July 19, 2005). URL accessed on October 3, 2005].
|
Cover of "E.T. - The Book of the Green Planet". |
A sequel in the form of a
novel,
E.T.: The Book of the Green Planet, was released in 1985. The book was also the basis for the ET ride at Universal Studios Florida.
E.T.: The Book of the Green Planet
The
E.T. sequel
E.T.: The Book of the Green Planet (ISBN 0743216407) is based on a story by Spielberg and written by
William Kotzwinkle, who also wrote the official novelisation of the film, and was published in 1985.
In the novel E.T. is punished by his people because he interacted with humans on Earth by being demoted from space exploration and confined to duties in the gardens of his home world. Finding himself missing Earth and Elliott (who is shown in a series of interludes, starting to experience the growing pains of adolescence), he develops a series of increasingly foolhardy plans to return to Earth.
In late 1982,
MCA Records released a
E.T. storybook
box set on
vinyl and
cassette, which had
Michael Jackson reading the story from the film, as well as two versions of Jackson's song "Someone In The Dark". However, Jackson's record label
Epic Records sued MCA for including the original Jackson song on the album, and it was withdrawn. Despite the fact that the album was no longer available, Jackson still won the 1984
Grammy Award for Best Album for Children for it.
The song "Someone In The Dark" later appeared on the 2001 special edition of Jackson's album
Thriller and on 2004's
Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection.
Academy Award-winning
Indian director
Satyajit Ray wrote a script entitled "The Alien" in 1967 with many similarities to
E.T., and attempted to raise funds for its production in the late 1960s. After a falling out with a prospective producer, he lost interest in the project, and rejected later interest from Hollywood in the script. After
E.T.'s release, Ray stated that "ET would not have been possible without my script of 'The Alien' being available throughout America in mimeographed copies." In 1982, when questioned about this, Spielberg rejected Ray's insinuation and pointed out that "[he] was a kid in high school when [Ray's] script was circulating in Hollywood."
[UC Santa Cruz Currents online article URL accessed on 21 March 2006]* Spielberg and screenwriter
Melissa Matheson, then the wife of
Harrison Ford, came up with the idea of the film during the filming of
Raiders of the Lost Ark.
* The film was nominated for nine Oscars at the
Academy Awards, and won for 4 of them: Best Original Music Score, Sound, Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Director, Writing - Screenplay written directly for the screen, Cinematography and Film Editing.
* Composer
John Williams received three
Grammy Awards for the soundtrack: Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture Or Television Special; Best Arrangement on an Instrumental Recording; and Best Instrumental Composition. In addition, the
Quincy Jones -produced spoken word recording with
Michael Jackson also won a Grammy, for Best Recording for Children.
* E.T. was designed by
Carlo Rambaldi, while his voice was performed by several people, including
Debra Winger (for the rough cut),
Pat Welsch, a chain-smoking housewife from Marin County, who was overheard in a bank line by the film's sound effects editor and got the part for the final version of the film, and even director Steven Spielberg himself.
* E.T.'s face was modelled after poet
Carl Sandburg,
Albert Einstein and a
pug dog.
* Originally the script called for the use of
M&M's (which survived into the
novelization). However,
Mars did not agree to the contract (because they thought E.T. was ugly and would scare children) and instead
Reese's Pieces by
Hershey's were used. A week after the movie premiered, sales of the candy tripled.
* When E.T. is covered with a sheet and goes "trick-or-treating" with the children, he sees a child in a
Star Wars character's mask (
Yoda) and begins to follow that child saying "Home....home....". Also, composer
John Williams includes a snippet of his "Yoda Theme" from
The Empire Strikes Back to accompany this scene.
* When the movie was released,
Steven Spielberg, a
Porsche 928 aficionado, had his sunroof button re-designed with the movie's logo as both a gag for passengers and a tribute to the movie's success.
* Silhouettes of E.T. and Elliot are featured in the
Amblin Entertainment logo.
* The
BMX bikes featured in the movie were the Japanese Kuwahara brand and featured a limited edition two tone paint job.
* The house where E.T. was filmed is located at 7121 Lonzo Street,
Tujunga, California (,
Windows Live Local link).
*
Harrison Ford had a part as The Principal of Elliott's school; the scene was later cut from the film. At the time of the film's release, Ford was married to screenwriter
Melissa Mathison.
*
Debra Winger recorded her voice of ET for the rough cut of the film but it is not used in the finished film. However, she has a brief walk-on cameo in the film as a trick-or-treater.
* The poster bears similarity to
Michelangelo's
Creation of Adam.
* Spielberg cited classic cartoons from
Chuck Jones and other
Looney Tunes as a stylistic influence, in which adults could rarely be seen from the waist up.
* According to rumour, following a screening of the movie at the
White House, President
Ronald Reagan leaned over, clapped Spielberg on the shoulder, and quietly commented, "You know, there aren't six people in this room who know how true this really is."[
1]
* E.T can be seen in the crowd watching the
Boonta Eve Podrace scene in
Star Wars Episode 1* E.T. can also be seen in the
Galactic Senate scene , which features more from his kind in one of the multiple platforms in proximity to the
Wookiee delegates representing
Kashyyyk .
*
E.T. topped a Channel 4 poll of the 100 greatest family films in 2005.
* At one point following the film's meteoric success (it had achieved the unusual feat of increasing returns as it remained in theatres), E.T. was due to appear on the cover of
Time magazine, had it not been for the escalation of the Falklands War in the same week.
* In the episode "
A Star is Burns" of
The Simpsons, in one of the scenes in
Mr. Burns's movie,
A Burns For All Seasons, Burns himself plays E.T. and says "Remember, Elliott, I'll be right here" before boarding E.T.'s starship and blasting away. A robot of E.T. can also be seen in the
Japanese restaurant Americatown in "
Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo," pointing up
Marilyn Monroe's flying skirt.
*
|
E.T. looks out for the safety of drivers. |
In 1998, the title character was licensed to appear in
television public service announcements produced by
Progressive Insurance in which E.T.'s voice reminded drivers to "Buckle up" their
safety belts. Traffic signage depicting a stylized portrait of E.T. (wearing his safety belt) was also installed on selected roads in the USA. Some of the signs remain extant
to this day.[
2]
* Around the same time,
British Telecom paid vast amounts of money to use the character and his famous "phone home" phrase in advertisements. The campaign presented E.T. making friends with an average British boy and his family. He was also featured at the
Millennium Dome as part of the BT-sponsored "Talk" zone, which allowed visitors to take a full-body image of themselves, which would be scanned into a computer and pasted onto a 3D model which would be displayed on a screen re-enacting the famous flying bicycle scene.
* E.T. can be seen in "Da Boom" episode of the popular animated series
Family Guy. Also, in the creator's later series
American Dad!, many references to the film are made, particularly around the character of Roger the Alien.
* E.T. can be heard (off-screen) in an episode of
Muppet Babies.
* Aliens of E.T.'s race can also be seen in
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in the Senate Chamber. This is a friendly response to Spielberg prominently using
Star Wars references in
E.T. as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are noted friends.
* The movie inspired the hit (but often-ridiculed) song "Heartlight," written and performed by
Neil Diamond.
* The band
S.P.O.C.K made a song, based on E.Ts adventure and naturally the name of the song is "E.T Phone Home"
* In the late-1982 film
Airplane II, early in the film a pay-phone is seen along with a hand resembling E.T.'s. He lifts the phone off its cradle, and off-screen is heard "E.T. phone home!" When the operator tells E.T., "Please deposit 6 million dollars for the first 10 minutes", the extraterrestrial hangs up.
*The Australian TV series Fast Forward sent-up E.T.
*In
Joe Dante's Gremlins(1984) there is a scene near the end where Stripe, the leader of the gremlins hides behind an E.T. doll in the department store.
*In the Chris Shadoian webcomic Popcorn Picnic, E.T. is depicted as the bitter has-been room mate of Marlon Brando.
*In the
Drawn Together episode "
Little Orphan Hero", the bicycle ride with E.T. in the basket is parodied, and the device E.T. constructs to 'phone home' is depicted as being
Captain Hero's sex robot. The episode "
A Tale of Two Cows" shows
Wooldoor Sockbat hiding a cow in a closet similar to the way Elliot hid E.T.
*At the near end of the computer-animated film
Shrek 2, the giant Gingerbread Man, Mongo, says to his smaller counterpart - "Be Good."
*A song by
Toybox titled E.T. is a parody of the character. This song itself is also the basis for a webcam video parody, winning a pop competition on
Google Idol. [
3].
*In the "
Fear of a Krabby Patty" episode of
SpongeBob SquarePants, the Krabby Patty reminds SpongeBob that he'll always be with him (albiet in his stomach). This spoofs E.T. saying "I'll... be... right... here".
* In
Kevin Smith's film
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the title characters race on a bike through a Hollywood backlot with a monkey in the front basket. During the chase, the bike flies through the air, and past a billboard with a moon on it, parodying the moon sequence of E.T. The billboard is advertising "Moon Raper", a fictional film who Kevin Smith's best friend Ben Affleck is starring in.
* In the 2003 film In America, the Irish family imagines that their dying neighbor Mateo flies away like E.T. Earlier in the film the family goes to watch E.T. in the movie theatre.
*In the film
Balto a dog looks through various ice formations. In one of them his head takes the shape of E.T.'s and his voice sounds like he is saying "ouch!"
*
Mac and Me*
Night Skies*
Poltergeist movie series*
*
www.ET20.com (official homepage for the 20th anniversary edition)
*
www.iloveET.com (E.T. fan/collecting site. Huge collection of E.T. memorabilia)
*
www.SnowHelm.com (A parody of Steven Spielberg's decision to replace guns with walkie-talkies in E.T.)
