E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

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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)

Plot summary

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.

20th anniversary edition

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.

Some of the changes were made by Spielberg to please the perfectionist in him; he had not been completely satisfied with some scenes and took the opportunity to do what he could not achieve in 1981 due to limited time, technical possibilities, or the demands of keeping the film with a certain runtimeBouzereau, 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: "Anyways, why would Elliot go the forest?"

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.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} When the film was rereleased in movie theaters, it failed to compete with contemporary family fare such as Ice Age.

Cast

• 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

Sequels

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.

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.

Michael Jackson's E.T. Storybook

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 .

Alleged plagiarism

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." Spielberg claimed to be unaware of Ray's work, stating "I was a kid in high school when his script was circulating in Hollywood" when questioned about it in the press in 1982.[UC Santa Cruz Currents online article] URL accessed on 21 March 2006

Trivia

• 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 M&M 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 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 ([34.270879° N 118.287407° W], [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 did the voice of ET, and has a brief 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."[link]
• 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. in popular culture

• 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.

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.[link]

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