Photo by Universal

In June 11 1982, was released one classic movie of all time, ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’. The movie is about a troubled child who summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.

Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote
Director: Steven Spielberg

To celebrate the 40th anniversary, here are some of the curiosities about this movie.

  • Steven Spielberg shot most of the film from the eye-level of a child to further connect with Elliott and E.T.
  • Most of the full-body puppetry was performed by a 2’10” tall stuntman, but the scenes in the kitchen were done using a 12-year-old boy who was born without legs but was an expert on walking on his hands.
  • In the Halloween scene, where E.T. sees a child in a Yoda costume and seems to recognize him, This is an inside joke by Steven Spielberg on his good friend, Star Wars creator George Lucas. In Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Lucas returns the joke in a scene that takes place in the galactic senate. In the shot of the various senators calling out, you can see E.T.’s species among the senate pods in the lower right corner.
  • The script was largely written while on location filming for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) during filming breaks. Steven Spielberg dictated the story to screenwriter Melissa Mathison who was there with her then-boyfriend and future husband Harrison Ford.
  • E.T.’s face was modeled after poet Carl Sandburg, Albert Einstein and a pug dog.
  • When the film was released on video in the U.S., the cassette was made from green plastic as a measure to confound video pirates. By December 31, 1988, the film had sold 15 million cassettes.
  • This script was being developed at Columbia at the same time as another script about an alien visitation. The studio did not want to make both, so the head of the studio had to choose which film to make; he decided to let E.T. go and make Starman (1984). E.T. was then made by Universal Pictures.
  • On June 27, 1982, Steven Spielberg personally screened the film at the White House for President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan.
  • Was the highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide until Spielberg’s Jurassic Park (1993) was released. Adjusted for inflation today, it’s still the fourth highest-grossing movie of all time.
  • ET’s plants included some made from inflated condoms with polyester blooms.

Source: Imdb