Directing: Steven Spielberg
Screenwriting: Melissa Mathison
Starring: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton
Review:
E.T. was “a massively popular, widely appealing, feel-good sci-fi fantasy – a cultural phenomenon in the early 80s.” FS This is “a children’s adventure which carefully beds its supernatural elements in an utterly relatable everykid world, and tempers its cuter, more sentimental moments with a true sense of jeopardy.” E18
Originally called A Boy’s Life, Spielberg explained that it “was a childhood fantasy of mine to tell the story of a special, best friend who rescues a young boy from the sadness of a divorce.” ET-14 His own parents divorced in 1960 and Spielberg created an imaginary alien friend “who could be the brother I never had and the father that I didn’t feel I had anymore.” WK
After Close Encounters of the Third Kind, he started developing a project with John Sayles called Night Skies. It was, as Spielberg said, “an aggressive, scary story about aliens attacking a farm house.” ET-13 Because he believed aliens would come to Earth to observe or interact, he opted out, but got the idea to make a movie about an alien left behind. ET-13 There were allegations that the story was plagiarized from The Alien, a 1967 script by Indian Bengali director Satyajit Ray, but he never took legal action because he didn’t want to be vindictive. WK
He tapped Melissa Mathison, who had co-authored The Black Stallion, to write the screenplay. She crafted a story of Elliott (Thomas), a ten-year-old boy from a broken home who befriends a stranded extra-terrestrial. He and his siblings hide the loveable alien from adults, specifically the “menacing scientists who want to dissect and study the creature.” FS Elliott helps E.T. “phone home” so that a spaceship will come back to retrieve him.
The result is “a warm, insightful story of childhood innocence, frustration, courage, and love.” LM “Cynics have often accused Steven Spielberg of being an arch manipulator, a peddler of mere sentiment,” EM including “backlash…claiming this movie’s no The Wizard of Oz. They’re wrong.” ML There is “a sense of magic in almost every scene, even when we’re not dealing in flying bikes or glowing fingers,” EM and “the emotions here are complex…As a host of imitators have proved over the years, they’re almost impossible to replicate.” EM
The movie owed much of its success to “a remarkable ‘performance’ by E.T.,” LM who was created by a team of designers which included bringing in a mime to help with movements ET-26 and someone who made glass eyes. ET-24 The face was inspired by Carl Sandburg, Albert Einstein, and Ernest Hemingway. WK Construction of the creature began in March 1981, seven months before shooting on the film began. ET-119
Spielberg was determined that E.T. not look like an actor in a suit, although some shots did end up using actors, including 12-year-old Matthew DeMeritt, who was born without legs. WK E.T.’s voice was created from 17 people, including actress Debra Winger, Spielberg’s sleeping wife who had a cold, and a burp from his USC film professor. WK He also incorporated animal sounds from raccoons, otters, and horses. WK
Spielberg wanted specifics like E.T. being three feet tall and having “a small neck…to telescope like a turtle coming out of his shell.” ET-19 He even considered E.T. to be a plant and not an animal. ET The various models, which included a mechanical model operated by a dozen men via twenty-foot cables, and an electronic model operated by radio control, cost roughly $1.4 million. ET-33
Unlike most films, this was shot roughly in chronological order for the sake of facilitating more convincing emotional performances from the young cast. This allowed the kids to naturally bond with E.T. and experience genuine sadness when saying goodbye. WK He also kept puppeteers away from the set to maintain the illusion of E.T. as a real creature. WK Spielberg wanted to avoid showing adults in the movie as much as possible and also made a point of shooting scenes from lower angles to make them look like they were shot from a child’s perspective. ET
Although Spielberg said, “I didn’t pretend that E.T. was anything other than a kids’ movie about kids,” ET-167 the final product was “an exhilarating experience for young and old alike” LM In its movie review, Variety called it “the best Disney movie Walt Disney never made.” ET-168 Roger Ebert said, “This is not simply a good movie. It is one of those movies that brush away our cautions and win our hearts.” WK The Guardian’s Derek Malcolm called it “a dream of childhood, brilliantly orchestrated to involve not only children but anyone able to remember being one.” WK
It is “Spielberg’s most personal film, and his most affecting too.” EM Kathleen Kennedy, the movie’s producer, saw it as a movie about tolerance WK and “a movie that defines Steve Spielberg.” ET-176 When Gandhi, directed by Richard Attenborough, won the Academy Award for Best Picture over E.T., Attenborough said, “I was certain that not only would E.T. win, but that it should win. It was inventive, powerful [and] wonderful. I make more mundane movies.” WK
It topped the box office for six weeks, which included the highest-grossing weekend of all-time, usurping the $16 million haul of Rocky III earlier that year. WK It became the biggest-grossing film of all time, surpassing Star Wars. It held that record until it was overtaken by 1993’s Jurassic Park, another film by Steven Spielberg. WK
Notably, the Hershey Company saw profits rise 65% because of the prominent placement in the film of Reese’s Pieces. The initial intent was to use M&M’s, but they didn’t want to be associated with a film they thought would be scary for kids. WK
Resources:
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