E.T. is a character and the titular extraterrestrial from Steven Spielberg's 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Created by Spielberg and the film's screenwriter Melissa Mathison, E.T. seeks the help of a boy named Elliott Taylor who, along with his friends and family, find a way to help E.T. return home. The character has been and continues to be widely assessed as one of the greatest science fiction film characters of all time and is considered an icon of the genre. The character has appeared in all of its other media, including books, video games, a theme park attraction and a short film
E.T. is a character and the titular extraterrestrial from Steven Spielberg's 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Created by Spielberg and the film's screenwriter Melissa Mathison, E.T. seeks the help of a boy named Elliott Taylor who, along with his friends and family, find a way to help E.T. return home. The character has been and continues to be widely assessed as one of the greatest science fiction film characters of all time and is considered an icon of the genre. The character has appeared in all of its other media, including books, video games, a theme park attraction and a short film
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E.T. is a character and the titular extraterrestrial from Steven Spielberg's 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Created by Spielberg and the film's screenwriter Melissa Mathison, E.T. seeks the help of a boy named Elliott Taylor (Henry Thomas) who, along with his friends and family, find a way to help E.T. return home. The character has been and continues to be widely assessed as one of the greatest science fiction film characters of all time and is considered an icon of the genre. The character has appeared in all of its other media, including books, video games, a theme park attraction and a short film sequel.
Inspiration and creation
After his parents' divorce in 1960, Spielberg filled the void with an imaginary alien companion that he recalled as "a friend who could be the brother [he] never had and a father that [he] didn't feel [he] had anymore". In 1978, he announced that he would shoot a film entitled Growing Up, which he would film in four weeks. However, the project was set aside due to delays on 1941 (1979), but the concept of making a small autobiographical film about childhood would stay with him. He thought about a follow-up to Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and began to develop a darker project he had planned with John Sayles called Night Skies, in which malevolent aliens terrorize a family. He told screenwriter Melissa Mathison about Night Skies, and developed a subplot from the failed project in which Buddy, the only friendly alien, befriends an autistic child. Buddy's abandonment on Earth in the script's final scene inspired the concept of E.T. In less than two months, Mathison wrote the first draft of the script, titled E.T. and Me, which went through two rewrites. The project was rejected by Columbia Pictures, who doubted its commercial potential. Universal Pictures eventually purchased the script for $1 million.
Creature design
Carlo Rambaldi, who designed the aliens for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, was hired to design the animatronics for E.T. Rambaldi's own painting Women of Delta led him to give the creature a unique, extendable neck. Its face was inspired by those of Carl Sandburg, Albert Einstein and Ernest Hemingway. Producer Kathleen Kennedy visited the Jules Stein Eye Institute to study real and glass eyes. She hired Institute staffers to create E.T.'s eyes, which she felt were particularly important in engaging the audience. Four heads were created for filming, one as the main animatronic and the others for facial expressions, as well as a costume. A team of puppeteers controlled E.T.'s face with animatronics. Two people with dwarfism, Tamara De Treaux and Pat Bilon, as well as 12-year-old Matthew DeMeritt, who was born without legs, took turns wearing the costume, depending on what scene was being filmed. DeMeritt walked on his hands and played all scenes where he walked awkwardly or fell over. The head was placed above that of the actors, and the actors could see through slits in its chest. Caprice Roth, a professional mime, filled prosthetics to play E.T.'s hands. The puppet was created in three months at the cost of $1.5 million. Spielberg declared that it was "something that only a mother could love".
Unrealized feature sequel
In July 1982, during the film's first theatrical run, Spielberg and Mathison wrote a treatment for a sequel to be titled E.T. II: Nocturnal Fears. It would have shown Elliott and his friends getting kidnapped by evil aliens, and attempting to contact E.T. for help. Spielberg decided against pursuing it, feeling it "would do nothing but rob the original of its virginity. E.T. is not about going back to the planet". In June 2022, Henry Thomas said that he hopes a feature-length sequel never gets made, but added "I guarantee you, there are a few men in a very big room now salivating and using their abacus and slide rules to come up with some really, really big numbers." Spielberg also said that a sequel to E.T. "would do nothing but rob the original".
A Holiday Reunion (2019)
On November 28, 2019, during NBC's broadcast of the 93rd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Xfinity released a four-minute commercial directed by Lance Acord, calling it a "short film sequel" to the original film, titled A Holiday Reunion. The commercial stars Henry Thomas, reprising his role as Elliott, now an adult with a family of his own. Julianne Hoyak played his wife, Grace, while Zebastin Borjeau and Alivia Drews played their children, Elliott Jr. and Maggie. The story follows E.T. as he returns to Earth for the holiday season, and focuses on the importance of bringing family together. References and nods to the original film are featured, such as a photo of the Taylors' family dog Harvey on the kitchen fridge and a replica of the makeshift Speak & Spell communication device.
The commercial uses a practical puppet for E.T. himself. In an interview with Deadline, Acord said that he went this route to elicit more realistic performances from the actors, the same way Spielberg did on the original film. John Williams' score from the original film is mixed into the commercial. Spielberg was consulted by Comcast (parent company of NBCUniversal, which itself owns Universal Pictures) before production on the commercial began.
Books
William Kotzwinkle, author of the film's novelization, wrote a sequel, E.T.: The Book of the Green Planet, which was published in 1985. In the novel, E.T. returns home to the planet Brodo Asogi, but is subsequently demoted and sent into exile. He attempts to return to Earth by effectively breaking all of Brodo Asogi's laws.
Video games
Atari, Inc. produced a video game based on the film for the Atari 2600 and hired Howard Scott Warshaw to program the game. The game was rushed in five weeks to release within the 1982 holiday season. Released in Christmas 1982, the game was critically panned, with nearly every aspect of the game facing heavy criticism. It is considered to be one of the worst video games ever made. It was also a commercial failure. It has been cited as a major contributing factor to the video game industry crash of 19
