THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT, was for a much darker movie in which a family was terrorized in their house by aliens... Afterall, Spielberg decided to go with a more benevolent alien, “The Extra Terrestrial� was part of suburban dreams.
FIRST SIGHT OF COMMUNICATION. The Filmmakers requested that M&M’s be used to lure E.T., instead of Reese’s Pieces. The Mars company had denied their request and so Reese’s Pieces were used instead. As a direct result, Reese’s Pieces sales skyrocketed. Because of this, more and more companies began requesting that their products be used in movies. Product Placement was born!
Before E.T.
After E.T.
POLTERGEIST, and E.T. were made to complement each other. Directed by Tobe Hooper in 1982, “Poltergeist” represented suburban nigthmares as juxtaposition of “E.T., The Extra Terrestrial”. Spielberg worked on both this films at the time, but only as a Producer in Poltergeist.
TEN MILLION YEARS According to the film’s novelization, E.T. is over ten million years old and plant-like creature, neither male or female. Spielberg’s idea was to create an alien form that audiences could sympathize with. The primary inspiration was one of his own paintings from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, titled “Women of Delta”, a shriveled character with stumpy legs, a long neck, an oblong head and large eyes. Its face was modeled after poet Carl Sandburg, Albert Einstein and a pug dog.
ELLIOT, HENRY THOMAS ALL EMOTIONAL RESPONSES FROM LAST SCENE ARE REAL.
All film was shot in chronological order to invoke a real response from the actors (mainly the children) when E.T. departed at the end. At the auditions, Henry Thomas thought about the day his dog died to express sadness. Director Steven Spielberg cried, and hired him on the spot.