Hello to everyone who has been following this blog for many years - I'm still blogging, I'm just moving over to https://www.claireheffer.com/blog - please continue to follow and let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been kind enough to visit over the years. May the lists continue...

Saturday 16 February 2019

FILM 1941: MARS ATTACKS!


FILM 1941: MARS ATTACKS!

TRIVIA: The writers weren't sure what the Martians should sound like, so the script read "ack, ack, ack, ack" for all of their lines of dialogue. This became the actual words spoken by the Martians in the film.

The Martian Girl costume had no zipper or buttons (to make it as smooth as possible), so Lisa Marie had to be sewn into it every day.

Although supposedly taking place in the 1990s, the U.S. Army's uniforms, tanks, Jeeps, artillery, et cetera, all date from the 1950s, when the movies being spoofed were made.

When people had their flesh vaporized from their bones, the remaining skeletons were either red or green. Tim Burton explained this had been done because the movie had been scheduled for a Christmas release. Also, the red and green skeletons were first seen in Beetlejuice (1988). When Barbara and Adam were in Juno's office, you can see them with other ghouls looking at the screen. 

Tim Burton pitched the idea of the film to Warner Brothers by showing them the Topps trading cards that inspired the screenplay.

The little dog owned by television hostess Nathalie Lake (Sarah Jessica Parker), is actually owned by Lisa Marie (Martian Girl).

Tim Burton had wanted the Martians brought to life via stop-motion animation, but finally went with CGI. The animators told Burton they could animate the Martians without motion blur to make them look more "stop-motiony," but Burton decided against that.

The Martians land in Pahrump, Nevada, home of radio talk-show host Art Bell. Bell is well known for featuring guests who are involved, in one way or another, with the subject of outer-space life forms. This ranges from scientists investigating the possibility of extraterrestrial life, to people who claim to have been contacted, kidnapped, examined, or impregnated (sometimes all at the same time) by space aliens. 

Martin Amis worked on the script for this movie. He said, "I rather liked the film, though it contained not a word I wrote."

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK (Tim Burton): (cast): Features many actors and actresses who appeared in previous Burton films: Sylvia Sidney from Beetlejuice (1988), Jack Nicholsonfrom Batman (1989), O-Lan Jones from Edward Scissorhands (1990), Danny DeVito from Batman Returns (1992), Sarah Jessica Parker, and Lisa Marie Smith from Ed Wood(1994).

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK (Tim Burton): (music): Music by Danny Elfman.


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