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.

FILM 1916: JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

FILM 1916: JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

TRIVIA: If Dwayne Johnson could play any other role in the film, he'd play Jack Black's character, Bethany. Johnson said, "I know how much fun [Jack] had every day playing a 16-year-old self-obsessed girl."

The statues in the jungle set are modeled after the board game pieces in the original film.

Tom Holland was originally cast as Seaplane McDonough, but had to drop out of the film, due to scheduling conflicts with Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). So Nick Jonas was cast in his place.

The film's African jungle setting was shot in Hawaii.

Dwayne pitched the name 'Smolder' to Jake Kasdan via text. "What if his name was Smolder, but he had this unique ability to just Smolder. And he's like, I love it."

When Jack Black was a child, he acted in a 1982 television commercial for the classic Atari 2600 and Intellivison video game called Pitfall, in which he wore a safari hat. In this film, he wears a similar style safari hat.

Frequently throughout the movie, the first few notes of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" can be heard mixed into the musical cues.

Dwayne Johnson coincidentally starred in The Rundown (2003), which was originally called "Welcome to the Jungle", a title that it retained in other countries.

Film 828: Margot at the Wedding

Trivia: Nicole Kidman, Jack Black and Jennifer Jason Leigh moved in together during filming, because they wanted to perfect their roles as a dysfunctional family

The cinematographer, Harris Savides, used old lenses and shot mostly in natural light to get the dim, ominous look of the film.