FILM 1960: SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

FILM 1960: SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

TRIVIA: Completing the animation for the film required up to 180 animators, the largest crew ever used by Sony Pictures Animation for a film.

It was announced shortly after Stan Lee's death, at age 95, that he had recorded a cameo for the film and that it would be his final voice-acting role. Lord and Miller felt it was important that Lee was given a bigger moment compared to previous Marvel films because he was "so integral to the spirit of this movie," and considered his role "extra meaningful" following his death.

This film was dedicated in memory of Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko, who died on July 6, 2018, while this film was finishing production. However, this was not the only dedication, as a month before the film was released, Stan Lee died on November 12, 2018. The film was dedicated to both of Spider-Man's creators.

When Miles first visits Uncle Aaron's apartment, the television is playing the television show Community (2009) (Season 2, Episode 1 "Anthropology 101"). The beginning of that episode shows Donald Glover's character Troy getting out of bed wearing Spider-Man pajamas. This was a reference to an unsuccessful 2010 online campaign to get Donald Glover a chance to audition for the lead role in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). Miles Morales co-creator Brian Michael Bendis describes that image of Glover in the Spider-Man pajamas as one of the major inspirations for the creation of the character and the character's design. Additionally, Glover appeared as another version of Aaron Davis in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), in which he makes brief reference to his nephew. Glover also voiced Miles Morales in Disney's "Ultimate Spider-Man" cartoon series.

One of the many ways the Imageworks team paid tribute to old comic books through the visual style was to imitate the imperfections of offset printing.

There are many small details in Miles' universe that set it apart from ours, such as using "PDNY" in place of "NYPD," and instead of Chance the Rapper wearing a "3" hat, he has a "4" on it (evident from a poster in Miles' room).

This was stand-up comedian John Mulaney's first theatrical film role.

With Lily Tomlin playing Aunt May, all four actresses to play her in a theatrical film have been Academy Award nominees, after Rosemary Harris, Sally Field and Marisa Tomei. Tomlin was nominated for Nashville (1975).

Daniel Pemberton followed the ambitious lead of the "Spider-Verse" animation by developing an equally intricate score. After all the musical elements had been recorded, they were recorded onto vinyl and then re-scratched into the mix. Pemberton says, "I got a DMC World Scratch champion DJ to scratch all the parts in."

Brian Michael Bendis, who created the comic book version of Miles Morales, credits three things that inspired him to make Miles African-American: his two adopted black children, Barack Obama becoming president, and Donald Glover wearing Spider-Man pajamas on an episode of the TV show "Community."

The film won an Academy Award for Best Animated Film.

FILM 1739: TANGO & CASH

FILM 1739: TANGO & CASH

TRIVIA: Patrick Swayze was originally cast as Cash, but he dropped out to star in Road House(1989).

The glasses Sylvester Stallone wears early in the film are his own, not props. He usually wears contact lenses in his films. The lenses show that he is very near-sighted in one eye, less so in the other. Plus, he has astigmatism.

When Tango and Cash escape from the prison, Cash turns to Tango and asks if he stopped "for coffee and a Danish." Tango says, "I hate Danish," an in-joke referring to Sylvester Stallone's recent divorce from Danish actress Brigitte Nielsen.

When Brion James was originally hired to play Requin, it was a very small role with only two lines. In an effort to give the character something that would make him stand out, James decided to speak in a horrible "cockney" accent. Sylvester Stallone loved it, and re-wrote the script to give Requin a much bigger role.

The production was beset with problems from the start. The intended star, Patrick Swayze, dropped out. Principal photography began without a completed script. Sylvester Stallone had the original Director of Photography, Barry Sonnenfeld, fired. Then, Jon Peters fired Andrey Konchalovskiy. The film ultimately went $20 million over budget, and had to be completely re-edited by Stuart Baird prior to release.