ET: The Extra-Terrestrial

Fun Facts About ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

• The iconic face of E.T. was modeled after a combination of author Ernest Hemingway, physicist Albert Einstein, and a pug dog.
• Harrison Ford filmed a cameo as the school principal. Even though his face is never shown on camera, the scene was cut from the theatrical release because Steven Spielberg felt Ford's fame would distract from the movie's childlike storyline.
• When the film was screened at the White House on June 27, 1982, President Ronald Reagan famously stood up and remarked to the audience (which included astronaut Neil Armstrong) with a straight face that "there are a number of people in this room who know that everything on that screen is absolutely true."
  
• Gertie is the young, pigtailed sister of Elliot. She is played by the granddaughter of famous stage and screen actor John Barrymore who starred in Grand Hotel (1932). Her name? Drew Barrymore.
• Drew Barrymore was 6 years old at the time of filming and genuinely believed E.T. was a real living creature. Spielberg assigned crew members to animate the puppet between takes, allowing her to react to it during her frequent visits.
• After M&M's turned down a product placement opportunity in the film, Hershey's Reese's Pieces accepted. This reportedly caused sales of the candy to increase 85% in the weeks following the release.
• The iconic flying bicycle scene across the moon was achieved with practical effects, not CGI which barely existed in the early-1980s. The filmmakers used wires, miniatures, and puppets projected against a massive moon rising using a 1000mm lens.
• The famous "E.T. phone home" line was improvised rather than being fully scripted. The director allowed the child actors to come up with their own dialogue, resulting in many moments that felt more natural than scripted.